When I was in the 5th grade, the most popular girl in school died in a car accident. While it was not my first experience with death, it was the first time I had experienced that sudden, unexpected, out of the natural order kind of loss. It changed my life. A phrase I've heard a good bit lately is "she gets it". What people mean when they say this is that someone understands a thing on a deep, complex level. They understand it fully. They "Grok" it, for all you SciFi fans out there. In the case of this book, Ali Benjamin "gets it." She understands grief, and Middle School, and the autism spectrum disorder. The main character, Suzy, is so dimensional and fully drawn that she seems to leap off the page. The story is sad, but not too sad, and the writing is exquisite and gentle. We careen between Suzy's mind, seeing a vibrant "inner life" and flashbacks in 2nd person. The use of this rarely-used style makes the tale more personal, and even more powerful. The progression is meaningful, the story lovely, and overall it is very easy to see how this enchanting, engaging novel made it to the finalist round for the National Book Award. Brava to Ms. Benjamin on a first novel that "touched my heart."
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