This novel is written from two viewpoints, a brother and sister. They are taking a trip of epic proportions as the brother is about to move out. This may seem like no big deal but he has Aspergers, Aspergers is a disorder where the brain works differently with the main differences being to do with social interactions - understanding other people's emotion,s reading body language etc., not coping with change and having obsessions.
Their father has recently died and there is no mother - she left when he was a small child. This is an emotional ride as they take this trip together and as we learn the differing viewpoints of each about how they view each other, their parents and what they want out of their lives. I loved it.
Rating 9/10
Henry Ward has to move to Newton, because his mum got a new job there at the Malcorp Complex. In Newton all the kids are nice, amazing athletes, and really smart. The town cop is a scary dude though. Henry starts to notice that things are a little 'odd', especially when a boy nearly drowns at the pool and none of the other kids do anything to help. In fact they hardly seem to notice the incident at all! Henry meets a couple of other teenagers and they work together to figure out what is going on in this town where the owner of Malcorp seems to rule, And the teenagers are so well 'adjusted'.
This is a classic book. It is a book I would recommend to all girls to read so they can feel like they are not the only person who has stuff happening to them that no one else understands. In the story Margaret has to move away from the life she loves in New York City and her Grandmother to life in the suburbs in New Jersey. She is about to turn 12 and is concerned with what is happening to her body, making new friends in this new place, boys!, and religion as her parents are Jewish and Christian by upbringing but no longer practise any religion. Judy writes sensitively about all those subjects while injecting humour and being realistic.