Big Neurodivergent Energy Books: 1-5

Branching out into books now. Most of the entries on today’s list are middle-grade novels and series, formative reading for a neurodivergent kid who’s looking to see themselves in their books. I loved some of these when I was a kid, and I discovered others a bit later in life. Oh, and I couldn’t resist putting a little Jane Austen in there too!

 

Bridge to Terabithia

It occurs to me that, with characters who could fall within the trope of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, the most nuanced examples can often be read as autistic. Yes, Leslie comes into Jess’s life and makes it better, because she cares about chasing her passions more than what other people think of her, and she encourages Jess to do the same. When I was a kid, I was absolutely enchanted by the thought of a hideaway in the woods where I could create my own imaginary kingdom, where I wouldn’t have to think about any of the boring, frustrating, challenging things about “real” life. And I don’t know about you, but that feels like a big autistic mood to me!

 

Matilda

There have to be a lot of autistic folks who feel they’ve found a champion in the little girl who gets revenge on a bully with the power of her mind—which includes her encyclopedic knowledge from her extensive reading, her logical problem-solving, and her literal telekinesis. Three cheers for this hyperlexic kid with a strong sense of justice who’s misunderstood by her family but loved by the teacher who appreciates her extraordinary mind!

 

Pride and Prejudice

It makes sense that neurodivergent coding would jump out in a social satire, even one from the 1800s. It isn’t much a stretch to take an ADHD interpretation of Lydia or Mrs. Bennet, or an autistic read of Mr. Collins. Of course, though, this is mainly about the one and only Mr. Darcy, the most autistic Eligible Bachelor you’ve ever met. Given the age of the source material, it’s impressive just how many autistic buttons he presses for me, from his difficulty in unfamiliar social situations to his penchant for plain honesty over flattery to his tendency to say the impolite thing while doing the caring thing. So much love! 

 

A Series of Unfortunate Events

I already talked about the Netflix show, which feels so autistic in large part because it’s such an effective adaptation of the books. Oh, how I love Lemony Snicket stopping in the middle of the action to clarify things, define words, or reflect on the illogical nature of an expression. Nearly every character is happily obsessed with a particular subject that they’ve made their life’s pursuit, and I love that the Baudelaires process their emotions in such analytical ways. From the first book, I was utterly taken with this series, and I absolutely knew it was for me.

 

Time Quintet

Oh, Meg and Charles Wallace Murry, my beloveds! Incredibly smart, unable to fit in, willing to accept the impossible. I can totally see the Murry home as a place where it’s safe to be autistic in a hostile world, with only the twins masking reliably. Whereas Calvin might be the lone autistic in his family, high-masking to the point where he’s easily accepted by others, but he comes alive when he meets people like him. I love Meg for her anger, her insecurities, and her obstinate square-peg-in-a-round-hole-ness. These books were so formative for me growing up!

An Acceptable Time (1989)

Out of town again - I’ll post the News Satire Roundup after I get back.

I didn’t read this book when I initially revisited Madeleine L’Engle’s time series, even though it was included in the boxed set I picked up.  Growing up, while I was aware of An Acceptable Time’s existence, my association with the time series only included the first four books.  Now, though, I’ve circled back around to it.

Polly O’Keefe, the daughter of the grown-up Meg and Calvin, is taking some time out to stay with her Grandma and Grandpa Murry.  What at first seems a cozy stay of study, relaxation, and nature quickly becomes more:  boundaries in time are blurring, and Polly finds herself increasingly encountering things and people that stood on that spot 3,000 years ago.  Members of the People of the Wind (a native tribe later displaced by European settlement,) along with two Celtic druids who’ve joined their community, are crossing over into Polly’s time.  The lines of history and the present are tangling, and Polly and her friend Zach are getting caught in it.

As with Many Waters, this book takes an immediate hit by not being about Meg, Charles Wallace, and/or Calvin.  I like Polly well enough, and I enjoy her story and interactions with the characters from the past, but there’s no one in this book that matches the richness of those three from the earlier books.  As such, while I like a lot of the proceedings, this story was never going to rival the likes of A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, or ASwiftly Tilting Planet.

That said, there is a lot to like here.  I enjoy revisting the People of the Wind, whose tribe we were introduced to in A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and the druids, Karralys and Tav, bring to mind Madoc and Gwydyr from that book while still having a distinct dynamic of their own.  This book also brings back Dr. Louise from A Wind in the Door and introduces her brother, a bishop who, like Polly, is caught up in the blurred edges of the timelines.

Some interesting ideas here – I don’t know that they all necessarily fit together into a cohesive whole, but there are some neat threads woven into the overall patchwork.  I like the ruminations on the notion of gods/the earth demanding blood and whether the death of Christ does or does not align with that, as well as the question of whether there’s a point in praying to Christ 1,000 years before His birth.  As with most stories involving the intersections of time, we examine the pull between interference and predestination – will our characters’ involvement change the course of history, or are they simply playing their roles in what was always meant to happen?

Warnings

Violence, some racial insensitivity, and strong thematic elements.

Many Waters (1986)

I know that An Acceptable Time fits somewhere into Madeleine L’Engle’s time series, but I was raised on just the four that focus on the immediate Murry family.  While I suppose I’ll get around to An Acceptable Time at some point, as of now, I’m still used to thinking of Many Waters as the end of the line.

A bit of a companion novel to the other three, Many Waters follows, not Meg or Charles Wallace, but the other two Murray kids, twins Sandy and Dennys.  It’s set between A Wrinkle in Time and A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and it sees the 15-year-old twins accidentally wandering into one of their dad’s experiments and being flung through time and space into Earth’s antediluvian days.  In the time before the flood, Dennys and Sandy of course meet Noah and his family, and as they try to find a way home/not do anything to interfere with history, they catch the attention of the otherworldly Seraphim and Nephilim.

In the biblical story of Noah, I don’t think there’s more than one or two verses that mention the Seraphim and Nephilim, but L’Engle mines a great deal of plot from those scant lines.  She paints an intriguing picture of the pre-flood world, populated by humans, now-extinct animals (household mammoths,) more fantastical creatures (griffins and “virtual” unicorns,) and beings with celestial origins, including those who’ve since fallen (Seraphim and Nephilim.)  Much is made of the Nephilim’s practice of taking a liking to human women and fathering children by them, and I like how members of both races can take either their natural shape or that of a specific animal.  It all comes together to make a story that’s part sci-fi, part fantasy, and part Bible story.

And in the middle of it are Sandy and Dennys.  Neither boy is as interesting as Meg or Charles Wallace, but that in itself adds a new wrinkle to the plot.  The twins aren’t as apt as their siblings to believe in being thrown backwards through time, let alone the fantastical things they see once they get there, so it’s neat to see them grapple with what’s happened and try to reconcile it with their experience of the world thus far.  The plot also takes the smart step of separating them for a good chunk of the earlier action.  In addition to increasing the storyline space, this helps us get to know both boys better, which is important.  The twins are relatively minor characters in the first three books, known more for their contrast with Meg and Charles Wallace than for themselves, and to the extent that we do know them, it’s definitely as a matched set.  Putting them in different situations with different characters helps differentiate them and gives us a crash course in understanding them as individuals before they’re brought back together as the bigger stuff kicks off.

Although it’s my least favorite of the four books, there’s plenty to like here, especially for readers who are well-acquainted with the story of Noah.  I appreciate the time L’Engle takes to offer a specific view of everyone in Noah’s household, and I give her credit for doing something different here – really, even though it’s a series, all four books take remarkably different approaches to their fantastical/sci-fi elements, which is rare.  In L’Engle’s world, there are many varied wonders to be seen.

Warnings

Implied sexual references, violence, drinking, and thematic elements.