Community Reviews

Rating(4.2 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
40(40%)
4 stars
36(36%)
3 stars
24(24%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
100 reviews
April 26,2025
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I absolutely adored this book, every single time I picked it up I text my very good friend, Monika and recommended the book to her for her son. It gives an insight into the mind of an adolescence with Asperger Syndrome.

The book is brimmed to the top with tips, brilliant illustrations, an excellent insight into the brain of a young man with Asperger Syndrome, loves, laughs and a bit of tears.

I wanted to read more on Autism so I was delighted when I picked this up, Luke seems wise beyond his years and I learnt a lot on what it must be like to be a teenager growing up in the 2000s, dealing with all the normal teenager stuff, on top of dealing with their Asperger Syndrome.
April 26,2025
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I would thoroughly recommend this book to not only parents but older children who are maybe finding it hard to understand their differences. Luke's account of what it is like to have Asperger's Syndrome is not only informative but has a lovely sense of light heartedness in a way that others of a similar age would relate to. An absolutely fantastic read.
April 26,2025
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A detailed, interesting and fun read about what it's like to be a 13-year-old boy with Asperger's. One warms to Luke and his family - they come across as a happy, loving and mutually supportive. The book is filled with information, including some which is contentious (the possibility/likelihood that vaccinations have caused Asperger's.) I was also concerned at one stage when he said he thought schizophrenia might come under the Asperger's umbrella....it made me rather wonder about the rest of what he said. I am not giving the book any stars, as I am completely unqualified to rate this book. Having said that I thought it was an interesting and entertaining read.

Luke talks elegantly and with passion about what it is to be like to be a young man with Asperger's. One chapter stood out for me particularly - the chapter on bullying. Children can be cruel sometimes, and if what Luke says is right, teachers can be too. In the end his parents took him out of his government school and put him in a private school, where he said the situation was a bit better. Not perfect, but better. God help those with the curse of being born a little different...

All the illustrations in the book were done by his sister Rachel, and I enjoyed them.

I shall end with a pic and some writing from the book, to give you a flavour of the talents of Luke and his sister.n  
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n    Adults seem to make a really big deal of getting people to look at them when they are talking. Apparently it is seen as rude if you don't look at least in the direction of the speaker. The world is full of so many stupid rules. I really hate this one....

When I look someone straight in the eye, particularly someone I am not familiar with, the feeling is so uncomfortable that I cannot really describe it. First of all I feel as if their eyes are burning me and I really feel as if I am looking into the face of an alien. I know this sounds rude but I am telling it how it is. If I get past that stage and don't look away, then whilst someone is talking I find myself staring really hard and looking at their features and completely forgetting to listen to what they are saying. Mum says when I was little I used to go right up to people and stare in their faces. They probably looked funny - I often have to stop myself from giggling when I examine people's faces; there are some very strange ones around!

Sometimes it is too hard to concentrate on listening and looking at the same time. People are hard enough to understand as their words are often so very cryptic, but when their faces are moving around, their eyebrows rising and falling and their eyes getting wider then squinting, I cannot fathom all that out in one go, so to be honest I don't even try....."
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April 26,2025
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Just what we and our daughter needed. She is 13 and has recently been diagnosed with High-Functioning Autism. Refreshing to read a book written by a 13yo - the view from inside the mind of a person with Asperger's. Luke is from a large family in England and is not the only sibling with difficulties, which helps with his perspective. Transition to secondary school is a stressful time and much harder for AS children, as we can attest. Luke offers lots of useful advice for AS people and those working with and caring for them.
April 26,2025
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Interesting book- loved that it was from a younger person’s perspective.

It is a bit out of date now (it references Aspergers as similar to, but not the same as autism, as was previously commonly believed), but still a worthwhile read. I do hope that at some point after this book was published it was realized that his mother and sister Sara also had autism. He mentions their symptoms frequently throughout the book but it appears that at the time they were undiagnosed- and women going undiagnosed was at the time (and still is) very common.

Overall I enjoyed it. As someone newly diagnosed, but diagnosed late in life, it brought up a lot of memories from my younger years and gave me more insight into how my younger years were influenced by my own autism.
April 26,2025
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Some interesting insights but slightly disappointed (and in places annoyed.) Could have done with better editing. My advice would be read before you give it to your autistic child/ teenager. However am now seriously considering taekwondo classes (maybe for all of us!)
April 26,2025
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This is a great book to explain to people the different view that ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder - this is not just relevant to AS) kids have of the world. And it is also a great book for ASD people, as it gives much support. i.e. there is nothing wrong with being different, if others don't like it that is their problem.
April 26,2025
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A client loaned this to me- It is a good read. It is unique in that it is written by 13-year old boy with Aspergers Syndrome, so it is geared towards teens w/ AS. However, parents, clinicians, school workers, etc could benefit from reading this. It is a quick read, and gives good points about what it is like to deal with this disorder.
April 26,2025
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Definitely some parts I don’t agree with or find outdated , but otherwise I think this is very informative and well written , even the language used by Luke shows how autistic people think and process.
April 26,2025
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having Aspergers myself, i found it to be delightfull and very true. some of his quirks i could relate to directly but what i found best was the simplicity of the novel for anyone trying to understand those with Aspergers' and the amount of helpfull information for readers !
April 26,2025
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I am a third of the way through and so far it is describing my younger brother almost exactly, at least as a teenager. (I was going to say "to a 't'" but I don't want to alienate people with AS who don't get idioms.)
April 26,2025
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I didn't get anything out of it. This is meant for kids to read and maybe it would help Aspie kids feel a little more "normal" but as a parent of an Aspie kid, it gave me no more insight than I already had.
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