Screaming Quietly

by Evan Jacobs

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. .Ian Taylor lives a secret life. At school he's a varsity football player, dating one of the hottest cheerleaders on campus. At home he's his divorced mother's right hand, helping her to keep his younger autistic brother, Davey, in line. To Ian, Davey is

Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, School, Fiction

212 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2013

Reviews

[Michael]

This book is awesome. I really like this book because it's about a real struggle that he have to go through. One of his issue is that he doesn't want to people at his school to know that his brother is mental. He always try to spend time with him at school and at home but they always end up fighting. Another reason is that he plays varsity football and their quarter back doesn't like him. He would bully him and talk about his brother but people doesn't know about his brother yet. He have this girlfriend that is the prettiest cheerleader at their school, and he try's to tell her that his brother his mental, when he finally did she said she doesn't care if his brother is mental. He felt very great because he's glad that she doesn't care like other people.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just okay. Quick read and the topic had potential: kid with austistic brother trying to keep his family life under wraps because he is embarrassed by it. But the main character wasn't nearly developed enough for me to feel any kind of connection. There's actually a sentence in the book that says (of the main character),"He internalized too many emotions." I would rather read a book that is actually making me feel those emotions. Not only does this one not make me feel them, it doesn't even show the main character feeling them. Just tells me that he's internalized them. So, yeah, have to say this one was a disappointment.

[C Montaño]

Disappointing read. The story of a boy dealing with his familial issues, including a sibling with autism, definitely had potential but this book didn't rise to the occasion. I read it all but felt as though I skimmed it because the book lacks substance. The main character is missing depth. The story on a whole is not any more developed than any of its characters. It is just flat.

[Tashia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book isn’t going back into my classroom library. Ian is a self-centered protagonist who feels sorry for himself and doesn’t have a redeeming character arc, despite the fact that his Autistic brother exists almost solely as a foil for his supposed “character development.”

Davey, his younger but larger autistic brother, is portrayed in dehumanizing ways and only depicted from Ian’s perspective. Ian is embarrassed by his brother, and feels as if his entire life has been ruined because Davey was born. Their parents divorced, and their mom is left to take care of Davey alone in a tiny rental while their dad is living a lavish lifestyle & is about to remarry a successful woman who has a high-paying job & no kids. The dad gets through his weekends with his kids by parking Davey in front of an iPad & ignoring them both. On one visit Ian becomes so upset that he walks out of his father’s Brentwood home & wanders around LA before randomly stumbling upon some rough-looking Latinos who jump him simply because he’s a white boy walking around South of Pico.

As if the ableism isn’t bad enough, the author just had to throw in some gratuitous racism too.

The entire book is 🗑

[Corbin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was okay i mean the basis of the book was pretty good but i lost interest about half way through. but what i really like is the struggle ian went through to keep people from finding out about his brother. from taking outside to micdonalds to not letting anyone come over. but he still tries to make times for his friends and his brother(davey). another reason i liked the book is the fact that he is a athlete with home life problems. and that really speaks to me from experience. but it didn't help him that there QB hated him for taking his buddies position. so he bullied hi a made fun of his brother once he found out. and again one thing i liked was the fact that he had a girlfriend always trying to be with him even though he couldn't. he finally tells his girlfriend about his brother and he feels so good about it. what i didn't like is that it went off topic a lot and changed topic a lot for no reason.

[Addie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book disgusted me. I personally have a brother (and a sister) who has special needs and I feel for Davey (boy who has autism in the book) so much. All these precious people want is to be treated like everyone else. The way Ian ignores his brother around his friends to make him feel better about himself is disgusting. I cant imagine EVER being too embarrassed by my siblings in public, especially around my friends. The mother and father in this book is the worst thing about it. They should be teaching their son to be accepting of his brother and his disability. BOTH of them just ignore the fact that Ian has question about his brother and that it bothers him. All in all this book is terrible and should not be a book.

[Tommy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book it is about this kid who goes through a life with an autistic kid like my brother

[Madison Loe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this it was very intresting

[Moose · Rating 5 out of 5]

He was mean and beat up his brother recommend if you want a laugh.

[Gus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because it leads you on and makes you want to read more and more each time you pick up the book.

[Alex Kinney · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a really quick and easy read but was not but I expected it to be. Its a boy named Ian that is basically living a secret life because he has a little brother with Autism and he does not want anyone to find out about him. Ian is the only sophomore to make the varsity football team but he has to miss a lot of practices because he has to help his mom with this autistic brother. Davey starts to go to Ian school and now Ian has to ignore his own brother in school. This book didnt have any really good parts to it, it was just really basic and nothing that was fun or creative about it. I didnt really like the end I thought that Ian would have learned his lesson but all he did was just say thats my brother. I would not recommended this book.

[Sean Kottke]

Second read for a forthcoming Under the Radar column. This is a searing, cathartic depiction of a family's coping with autism through the eyes of a neurotypical older sibling. The autistic and neurotypical brothers are foils, and the contrast between their behaviors and reactions to a variety of stressful scenarios provides a dramatic illustration not only of key aspects of autism, but also of timeless social difficulties faced by neurotypical adolescent males.

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely a quick read and proved to me it was indeed appropriate to a younger audience. I was surprised at the mindset of the main character, Ian Taylor, considering he is in high school. However, it did give off an impression that the author understood what would go through the mind of someone who is put into such a situation as he was.

[TheSaint · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did just what a Hi-Lo book should do: stick to a simple plot, simple characters, and simple diction. Screaming Quietly did all that, and portrayed the life of a family with an autistic child through the eyes of the older brother with ample clarity.

[Hannah Kiffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like the ending. Ian didn't receive the punishment he deserved.

[Lainey H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as I was expecting but still O.K. Characters were not very fully developed.