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The First Thing About You
A high school student with spinal muscular atrophy is determined to reinvent himself.
When fifteen-year-old Harris moves with his family from California (home of beautiful-but-inaccessible beaches) to New Jersey (home of some much-hyped pizza and bagels), he’s determined to be known as more than just the kid in the powered wheelchair. Armed with his favorite getting-to-know-you question (“What’s your favorite color?”), he’ll weed out the incompatible people—the greens and the purples, people who are too close to his own blue to make for good friends—and surround himself with outgoing yellows, adventurous oranges, and even thrilling reds. But first things first: he needs to find a new nurse, stat, so that his mom doesn’t have to keep accompanying him to school.
Enter Miranda, a young nursing student who graduated from Harris’s new high school. Beautiful, confident, and the perfect blend of orange and red, Miranda sees Harris for who he really is—funny, smart, and totally worthy of the affections of Nory Fischer, the cute girl who’s in most of his classes. With Miranda at his side, Harris soon befriends geeky Zander (yellow) and even makes headway with Nory (who stubbornly refuses to reveal her favorite color). But Miranda is fighting her own demons, and Harris starts to wonder if she truly has his best interests at heart.
When fifteen-year-old Harris moves with his family from California (home of beautiful-but-inaccessible beaches) to New Jersey (home of some much-hyped pizza and bagels), he’s determined to be known as more than just the kid in the powered wheelchair. Armed with his favorite getting-to-know-you question (“What’s your favorite color?”), he’ll weed out the incompatible people—the greens and the purples, people who are too close to his own blue to make for good friends—and surround himself with outgoing yellows, adventurous oranges, and even thrilling reds. But first things first: he needs to find a new nurse, stat, so that his mom doesn’t have to keep accompanying him to school.
Enter Miranda, a young nursing student who graduated from Harris’s new high school. Beautiful, confident, and the perfect blend of orange and red, Miranda sees Harris for who he really is—funny, smart, and totally worthy of the affections of Nory Fischer, the cute girl who’s in most of his classes. With Miranda at his side, Harris soon befriends geeky Zander (yellow) and even makes headway with Nory (who stubbornly refuses to reveal her favorite color). But Miranda is fighting her own demons, and Harris starts to wonder if she truly has his best interests at heart.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published September 6, 2022
29 people are currently reading
1553 people want to read
About the author
Chaz Hayden
2 books51 followersChaz Hayden is the author of the YA novel The First Thing About You. Through his writing and his YouTube channel, he speaks with abundant positivity and encourages people to “Be different. Leave a trail.” He grew up in New Jersey and now lives in Pennsylvania, where he highlights accessibility in his community and spends too much time thinking about his next tattoo and what concerts to attend. Chaz Hayden is also a director at Ballers & Bookworms, a nonprofit that supports underserved student-athletes. Follow him on social media @TheChazHayden.
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September 9, 2023
Hands Down One of the Funniest Books!
Harris, a high school student with spinal muscular atrophy moves with his family from California to New Jersey. His favorite getting-to-know-you question is “What’s your favorite color?”. He is looking for outgoing yellows, adventurous oranges, and thrilling red.
To avoid going to school with his mum, Harris finds a new nurse Miranda. Together, Harris befriends a yellow Zander and Nory (who won’t reveal her favorite color). But what is Miranda hiding? So what is your favorite color?
The First Thing About You is the second most funny book that I have read (only behind A Man Called Ove).
The writing itself is extremely smooth and highly readable. There are short sentences and paragraph, no slogging through page long mega paragraphs or shifting through overly flowery prose.
For those of you who don’t know me, during the summer of 2020, I wanted to run a 5K competitively. However, I was in for the fight of my life. I started to faint up to 10 days per day, losing control over my left leg, stumbling, and walking into walls. I never thought that I would be able to walk again.
My family and I went to the ends of the Earth to search for answers. At the Mayo Clinic, they discovered that I was dying and needed heart surgery. A couple of months later, I had another heart surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.
After an experimental treatment which involved an anti-malaria medication (and I don't have malaria), I can now control my left leg and can walk again! But I learned something through this experience. Actually quite a few things.
One of them is how the disabled community needs to be seen. I can’t tell you how many times people would not make eye contact with me while I was in a wheelchair. Or worse yet people would stare at me and then look away like they were some master stealthy super spy. Yeah. They were really subtle.
The First Thing About You is a great reminder that people in wheelchairs should be treated with respect. Make eye contact. Talk to the person in the wheelchair and not just their pusher. Please don’t put plants on the wheelchair ramp. Don’t assume that someone who looks “normal” doesn’t have a disability.
The First Thing About You does that but isn’t preachy or pushy at all. I really enjoyed this lighthearted, quick read.
*Thanks, Edelweiss, for a free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and unbiased opinion!
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Harris, a high school student with spinal muscular atrophy moves with his family from California to New Jersey. His favorite getting-to-know-you question is “What’s your favorite color?”. He is looking for outgoing yellows, adventurous oranges, and thrilling red.
To avoid going to school with his mum, Harris finds a new nurse Miranda. Together, Harris befriends a yellow Zander and Nory (who won’t reveal her favorite color). But what is Miranda hiding? So what is your favorite color?
The First Thing About You is the second most funny book that I have read (only behind A Man Called Ove).
The writing itself is extremely smooth and highly readable. There are short sentences and paragraph, no slogging through page long mega paragraphs or shifting through overly flowery prose.
For those of you who don’t know me, during the summer of 2020, I wanted to run a 5K competitively. However, I was in for the fight of my life. I started to faint up to 10 days per day, losing control over my left leg, stumbling, and walking into walls. I never thought that I would be able to walk again.
My family and I went to the ends of the Earth to search for answers. At the Mayo Clinic, they discovered that I was dying and needed heart surgery. A couple of months later, I had another heart surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.
After an experimental treatment which involved an anti-malaria medication (and I don't have malaria), I can now control my left leg and can walk again! But I learned something through this experience. Actually quite a few things.
One of them is how the disabled community needs to be seen. I can’t tell you how many times people would not make eye contact with me while I was in a wheelchair. Or worse yet people would stare at me and then look away like they were some master stealthy super spy. Yeah. They were really subtle.
The First Thing About You is a great reminder that people in wheelchairs should be treated with respect. Make eye contact. Talk to the person in the wheelchair and not just their pusher. Please don’t put plants on the wheelchair ramp. Don’t assume that someone who looks “normal” doesn’t have a disability.
The First Thing About You does that but isn’t preachy or pushy at all. I really enjoyed this lighthearted, quick read.
*Thanks, Edelweiss, for a free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and unbiased opinion!
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June 8, 2022
Thank you to Edelweiss Plus and Candlewick for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
This was a sweet read! The First Thing About You is absolutely a book of firsts. We follow fifteen-year-old Harris, a high school student with spinal muscular atrophy, as he navigates his way through his first party, first kiss, first beer, first concert, first heartbreak, and more. I was gushing during Harris's first date; he cannot feed himself and was so nervous that Nory would react strangely to his needing assistance. Her response? "Duh!" It was truly beautiful to see Harris begin to understand that people aren't always focused solely on his wheelchair. Rather, many individuals are focused on Harris himself and what's inside. Important to note is that the author also has SMA, which he speaks openly about through his YouTube channel. I feel like I got to learn so many pieces of Chaz just by reading Harris's story. I would love to read more!
This was a sweet read! The First Thing About You is absolutely a book of firsts. We follow fifteen-year-old Harris, a high school student with spinal muscular atrophy, as he navigates his way through his first party, first kiss, first beer, first concert, first heartbreak, and more. I was gushing during Harris's first date; he cannot feed himself and was so nervous that Nory would react strangely to his needing assistance. Her response? "Duh!" It was truly beautiful to see Harris begin to understand that people aren't always focused solely on his wheelchair. Rather, many individuals are focused on Harris himself and what's inside. Important to note is that the author also has SMA, which he speaks openly about through his YouTube channel. I feel like I got to learn so many pieces of Chaz just by reading Harris's story. I would love to read more!
July 11, 2022
The First Thing about You is the story of fifteen-year-old Harris, who is in a wheelchair and has spinal muscular atrophy. The book is humorous and moving, and very informative. I felt like I was reading a non-fiction book in fiction form. This story is clearly written by an author who knows what he is talking about, and everything that happened felt just right.
I loved to see Harris’ story through his eyes. The way he compared people with their favorite colors, it always fitted so well. Miranda was the best nurse Harris could have. I burst out laughing when she told him she smoked in high school, even pot. Or the moments she dictated what he should text to Nory. But Miranda had another side as well, a dark past. Harris’ family was the best, and Nory and Zander were such great friends, even though Harris could be a jerk too.
In my opinion, the story could even have been stronger if it had been written in first person, present tense instead of past tense. It’s a very personal preference, so others could feel completely different. In addition, I disliked the use of ‘my mom’ and ‘our parents’. When it’s first-person writing, I want to be in the MCs head. When the MC calls their parents ‘my mom’ or ‘our parents’ I have the feeling that they’re telling a story to me. Again a personal preference.
Overall, I really liked the story and recommend it to everyone who wants to know more about Spinal Muscular Atrophy or just wants to read a hilarious story about a teen who wants to do what every teen does at his age.
I received an ARC from Candlewick Press and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
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I loved to see Harris’ story through his eyes. The way he compared people with their favorite colors, it always fitted so well. Miranda was the best nurse Harris could have. I burst out laughing when she told him she smoked in high school, even pot. Or the moments she dictated what he should text to Nory. But Miranda had another side as well, a dark past. Harris’ family was the best, and Nory and Zander were such great friends, even though Harris could be a jerk too.
In my opinion, the story could even have been stronger if it had been written in first person, present tense instead of past tense. It’s a very personal preference, so others could feel completely different. In addition, I disliked the use of ‘my mom’ and ‘our parents’. When it’s first-person writing, I want to be in the MCs head. When the MC calls their parents ‘my mom’ or ‘our parents’ I have the feeling that they’re telling a story to me. Again a personal preference.
Overall, I really liked the story and recommend it to everyone who wants to know more about Spinal Muscular Atrophy or just wants to read a hilarious story about a teen who wants to do what every teen does at his age.
I received an ARC from Candlewick Press and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
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November 13, 2022
I wanted to love this book, but was left disappointed. I wish the publishers did a better job. The book blurb (a funny YA novel about a fifteen year old with spinal muscular atrophy who uses colour psychology to assess people) and some early praise online set the bar high.
The fact that this is a novel amazon deemed appropriate for 14 year olds made me feel rather uneasy about Harris’ relationship with his nurse, Miranda. (Some spoilers ahead). Why would a twenty-something woman climb into bed with a 15 year old boy??? …. A boy that admitted he loved her, by the way. And this is not a plot device or something that we circle back to later. It is just.... left there. Miranda also trauma dumped on him of her friend overdosing on heroin (like… are you serious? To this 15 year old boy?), kissed him, and was jokingly flirting back. This is a little risky to me because younger audiences are more impressionable and if this type of content is included casually, it signals that it is ok. (I was a preteen in the early 2000’s… so... need I say more? We should be better by now). I wouldn’t be comfortable if my 14 year old son read this book and I hope publishers do a better job of filtering out inappropriate content for younger audiences.
There were certainly funny moments, and I loved the colour psychology element. The writing was smooth and easy to read, but the book was definitely longer than it needed to be. Overall I commend the author for being vulnerable and writing about himself (as it is pretty clear this main character draws inspiration from him and his life), but I just wished the publishers did a better job. 2.5/5.
The fact that this is a novel amazon deemed appropriate for 14 year olds made me feel rather uneasy about Harris’ relationship with his nurse, Miranda. (Some spoilers ahead). Why would a twenty-something woman climb into bed with a 15 year old boy??? …. A boy that admitted he loved her, by the way. And this is not a plot device or something that we circle back to later. It is just.... left there. Miranda also trauma dumped on him of her friend overdosing on heroin (like… are you serious? To this 15 year old boy?), kissed him, and was jokingly flirting back. This is a little risky to me because younger audiences are more impressionable and if this type of content is included casually, it signals that it is ok. (I was a preteen in the early 2000’s… so... need I say more? We should be better by now). I wouldn’t be comfortable if my 14 year old son read this book and I hope publishers do a better job of filtering out inappropriate content for younger audiences.
There were certainly funny moments, and I loved the colour psychology element. The writing was smooth and easy to read, but the book was definitely longer than it needed to be. Overall I commend the author for being vulnerable and writing about himself (as it is pretty clear this main character draws inspiration from him and his life), but I just wished the publishers did a better job. 2.5/5.
March 18, 2024
Nie spodziewałam się, że ta książka AŻ TAK mnie poruszy. Wspaniała historia, która zwraca uwagę na niezwykle istotne aspekty oraz na rzeczywistość osób z niepełnosprawnościami. Na wizję świata, z którą muszą się borykać i na to, że inni chcą wypowiadać się za nich. Autor zwraca też uwagę na potęgowane w świecie stereotypy. Od głównego bohatera można nauczyć się wielu rzeczy. Stanowi ważny głos w dzisiejszym świecie.
Mamy też wątek związany ze stratą i z zakończeniem pewnej relacji. Pokazuje, że można ruszyć do przodu, jeśli tylko tak czujemy. Nie musimy dawać drugiej szansy osobie, która nas zawiodła. Zwłaszcza gdy jesteśmy już kimś innym niż za czasów świetności relacji z przeszłości…
Rozczulająca i WAŻNA powieść.
Coś w środku mnie się skleiło.
❤️🩹
Mamy też wątek związany ze stratą i z zakończeniem pewnej relacji. Pokazuje, że można ruszyć do przodu, jeśli tylko tak czujemy. Nie musimy dawać drugiej szansy osobie, która nas zawiodła. Zwłaszcza gdy jesteśmy już kimś innym niż za czasów świetności relacji z przeszłości…
Rozczulająca i WAŻNA powieść.
Coś w środku mnie się skleiło.
❤️🩹
September 8, 2022
Originally posted on Just Geeking by.
Content warnings:
I reviewed this book as part of GeekDis 2022 an event discussing disability representation in pop culture from the perspective of the disabled and neurodivergent community.
The First Thing About by Chaz Hayden is one of those books that as soon as I read the synopsis I knew I had to read it. There aren’t enough books about disabled teenagers, especially those who are severely disabled, use wheelchairs and/or require a nurse to accompany them to school, and too often they’re written by non-disabled authors. Hayden has the same condition as his protagonist Harris, spinal muscular atrophy and his first-hand experience takes The First Thing About You from being a good novel to an exceptional one.
You can tell Hayden’s drawn on his experiences because there are just some things you can’t make up. Every disabled person has a list of them, as do the families of any disabled or ill children who have had to battle the education system. There are a lot of scenes like that in The First Thing About You as Harris and his mother, Claire, do battle with his new school who make a lot of promises to support him and fail spectacularly at getting him at one of them. There’s a particular scene involving a nurse who accompanies Harris for a day to see how they get along, and she does something that has Harris quickly telling mom Claire that it’s not going to work out. You’re probably thinking of all the things a bad nurse could do at this point, and I can assure you, what she actually does is probably not on your list.
I’m not going to say that Harris is just a “normal” kid because he’s not, and he is well aware of that. For a start, no one else has to have their mom go to school with them because the agency hasn’t been able to find a suitable nurse for Harris yet. That’s every teenager’s worse nightmare and that doesn’t change whether you’re disabled or not. Harris’ life is different, and Hayden doesn’t shy away from showing that, but he also excels in showing that Harris is a teenage boy. He’s just as nervous about starting a new school as anyone else would be, and he’s determined that it’s a fresh start. He even has the perfect get to know you question; “what is your favourite colour?”. Everyone has a favourite colours and Harris knows that colours can tell you a lot about a person.
So when a cute girl keeps crossing his path and refuses to tell him what her favourite colour is, Harris is equally confused, worried and smitten. The more time he spends with Nory, the more he likes her, however, his knowledge of colours tells him that if her favourite colour is something too close to his favourite, blue, then their relationship won’t work out.
Just as Harris is trying to navigate high school, friendship and teenage love, his new nurse Miranda comes into his life. A nursing student, Miranda used to go to Harris’ high school and has all the inside scoop about the teachers. She’s young and fun, nothing like any nurse he has ever had before. She sees him struggling to work out what is happening with Nory, and he sees her wanting to become the best nurse she can be. The two of them make a pact; she’ll teach him about girls, and he’ll teach her to be a nurse.
I want to emphasise now that The First Thing About You does not turn into a carer/disabled person romance trope nor does anything inappropriate happen. The role Miranda plays in this book is as a bridge between adulthood and adolescence, as someone who is taking their steps out of one world and into the other. As the synopsis suggests, Miranda has her own story, and it’s complicated. She’s been through a lot and when she meets Harris she hasn’t worked through them. While she helps Harris in many ways, this is also a book about the harm that we can do to others if we don’t look after ourselves first.
One of the things I liked most about The First Thing About was the way it explored family dynamics. I’ve mentioned Harris’ mom Claire a few times already, and she is a big part of this novel. Hayden does a great job of showing how complex people are with his writing, and this particularly shows in how he writes Claire. As I said Claire accompanies Harris to school when a nurse isn’t available and while she is worried and panicked like a normal mom outside of school, when she’s at school she’s Claire, not mom. She understands what it would do to Harris if people knew his mom was at school with him.
There are times in the book when her frustration with Harris’ school resonated deeply with me, and then there were times when I felt she crossed the line. Those were the moments when I recognised an adult struggling, a mother who was fighting a broken system in a new city alone as her husband’s new job is taking up many more hours than either of them expected. While I understood all of that it didn’t excuse the pressure she was putting on her fifteen-year-old son to deal with the school bureaucracy or talk to his nurse about running late. Claire isn’t a bad mother, she’s an imperfect one, and I appreciated that Hayden showed what the relationship between a disabled person and a carer relative is like. It’s frustrating, it’s messy, and it’s still filled with love and ultimately that is what shines through in The First Thing About You.
Harris’ family feature a lot in The First Thing About. Whether it’s in the form of family dinners, weekend football game days or family outings. At first glance they seem to have a great relationship, however, over the course of the book it becomes obvious that’s not the case. Harris’ dad Jay is working a lot, and his brother Ollie is avoiding questions about his new school. By the end of the book Harris recognises that his relationship with his brother needs work, from his end. He’s changed a lot from the Harris we meet at the start, and it’s the people that he meets along the way that helped him step outside his comfort zone, to try new things and to not judge people by their choice of colour.
The way Hayden utilises colour in The First Thing About You is brilliant. It starts as a way for Harris to get through the difficult times when he’s younger, to connect with people and Hayden delves into how something that originally helped Harris has begun to limit his interactions with people. Rather than connecting with people he shies away from people based on what their favourite colour says about them. When Nory refuses to give him that information it conflicts with what he knows; people always have a favourite colour (mine are purple and teal if you’re wondering, like a typical libra I can’t pick just one!). She’s an enigma, her favourite colour a mystery and as their relationship develops Harris begins to understand that maybe he doesn’t need to know what her favourite colour is after all.
The First Thing About is a fantastic novel that will make you laugh, cry, fill your heart with joy and equally make you scream in frustration at ableism existing in this world. Disabled readers will particularly appreciate Harris’ tongue in cheek commentary and sarcasm as Hayden delivers this classic boy-in-a-wheelchair meets girl love story with just the right mix of humour. This has quickly gone on my recommended list and I would definitely recommend looking to see what Hayden releases next!
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Content warnings:
I reviewed this book as part of GeekDis 2022 an event discussing disability representation in pop culture from the perspective of the disabled and neurodivergent community.
The First Thing About by Chaz Hayden is one of those books that as soon as I read the synopsis I knew I had to read it. There aren’t enough books about disabled teenagers, especially those who are severely disabled, use wheelchairs and/or require a nurse to accompany them to school, and too often they’re written by non-disabled authors. Hayden has the same condition as his protagonist Harris, spinal muscular atrophy and his first-hand experience takes The First Thing About You from being a good novel to an exceptional one.
You can tell Hayden’s drawn on his experiences because there are just some things you can’t make up. Every disabled person has a list of them, as do the families of any disabled or ill children who have had to battle the education system. There are a lot of scenes like that in The First Thing About You as Harris and his mother, Claire, do battle with his new school who make a lot of promises to support him and fail spectacularly at getting him at one of them. There’s a particular scene involving a nurse who accompanies Harris for a day to see how they get along, and she does something that has Harris quickly telling mom Claire that it’s not going to work out. You’re probably thinking of all the things a bad nurse could do at this point, and I can assure you, what she actually does is probably not on your list.
I’m not going to say that Harris is just a “normal” kid because he’s not, and he is well aware of that. For a start, no one else has to have their mom go to school with them because the agency hasn’t been able to find a suitable nurse for Harris yet. That’s every teenager’s worse nightmare and that doesn’t change whether you’re disabled or not. Harris’ life is different, and Hayden doesn’t shy away from showing that, but he also excels in showing that Harris is a teenage boy. He’s just as nervous about starting a new school as anyone else would be, and he’s determined that it’s a fresh start. He even has the perfect get to know you question; “what is your favourite colour?”. Everyone has a favourite colours and Harris knows that colours can tell you a lot about a person.
So when a cute girl keeps crossing his path and refuses to tell him what her favourite colour is, Harris is equally confused, worried and smitten. The more time he spends with Nory, the more he likes her, however, his knowledge of colours tells him that if her favourite colour is something too close to his favourite, blue, then their relationship won’t work out.
Just as Harris is trying to navigate high school, friendship and teenage love, his new nurse Miranda comes into his life. A nursing student, Miranda used to go to Harris’ high school and has all the inside scoop about the teachers. She’s young and fun, nothing like any nurse he has ever had before. She sees him struggling to work out what is happening with Nory, and he sees her wanting to become the best nurse she can be. The two of them make a pact; she’ll teach him about girls, and he’ll teach her to be a nurse.
I want to emphasise now that The First Thing About You does not turn into a carer/disabled person romance trope nor does anything inappropriate happen. The role Miranda plays in this book is as a bridge between adulthood and adolescence, as someone who is taking their steps out of one world and into the other. As the synopsis suggests, Miranda has her own story, and it’s complicated. She’s been through a lot and when she meets Harris she hasn’t worked through them. While she helps Harris in many ways, this is also a book about the harm that we can do to others if we don’t look after ourselves first.
One of the things I liked most about The First Thing About was the way it explored family dynamics. I’ve mentioned Harris’ mom Claire a few times already, and she is a big part of this novel. Hayden does a great job of showing how complex people are with his writing, and this particularly shows in how he writes Claire. As I said Claire accompanies Harris to school when a nurse isn’t available and while she is worried and panicked like a normal mom outside of school, when she’s at school she’s Claire, not mom. She understands what it would do to Harris if people knew his mom was at school with him.
There are times in the book when her frustration with Harris’ school resonated deeply with me, and then there were times when I felt she crossed the line. Those were the moments when I recognised an adult struggling, a mother who was fighting a broken system in a new city alone as her husband’s new job is taking up many more hours than either of them expected. While I understood all of that it didn’t excuse the pressure she was putting on her fifteen-year-old son to deal with the school bureaucracy or talk to his nurse about running late. Claire isn’t a bad mother, she’s an imperfect one, and I appreciated that Hayden showed what the relationship between a disabled person and a carer relative is like. It’s frustrating, it’s messy, and it’s still filled with love and ultimately that is what shines through in The First Thing About You.
Harris’ family feature a lot in The First Thing About. Whether it’s in the form of family dinners, weekend football game days or family outings. At first glance they seem to have a great relationship, however, over the course of the book it becomes obvious that’s not the case. Harris’ dad Jay is working a lot, and his brother Ollie is avoiding questions about his new school. By the end of the book Harris recognises that his relationship with his brother needs work, from his end. He’s changed a lot from the Harris we meet at the start, and it’s the people that he meets along the way that helped him step outside his comfort zone, to try new things and to not judge people by their choice of colour.
The way Hayden utilises colour in The First Thing About You is brilliant. It starts as a way for Harris to get through the difficult times when he’s younger, to connect with people and Hayden delves into how something that originally helped Harris has begun to limit his interactions with people. Rather than connecting with people he shies away from people based on what their favourite colour says about them. When Nory refuses to give him that information it conflicts with what he knows; people always have a favourite colour (mine are purple and teal if you’re wondering, like a typical libra I can’t pick just one!). She’s an enigma, her favourite colour a mystery and as their relationship develops Harris begins to understand that maybe he doesn’t need to know what her favourite colour is after all.
The First Thing About is a fantastic novel that will make you laugh, cry, fill your heart with joy and equally make you scream in frustration at ableism existing in this world. Disabled readers will particularly appreciate Harris’ tongue in cheek commentary and sarcasm as Hayden delivers this classic boy-in-a-wheelchair meets girl love story with just the right mix of humour. This has quickly gone on my recommended list and I would definitely recommend looking to see what Hayden releases next!
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July 11, 2023
3,5 ★
“𝙄 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙖 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙖 𝙜𝙤𝙖𝙡”
The story in general was very beautiful and I was infested from the start. I’m sad that the love story between Harris and Nory was slowly fading away and instead it become a story between Harris and his nurse Miranda having a pretty uncomfortable relationship, because Miranda doesn’t know that some things should not be said or done to a 15 year old boy you are taking care of. I don’t know if that was the point of the book, to show how much power a nurse can have and the conflicted emotions they can bring up in, especially, their younger patients. I do think that was the point of the story, but I’m not a 100% sure.
Harris was just a 15 year old trying to survive high school and get a girl and be a teenager while making stupid decisions and being better at getting the girl at 15 than some dudes at 25. How he treated Zander makes me want to %*%£%£€, but he’s just a kid so Imma let him fix it himself- and he did.
It was fun reading about Harris navigating through life and it was painful to see the effect Miranda had on him. Like, really painful at times.
I wish we got more Nory- you go in this book thinking it is Nory and Harris but slowly it’s not Nory and Harris anymore and it kind of made her character…. Disappear? You know what I mean? Anyways, I wanted more Nory 🔪
I loved the mom in here she was such a 𝘮𝘰𝘮 and the way she cared about Harris was beautiful. She came up for him, lectured him and cared for him. This book really made me appreciate all the mothers around the world 10x more than I already did.
I also really liked how imperfectly perfect Harris his family was. I was reading a book about a main character with a good home situation (even if they had their struggles and imperfections) and it was refreshing. It made me so happy to see the family be a family🥹
Also, Maybe I want a book about Ollie bc🤭🤭🤭 he was annoying sometimes but I guess that’s how older brothers are. The relationship between Ollie and Harris was very cute and you can really see how they care about each other 🥹🥹🥹
If you are curious about the things the nurse has done, let me show you 😊
→ The penis thing was not okay. This is a 15 year old boy, you are a 20+ year old nurse in practice, behave like one. (He said he liked her and she said “is it because I’m holding your penis?”….. she’s a nurse who helps him bc he can’t do things like that on his own and THATS what you say?)
→ The nurse kissed the 15 year old boy on the lips so he could have his first kiss 😀 she’s 20+ and his NURSE- that makes me very uncomfortable
→ Harris left his window open when he went to bed and she climbed through it and laid next to him SUPER close to him bc she had nowhere to go and boy woke up like “who tf is in my bed” and she just laid there, next to him, the parents not knowing a thing, and told him how her best friend died and their drug use 🥰🥰🥰 very normal
→ A conversation between a 20+ year old nurse and the 15 year old boy she takes care of:
“𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘙-𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?”,
“𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘜𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘺”
“𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘭𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴. 𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘣, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨”
“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴”
“𝘕𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺”
→ she gave Harris WHEN HE WAS SICK a VAPE to help with BREATHING and said “but apparently, marijuana can help with breathing issues” WITHOUT TALKING WITH THE MOM (spoiler: he had to go to the hospital after that)
Idk maybe I’m being dramatic, but it just made me uncomfortable. Again, maybe the author wanted to send a message.
I don’t think Miranda is a bad bad person though? While reading, you read a lot of things you don’t like, but it’s not like she wants to hurt him and it’s like she doesn’t even notice what she’s doing is bad yk? That doesn’t mean the things she did were okay AT ALL. I guess it means someone needs to talk with her and help her. It was like her only friend was the 15 year old boy she helps and I’m pretty sure that’s not healthy.
“𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙬𝙚’𝙫𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙”
Anyways, thank you to the friend that bought me this 😊 I wanted to give this 3 stars but I’ll give it 3,5 for you 💗
“𝙄 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙖 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙖 𝙜𝙤𝙖𝙡”
The story in general was very beautiful and I was infested from the start. I’m sad that the love story between Harris and Nory was slowly fading away and instead it become a story between Harris and his nurse Miranda having a pretty uncomfortable relationship, because Miranda doesn’t know that some things should not be said or done to a 15 year old boy you are taking care of. I don’t know if that was the point of the book, to show how much power a nurse can have and the conflicted emotions they can bring up in, especially, their younger patients. I do think that was the point of the story, but I’m not a 100% sure.
Harris was just a 15 year old trying to survive high school and get a girl and be a teenager while making stupid decisions and being better at getting the girl at 15 than some dudes at 25. How he treated Zander makes me want to %*%£%£€, but he’s just a kid so Imma let him fix it himself- and he did.
It was fun reading about Harris navigating through life and it was painful to see the effect Miranda had on him. Like, really painful at times.
I wish we got more Nory- you go in this book thinking it is Nory and Harris but slowly it’s not Nory and Harris anymore and it kind of made her character…. Disappear? You know what I mean? Anyways, I wanted more Nory 🔪
I loved the mom in here she was such a 𝘮𝘰𝘮 and the way she cared about Harris was beautiful. She came up for him, lectured him and cared for him. This book really made me appreciate all the mothers around the world 10x more than I already did.
I also really liked how imperfectly perfect Harris his family was. I was reading a book about a main character with a good home situation (even if they had their struggles and imperfections) and it was refreshing. It made me so happy to see the family be a family🥹
Also, Maybe I want a book about Ollie bc🤭🤭🤭 he was annoying sometimes but I guess that’s how older brothers are. The relationship between Ollie and Harris was very cute and you can really see how they care about each other 🥹🥹🥹
If you are curious about the things the nurse has done, let me show you 😊
→ The penis thing was not okay. This is a 15 year old boy, you are a 20+ year old nurse in practice, behave like one. (He said he liked her and she said “is it because I’m holding your penis?”….. she’s a nurse who helps him bc he can’t do things like that on his own and THATS what you say?)
→ The nurse kissed the 15 year old boy on the lips so he could have his first kiss 😀 she’s 20+ and his NURSE- that makes me very uncomfortable
→ Harris left his window open when he went to bed and she climbed through it and laid next to him SUPER close to him bc she had nowhere to go and boy woke up like “who tf is in my bed” and she just laid there, next to him, the parents not knowing a thing, and told him how her best friend died and their drug use 🥰🥰🥰 very normal
→ A conversation between a 20+ year old nurse and the 15 year old boy she takes care of:
“𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘙-𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?”,
“𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘜𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘺”
“𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘭𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴. 𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘣, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨”
“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴”
“𝘕𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺”
→ she gave Harris WHEN HE WAS SICK a VAPE to help with BREATHING and said “but apparently, marijuana can help with breathing issues” WITHOUT TALKING WITH THE MOM (spoiler: he had to go to the hospital after that)
Idk maybe I’m being dramatic, but it just made me uncomfortable. Again, maybe the author wanted to send a message.
I don’t think Miranda is a bad bad person though? While reading, you read a lot of things you don’t like, but it’s not like she wants to hurt him and it’s like she doesn’t even notice what she’s doing is bad yk? That doesn’t mean the things she did were okay AT ALL. I guess it means someone needs to talk with her and help her. It was like her only friend was the 15 year old boy she helps and I’m pretty sure that’s not healthy.
“𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙬𝙚’𝙫𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙”
Anyways, thank you to the friend that bought me this 😊 I wanted to give this 3 stars but I’ll give it 3,5 for you 💗
December 28, 2024
This book had one of the best depictions of what it’s like to have muscular dystrophy that I’ve ever read. The little details of the ableist microaggressions disabled people face, the breathing treatments some disabled people do, and the internalized ableism some disabled people must grapple with can only really be written about accurately by a disabled author like Chaz Hayden. Harris was a funny and imperfect character and he acted like a real teenage boy, just one with some extra challenges in his life. I’m only removing a star because some of the plot points with Miranda were so far fetched and I think more could have been done to show more chemistry between Harris and Nory. Harris should’ve realized earlier that Miranda was crossing a line with her behavior. I knew Harris liked Nory, but I wanted to see more about her liking him in a romantic capacity.
July 15, 2022
Harris is a fifteen-year-old doing his best to be a normal teenager. The only problem? He has spinal muscular atrophy, rendering him wheelchair-bound, which is something that a lot of people cannot see past. As Harris notes, 'I would never be normal in the eyes of society'. Nevertheless, Harris doesn't let society's misconceptions stop him from making the most out of his high school experience. He makes friends, goes to parties, and pursues the object of his affections, all while discovering that there are people out there who can accept him for who he is.
Chaz Hayden has hit the mark with this debut novel by tapping into his own lived experience (Hayden has the same condition as Harris) to create an authentic narrative voice. An abled person writing this could have easily fallen into the trap of relying on stereotypes, or reducing the disabled character to 'inspiration porn'. This is why it's important that marginalised and under-represented people are given a platform to tell their own stories.
Hayden shows us what it is like to live with a condition that renders you different to others, but he also highlights the commonalities we share that make us human. At its heart, this is a story about what it means to be a teenager searching for acceptance and a sense of belonging, which anyone can relate to.
Many thanks to Walker Books and NetGalley for providing me with a Digital Review Copy.
The First Thing About You is out on 6th September 2022.
Chaz Hayden has hit the mark with this debut novel by tapping into his own lived experience (Hayden has the same condition as Harris) to create an authentic narrative voice. An abled person writing this could have easily fallen into the trap of relying on stereotypes, or reducing the disabled character to 'inspiration porn'. This is why it's important that marginalised and under-represented people are given a platform to tell their own stories.
Hayden shows us what it is like to live with a condition that renders you different to others, but he also highlights the commonalities we share that make us human. At its heart, this is a story about what it means to be a teenager searching for acceptance and a sense of belonging, which anyone can relate to.
Many thanks to Walker Books and NetGalley for providing me with a Digital Review Copy.
The First Thing About You is out on 6th September 2022.
August 25, 2022
The First Thing About You is a funny and honest story about friendship, falling in love for the first time and finding your way as you grow up.
Harris and his family have just moved to New Jersey. For Harris, it’s a fresh start. No longer will he only be known as the guy in the wheelchair. It’s his time to break out of the box people put his in when they first see him. First thing on his list is a new aide to join him at school instead of his mother. Miranda is a young nursing student and seems to understand the real Harris. As Harris befriends the geeky Zander and the boys on the football team, he is also drawn to Nory. But friendship and love is hard to get right and Harris must learn to see beyond his own expectations, just as he wants others to do with him.
This is a fantastic coming of age story. Harris is a fantastic narrator. He likes to gauge his likelihood of getting along with someone by asking them about their favourite colour. It’s his way of making that snap judgement people usually apply to him after seeing him in his electric wheelchair. As he navigates starting at a new school, training his new nurse, parties, getting drunk and all the chaos of being a teenager, he also has to figure our falling and love and how to be a good friend. It might mean changing some of his thinking.
Harris is lucky to have a fantastic family and the characters are super important to the story. I loved how the many secondary characters were so well developed. His mother is super awesome.
This is an epic debut novel and I can’t wait to see what Chaz Hayden writes next. His style is hilarious and refreshing and this novel definitely fits into the own voices bracket, giving the story and Harris’s voice authenticity.
A must have for any school library collection, I can’t wait to share this delightful story with my readers.
The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.
Find more reviews, reading age guides, content advisory, and recommendations on my blog Madison's Library
Harris and his family have just moved to New Jersey. For Harris, it’s a fresh start. No longer will he only be known as the guy in the wheelchair. It’s his time to break out of the box people put his in when they first see him. First thing on his list is a new aide to join him at school instead of his mother. Miranda is a young nursing student and seems to understand the real Harris. As Harris befriends the geeky Zander and the boys on the football team, he is also drawn to Nory. But friendship and love is hard to get right and Harris must learn to see beyond his own expectations, just as he wants others to do with him.
This is a fantastic coming of age story. Harris is a fantastic narrator. He likes to gauge his likelihood of getting along with someone by asking them about their favourite colour. It’s his way of making that snap judgement people usually apply to him after seeing him in his electric wheelchair. As he navigates starting at a new school, training his new nurse, parties, getting drunk and all the chaos of being a teenager, he also has to figure our falling and love and how to be a good friend. It might mean changing some of his thinking.
Harris is lucky to have a fantastic family and the characters are super important to the story. I loved how the many secondary characters were so well developed. His mother is super awesome.
This is an epic debut novel and I can’t wait to see what Chaz Hayden writes next. His style is hilarious and refreshing and this novel definitely fits into the own voices bracket, giving the story and Harris’s voice authenticity.
A must have for any school library collection, I can’t wait to share this delightful story with my readers.
The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.
Find more reviews, reading age guides, content advisory, and recommendations on my blog Madison's Library
November 23, 2022
3.5 stars. This was a great audiobook! I loved Harris and Nory & Zander so much! Such great characters and great disability representation. But I felt so weird about Miranda’s entire role in the book. She acted so inappropriate with Harris and I felt like it was never addressed and her purpose was never fully explained.
September 12, 2022
Round up to 4.5 stars.
September 26, 2022
Round up to 4.5 stars.
March 18, 2024
Pierwszy raz miałam okazję przeczytać książkę o osobie niepełnosprawnej fizycznie, w dodatku pisanej przez taką osobę. Było to niesamowite doświadczenie, zupełnie inne od czegokolwiek, co czytałam wcześniej. Wątek Mirandy jest dla mnie dziwny i taki "niedokończony" – rozumiem, po co pojawiła się w książce, rozumiem, że była kolejną poranioną duszą w tej historii i rozumiem, dlaczego ostatecznie znalazła się w życiu Harrisa w miejscu, w którym się znalazła.
Nie rozumiem jedynie jego podejścia do niej od samego początku i faktu, że on ma 15/16 lat, a ona zapewne coś koło 23 (jeśli jej wiek był podany w książce, to tego nie zarejestrowałam, zgaduję po opisie roku studiów), a Harris rozpatruje ją pod kątem romantycznym (?) mając jednocześnie na oku Nory. Potraktuję ten element jako istniejący "dla fabuły" 🤓
Nie rozumiem jedynie jego podejścia do niej od samego początku i faktu, że on ma 15/16 lat, a ona zapewne coś koło 23 (jeśli jej wiek był podany w książce, to tego nie zarejestrowałam, zgaduję po opisie roku studiów), a Harris rozpatruje ją pod kątem romantycznym (?) mając jednocześnie na oku Nory. Potraktuję ten element jako istniejący "dla fabuły" 🤓
January 25, 2026
I LOVED this book! The disability inclusion is INCREDIBLE! Harris is in a wheelchair due to SMA. I had flashbacks to IEP meetings with the school district and my mom and eventually me (I joined them in middle school) though for me it was learning disabilities more so than physical . We even had multiple battles about laptops just like Harris! Thankfully for me most my issues were improved in high school when I went to a more supportive school for me and my learning disabilities (for him though that wouldn’t be needed). This book also had a lot of humor and detailed the struggles of most in high school. The book was extremely relatable ! I highly recommend this book!
October 9, 2022
This was quite engaging and I quite enjoyed it. All the characters were flawed and I sometimes just didn’t like them, which I think was the point.
July 6, 2023
A cute read with some good reminders. Always get to know the person in front of you, not just the person you can see.
April 14, 2024
3,75⭐️
Przyjemna książka jednak bez szału.
Przyjemna książka jednak bez szału.
March 26, 2024
3,25
Zakończenie mocno polepszyło , książka taka sobie ale miała parę fajnych momentów
Zakończenie mocno polepszyło , książka taka sobie ale miała parę fajnych momentów
August 23, 2025
2.5 ⭐️
January 28, 2024
I really liked the fact that this story springs into action from the very first page. We get the idea from the first page what Harris is going through, in his life, and about his thoughts and life in a wheelchair. If there’s one book I have to say is a must buy, must read, The First Thing About You, is it!
MY FAVOURITE LINES FROM THE BOOK PAGE 9
NEW JERSEY PIZZA
THE DAY BEFORE I MOVED to New Jersey, I told my only friend that I was okay with never seeing him again. Friend is a pretty generous word to describe us, but I wanted to feel like I was leaving something behind.
I’d always had a knack for burning bridges. This, I believed was a trait I inherited from my mom, who knows how to get on with life.
But lots of people come and go with little regard for the people they’re leaving. My nurses almost never look back. And I can’t let that bother me, because (a) most of them don’t think two thoughts about me in the first place and (b) I need to keep the revolving door turning to avoid a lapse in my care.
That’s not to say my parents aren’t capable of taking care of me, I wouldn’t have been alive and starting my sophomore year of high school without them. But they can’t do it every second of every day, so we hire nurses who are reliable enough to attend school with me and make sure I don’t die on their watch.
MY FAVOURITE LINES FROM THE BOOK PAGE 9
NEW JERSEY PIZZA
THE DAY BEFORE I MOVED to New Jersey, I told my only friend that I was okay with never seeing him again. Friend is a pretty generous word to describe us, but I wanted to feel like I was leaving something behind.
I’d always had a knack for burning bridges. This, I believed was a trait I inherited from my mom, who knows how to get on with life.
But lots of people come and go with little regard for the people they’re leaving. My nurses almost never look back. And I can’t let that bother me, because (a) most of them don’t think two thoughts about me in the first place and (b) I need to keep the revolving door turning to avoid a lapse in my care.
That’s not to say my parents aren’t capable of taking care of me, I wouldn’t have been alive and starting my sophomore year of high school without them. But they can’t do it every second of every day, so we hire nurses who are reliable enough to attend school with me and make sure I don’t die on their watch.
September 24, 2022
THE FIRST THING ABOUT YOU
Chaz Hayden
This was a sweet and funny coming of age story about Harris who is 15, very smart but stuck in a wheelchair with very little body mobility. The story moves along well and is an easy and enjoyable read.
Harris gets to know everyone by asking them about their favorite color and looks for those with compatible color choices. His dream is to have a hot nurse accompany him to school as his aid and at a new high school after a family move, his dream comes true. But while some of his dreams do, he soon realizes that everyone has their own dreams and demons as well.
4 stars
Happy Reading!
Chaz Hayden
This was a sweet and funny coming of age story about Harris who is 15, very smart but stuck in a wheelchair with very little body mobility. The story moves along well and is an easy and enjoyable read.
Harris gets to know everyone by asking them about their favorite color and looks for those with compatible color choices. His dream is to have a hot nurse accompany him to school as his aid and at a new high school after a family move, his dream comes true. But while some of his dreams do, he soon realizes that everyone has their own dreams and demons as well.
4 stars
Happy Reading!
October 27, 2022
I received a copy of this book by Harper and Collins through the Tandem Collective and its not a book I would’ve typically picked up as it is YA but I thoroughly enjoyed it!
The story was fairly fast-paced and so easy to read so it was super quick to get through and I finished it within a few hours because of how easy and enjoyable it was to digest.
All the characters within this book were so individual and interesting and all played an integral part to the story which I loved. I really enjoyed how the teenage experience in this book felt so accurate to life with typical relationship and reputation worries that teenagers have. It is made even better though from the perspective of someone who is disabled which adds such a unique perspective to the story. I think I would’ve absolutely enjoyed this book when I was in high school and would have related to Harris quite a bit.
I thought the plot was really enjoyable and page turning even though nothing crazy happens, it’s just a fun read!
My only downsides were that I did find Harris to be a bit annoying at times but I mean what teenager isn’t? I also felt this way with other characters and I also found the relationship between Harris and his nurse disturbing and it really put me off in a few chapters of this book. It is definitely not without reason but is still uncomfortable to read. Overall though I did end up enjoying Harris as a main character and his relationship with his two friends, Nory and .
I would definitely recommend this book if you enjoy Young Adult fiction/romance. It’s a fun and easy read with a bit more emotional depth as it has disability and mental health representation. I 100% enjoyed most of my time reading this
The story was fairly fast-paced and so easy to read so it was super quick to get through and I finished it within a few hours because of how easy and enjoyable it was to digest.
All the characters within this book were so individual and interesting and all played an integral part to the story which I loved. I really enjoyed how the teenage experience in this book felt so accurate to life with typical relationship and reputation worries that teenagers have. It is made even better though from the perspective of someone who is disabled which adds such a unique perspective to the story. I think I would’ve absolutely enjoyed this book when I was in high school and would have related to Harris quite a bit.
I thought the plot was really enjoyable and page turning even though nothing crazy happens, it’s just a fun read!
My only downsides were that I did find Harris to be a bit annoying at times but I mean what teenager isn’t? I also felt this way with other characters and I also found the relationship between Harris and his nurse disturbing and it really put me off in a few chapters of this book. It is definitely not without reason but is still uncomfortable to read. Overall though I did end up enjoying Harris as a main character and his relationship with his two friends, Nory and .
I would definitely recommend this book if you enjoy Young Adult fiction/romance. It’s a fun and easy read with a bit more emotional depth as it has disability and mental health representation. I 100% enjoyed most of my time reading this
November 8, 2022
I looooved this gorgeous YA Fiction about a smart young man, who just happens to have SMA, and his first year at a new High School. It’s sweet, funny and has a wonderful cast of characters. Special mention to Harris’s mum - who is loving, stressed, and tired as hell. It’s such a realistic portrayal of a mum with a child with super high care needs as she tries to find that balance between fear and letting Harris grow up. I loved her.
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I was a bit nervous about some boundary issues (well very nervous) but if anyone knows this stuff it’s the author who also has SMA so I had to trust where it was going.
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Overall I just loved seeing Harris grow over the time, and I loved the insights into life with a high care physical disability. Accessibility issues, the time it takes to get ready, how quickly mild illness can turn life threatening. But I also loved how these weren’t the main focus of the story too.
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I’ll be encouraging some mates of mine with disabilities to read this and I’ll be very interested to see what they think. I hope they love it too.
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Thanks @harpercollinsaustralia for my gifted copy, and to @thechazhayden congratulations on your debut! ❤️
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I was a bit nervous about some boundary issues (well very nervous) but if anyone knows this stuff it’s the author who also has SMA so I had to trust where it was going.
.
Overall I just loved seeing Harris grow over the time, and I loved the insights into life with a high care physical disability. Accessibility issues, the time it takes to get ready, how quickly mild illness can turn life threatening. But I also loved how these weren’t the main focus of the story too.
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I’ll be encouraging some mates of mine with disabilities to read this and I’ll be very interested to see what they think. I hope they love it too.
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Thanks @harpercollinsaustralia for my gifted copy, and to @thechazhayden congratulations on your debut! ❤️
May 13, 2024
Disclaimer: nothing I say about the character is a reference towards his disability in anyway, I love that a main character has been written with a disability like this and that the awareness is being spread.
I’ll start off with saying I didn’t like Harris. I’m sorry but from the first chapter I felt like he was a spoilt brat with an extremely bad attitude towards people. He expects to be able to judge people based on their favourite colour and this gets him into a lot of troubles.
I love the fact that you never find out what Nory’s favourite colour is. It’s a small detail but I think it says so much.
I found the relationship between Harris and his nurse Miranda *extremely* strange. I’m sorry but a woman in her thirty’s flirting with a fifteen year old boy who she had to take care of in a wheelchair, kissing him and climbing into bed with him??? Just wrong on so many levels. It’s essentially the story of a young boy that gets groomed and nothing is said or done about it??
All in all it was an ok read but I wouldn’t recommend it unless someone wanted to know about a book referencing Spinal Muscular Atrophy.
I’ll start off with saying I didn’t like Harris. I’m sorry but from the first chapter I felt like he was a spoilt brat with an extremely bad attitude towards people. He expects to be able to judge people based on their favourite colour and this gets him into a lot of troubles.
I love the fact that you never find out what Nory’s favourite colour is. It’s a small detail but I think it says so much.
I found the relationship between Harris and his nurse Miranda *extremely* strange. I’m sorry but a woman in her thirty’s flirting with a fifteen year old boy who she had to take care of in a wheelchair, kissing him and climbing into bed with him??? Just wrong on so many levels. It’s essentially the story of a young boy that gets groomed and nothing is said or done about it??
All in all it was an ok read but I wouldn’t recommend it unless someone wanted to know about a book referencing Spinal Muscular Atrophy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 1, 2024
I was intrigued by the way Harris found friends: by learning their favorite color, because people gravitate towards colors depending on their personality attributes. I liked the aspect of the book just showing Harris living life while being disabled, making mistakes, and screwing up friendships. I also love that his mom and him had such a great bond, her helping him learn how to speak up for himself, and it was a really great model. I loved Nory too, and how Harris fit really well with her, but she also didn’t see Harris as just his disability or despite his disability. And last of the good things, Harris and Ollie were really good siblings, learning to love each other and get to know each other, standing up for each other, etc.
BUT, the reason I can’t give this book a good rating is because Miranda, his nurse, had A VERY INAPPROPRIATE RELATIONSHIP WITH HARRIS. She kissed him on the lips, climbed into his bedroom through his window to SLEEP IN HIS BED WITH HIM, made jokes about holding his penis, and trauma dumped about her dead friend. And this was not addressed as a problem. I am very unhappy about the standard this is setting.
BUT, the reason I can’t give this book a good rating is because Miranda, his nurse, had A VERY INAPPROPRIATE RELATIONSHIP WITH HARRIS. She kissed him on the lips, climbed into his bedroom through his window to SLEEP IN HIS BED WITH HIM, made jokes about holding his penis, and trauma dumped about her dead friend. And this was not addressed as a problem. I am very unhappy about the standard this is setting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 28, 2023
In this novel, we meet Harris, a teen who is in a wheelchair. Harris moves from San Diego to a new school and has to navigate having his mom be his nurse while he tries to find a suitable one. Harris is a typical teen in his crushes on a classmate and his need for wanting to fit in, and he meets Miranda, a nursing student who decides to be his companion in school. I liked this book and the writing was good, but there were a few things I didn't like. I didn't like the way Harris treated his first nurse, and his rationale for getting her fired made zero sense to me. I also felt that the plot was predictable and I wished that the ending was a bit different. Overall though, I enjoyed being on Harris' journey and learning about the author after reading the book was also very interesting as wel.
February 11, 2023
This wasn't the book for me. It was slow-paced without any really major events.. The only reason I read the whole book was because I thought I saw a spoiler of a major event but that turned out to be wrong, otherwise I would've DNF'ed it.
February 9, 2023
I am traumatised
November 6, 2022
This is going to sound bizarre: the title of this book is so damn clever I love it even more for having it. It’s almost my favourite part of this book.
Have you ever considered that you don’t know the first thing about anyone, most people really, but that you make enormous judgements based upon the first thing you notice about them almost all of the time. For Harris, that’s his wheelchair; that’s the first thing you’ll notice. For many people actually, it’s their disability. Does that seem fair to you?
Now imagine that the first thing about YOU is your disability. Maybe it is. Maybe that is your reality. Maybe you do see the inner struggle for people who both want to look at you in your wheelchair, but feel ashamed to ask questions or look too long. Maybe you notice the ableist comments, the swift change of direction of sight because they don’t want to be spotted looking. For Harris, that’s his life. But if it isn’t your reality, this book might make you think less about the first thing you see about people, and more about the rest of it. So you see, the title couldn’t be more perfect.
Having said that, the rest of the book is pretty spectacular too. Harris is awesome. He’s awkward, funny (hilariously funny!), sweet, inquisitive and trusting. This feels like a coming of age story for Harris, exploring his school years and identity, but it also feels like a great platform for disability awareness.
It’s a brilliant book. I don’t know how to fault it. I feel like I’ve legitimately learnt something from this profoundly warm and beautiful, beautiful book.
ARC provided from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
Have you ever considered that you don’t know the first thing about anyone, most people really, but that you make enormous judgements based upon the first thing you notice about them almost all of the time. For Harris, that’s his wheelchair; that’s the first thing you’ll notice. For many people actually, it’s their disability. Does that seem fair to you?
Now imagine that the first thing about YOU is your disability. Maybe it is. Maybe that is your reality. Maybe you do see the inner struggle for people who both want to look at you in your wheelchair, but feel ashamed to ask questions or look too long. Maybe you notice the ableist comments, the swift change of direction of sight because they don’t want to be spotted looking. For Harris, that’s his life. But if it isn’t your reality, this book might make you think less about the first thing you see about people, and more about the rest of it. So you see, the title couldn’t be more perfect.
Having said that, the rest of the book is pretty spectacular too. Harris is awesome. He’s awkward, funny (hilariously funny!), sweet, inquisitive and trusting. This feels like a coming of age story for Harris, exploring his school years and identity, but it also feels like a great platform for disability awareness.
It’s a brilliant book. I don’t know how to fault it. I feel like I’ve legitimately learnt something from this profoundly warm and beautiful, beautiful book.
ARC provided from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
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