The nonfiction memoir and autobiography "The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism" earned a five star rating from me. Naoki Higashida is the Japanese thirteen-year-old with autism whose life is described through the book’s question and answer format. He has medium to severe autism, so in order to write "The Reason I Jump," Higashida had to point to various Japanese symbols to show his translators, David Mitchell and KA Yoshida, exactly what he was trying to articulate. The writing process was long and tedious, but the three produced a great book that anyone who has a loved one with autism should read. Though "The Reason I Jump" is subjective to one person’s experience, Higashida still tells of daily psychological and physical struggles that people without autism do not have to think twice about. The question and answer format of the book explains the ordeals Higashida faces in extreme detail. The format enables the author to get to the point that he is trying to make without unnecessary detail. The descriptions found within Higashida’s answers directly place you in his shoes. Since I will never know what it is like to have autism, his elaborate answers help me to understand what it is like to not have control of my own body. Specifically, the sensory descriptions of his mental break-downs made me feel the room shake, my heart race, and my head throb. The category of the book covers families and relationships, which I usually do not prefer. However, I surprisingly found "The Reason I Jump" interesting since relationships with autistic people are more complex. The publisher is Random House Publishing Group, and the seller is Penguin Random House LLC. The book can be downloaded as an iBook on iTunes for $12.99. The book has been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards Best Memoir and Autobiography, and I think believe that it should win. I would highly recommend this book to a friend.
The question and answer format of the book explains the ordeals Higashida faces in extreme detail. The format enables the author to get to the point that he is trying to make without unnecessary detail. The descriptions found within Higashida’s answers directly place you in his shoes. Since I will never know what it is like to have autism, his elaborate answers help me to understand what it is like to not have control of my own body. Specifically, the sensory descriptions of his mental break-downs made me feel the room shake, my heart race, and my head throb.
The category of the book covers families and relationships, which I usually do not prefer. However, I surprisingly found "The Reason I Jump" interesting since relationships with autistic people are more complex. The publisher is Random House Publishing Group, and the seller is Penguin Random House LLC. The book can be downloaded as an iBook on iTunes for $12.99. The book has been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards Best Memoir and Autobiography, and I think believe that it should win. I would highly recommend this book to a friend.