Harrison is a 15 year old boy diagnosed with high functioning autism. He can travel through his high school days with few incidents but he has his triggers and if those triggers start piling up they can lead to a melt down. Harrison uses many coping tactics to avoid melt downs especially now that he's in high school but sometimes life just overwhelms him. Other times bullies bring him down.
This year Harrison has joined the 'Best Buddies' club and he's got a new friend named Anna. Through this new friendship Harrison pushes himself to try new things and he's thrilled to have a new friend. Anna learns how to be a good friend to someone living with autism.
Fragile Bones is the first book of a series called One 2 One that explores students at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary school.
I am a huge fan of Lisa Genova. I love a book that makes me see life in someone else's point of view and Lisa Genova never disappoints. In Love Anthony we get the perspective of a mother of a child with autism but we also get the perspective of the Anthony who is living with autism. No one knows for certain what Anthony might be thinking and feeling since he is non-verbal but if anyone is going to have some insight it's likely that it would be Genova. Lisa Genova is a neuroscientist so it's believable that she might have a good idea what she's talking about here.
Olivia is Anthony's mom. Anthony has passed away and Olivia is trying to make sense of why Anthony was the way he was and why he died so young. She's tried talking to God but the answers just aren't coming. She's trying to move on with life but that's tough too. Her new neighbour Beth is also going through her own life crisis and looking for answers. She doesn't have answers for her own problems either but she's found a renewed energy to write a novel which brings some healing in unexpected ways.
Lisa Genova's earlier novel Still Alice is set to be released as a movie in Canada January 23, 2015. This is the story of a professor who begins to experience symptoms of alzheimers. I loved this book and can't wait for the movie. Left Neglected is another of Genova's novels that I loved. Three great novels. I will be eagerly watching for her next book.