I just finished WHAT TO SAY NEXT by Julie
Buxbaum and I will definitely be recommending this Young Adult novel. Buxbaum divides the first person narration
between two high school juniors: Kit Lowell, whose father has recently died in a
car accident and David Drucker, who has difficulty with social situations since
he experiences symptoms of Asperger's syndrome and is socially isolated
as a result. As David explains, “we just
assume other people understand what we are talking about. That we are, as the
idiom goes, on the same wavelength. In
my experience, we are not.”
After her father’s death, Kit finds that she cannot relate
to her friends’ conversations about prom and clothes and chooses instead to have
lunch with David (called Little D by his supportive sister, Lauren, whom he calls Miney). Spending some time together gradually leads to
Kit and David building trust, sharing concerns and battling the prejudices and
shallowness of other students. Buxbaum does an excellent job of allowing the
reader to develop empathy by viewing events from the perspective of each
narrator. WHAT TO SAY NEXT is full of charm and humor, but it’s not
easy. Kit’s grief and some personal revelations about her parents plus David’s candid
perceptions of others cause significant drama. As one character says, “One of
the few perks of the sh*t so monumentally hitting the fan is you discover who
your real tribe is. It’s the only way through.”
Julie Buxbaum says that David and Kit were her favorite characters to
write and that affection is obvious – I am looking forward to reading more from
this talented author.
On a related note, Buxbaum refers to a famous
expression that when you meet one person with autism, you meet one person with
autism. We have to keep working to build bridges and make connections. Perhaps this article and accompanying video, recently posted on The New York Times,
will help add insight about the difficulty with eye contact which David and
others experience:
