Rogue

April 15, 2013
An eighth-grader's Asperger's syndrome complicates her navigation of an unpredictable--and often inexplicable--world. Kicked out of school after cracking a popular (and rather deserving) girl on the head with her lunch tray during one of her many anger-driven meltdowns, Kiara's searching for a real friend. When 12-year-old Chad and his little brother move in across the street, it seems like the perfect opportunity. Chad is deceitful, but Kiara quickly discovers it's mostly because his parents are using him to buy large quantities of Sudafed, an ingredient for their meth lab. She also explores a developing connection with Antonio, a friend of her older brother and someone who seems to understand her focus on Rogue, one of the X-Men, whom she views as a comforting alter ego. Whether Antonio's just being friendly or trying to exploit her innocence is never clear, but his attractiveness lands her and Chad at a high school drinking party. With her back-up-singer mother performing in Canada and her father not really understanding her, Kiara has few adult resources, and her frustration with the world rings true in her first-person narration. Her meltdowns, unfortunately, come off more as tantrums than manifestations of her syndrome, making her a less-attractive character than she deserves to be. An interesting and somewhat enlightening look at a girl struggling but sometimes making bumpy progress in dealing with Asperger's. (Fiction. 12-18)

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June 1, 2013

Gr 7-9-Kiara's mother is living in Montreal launching her career as a musician so her father sets his musical aspirations aside to be his daughter's caregiver. The eighth-grader's Asperger's syndrome does little to help her adjust to or understand her unsettled family situation. Mr. Internet is her go-to for black-and-white answers to the complexities of life. On the Net, Kiara also delves into a fantasy world of superhero personas and takes on the alter ego of Rogue. While she is academically successful, she is socially shunned. When she joins the popular girls' table-uninvited-she is ridiculed and publicly rejected. It does little for her case when she hauls off and slams her lunch tray into another girl's face. Now Kiara is friendless and expelled from school. She befriends her new neighbor, Chad, whose home is a meth den where he is forced to collect ingredients for his parents' lethal concoctions. Kiara spends lots of time trying to be Chad's friend and steer him in a better direction; he spends lots of time trying to survive the horror of his home life and being nasty to Kiara. Chad's and Kiara's fathers play music together in the backyard, so it's hard to believe that Kiara's dad doesn't notice how weird things are. The dangerous neighborhood happenings seem to completely escape him until there is a major explosion in the meth lab. Too much happens in this novel and too little of it revolves around Kiara.-Alison Follos, formerly at North Country School, Lake Placid, NY

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2014
Because of her Asperger's syndrome, eighth-grader Kiara has difficulty connecting with people and instead identifies with the character Rogue of the X-Men. When Kiara befriends troubled neighbor Chad, she becomes a target for his exploitation. The depth of Kiara's loneliness, her capacity for empathy, and her persistence in her quest for true friendship make the book a substantive addition to literature about Asperger's.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

September 1, 2013
Prone to emotional meltdowns, eighth grader Kiara ends up expelled from school, stuck at home with her distant father, longing for her absent mother, and desperate for a friend. Because of her Asperger's syndrome, she has difficulty connecting with people and instead identifies with the character Rogue of the X-Men ("The X-Men are mutants who don't fit into society. They're like me, but all of them have special powers"). When Kiara attempts to befriend Chad, her troubled new neighbor, she becomes a target for his exploitation -- he uses her to purchase large quantities of pseudoephedrine for his parents' meth lab. Unable to interpret social situations, Kiara doesn't realize she's being taken advantage of until after the fact, and she is caught between the desire to help Chad out of a dangerous situation and fear that she'll lose him if she stands up to him. Just when she thinks she's found a place for herself, videotaping Chad and other BMX riders at a bike park, Chad's family problems reach critical mass, leaving Kiara wishing for her own superpowers to fix the situation. The depth of Kiara's loneliness, her capacity for empathy (though she's unsure of when and how to express it), and her persistence in her quest for true friendship make the book a substantive addition to the emerging body of youth literature about Asperger's. shara l. hardeson

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)