Book Review: With the Light
With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child by Keiko Tobe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Recently I’ve been really into rereading a lot of my favorite graphic novels, so today let’s talk about another one! With the Light by Keiko Tobe.
Sachiko Azuma has always wanted to be a mother. Now, married to the love of her life and with a newborn son, her dream has come true. She names her son Hikaru, in the hopes that he’ll be bright like the meaning of his name. But she soon comes to discover that Hikaru is not like other children. When at an otherwise typical checkup, Hikaru is diagnosed as deaf, but a specialist reaches a different conclusion: autism. This heartwarming story details a young mother’s struggles to raise her child and come to terms with the increasingly common affliction that is autism.
Okay, can we just talk about the design of these books for a second? The English editions of these books combine volumes one and two of the Japanese editions, so you’re essentially getting two books for $14.99. Already we’ve got a book that’s a really great value–you get over 500 pages of content for the price of a single book.
Then we have to discuss those covers. HOLY HELL IS THIS SERIES SO PRETTY. Each book is a solid pastel color and looks sooo good sitting on a bookshelf.
Okay, on to the content. THIS BOOK IS SO HEARTWARMING AND AMAZING AND SHOWCASES AUTISM IN A POSITIVE LIGHT INSTEAD OF JUST TAKING ADVANTAGE OF SOMETHING FOR MARKETABILITY LIKE THE BIG BANG THEORY.
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SHUT UP SHELDON WE ALL KNOW YOU’RE JUST PERPETRATING STEREOTYPES.
The first volume covers everything from the day Hikaru is born to just after he enters elementary school. The artwork is beautiful and all the characters just jump off the page. We see how Sachiko comes to realize her new dream of helping Hikaru grow into a “cheerful, working adult” and how she takes steps to ensure that his autism won’t be a barrier to him achieving anything he wants to do.
Though there’s over 500 pages of content in each volume, it never feels forced or rushed, nor is there anything that feels like it was stuck in there to generate more pages. And with a glossary of Japanese terms provided at the back, there’s very little issues with accessibility when reading.
I don’t think there’s really anything else I could say about this book. I could spend 2,000 words raving about this or that in the book I enjoyed, but this is just a really enjoyable story. Sachiko’s struggles to ensure that Hikaru will have a place in a world where autism is shunned are so real, Hikaru is endearing and adorable, and Masato (Sachiko’s husband and Hikaru’s father) earns the respect of the reader after his (spoiler redacted) upon Hikaru’s diagnosis.
I’d recommend this series to fans of graphic novels, or to fans of contemporary family stories, or to anyone who either has been diagnosed with autism or has a loved one on the autism spectrum.
If you’d like to pick up a copy for yourself, you can buy With the Light on Amazon, add With the Light to your Goodreads, and follow Yen Press on Twitter!
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Make it a good week, everyone, and I’ll see you next Sunday!
Corinne 乙女
