Introducing . . . Sasha Abramowitz

by Sue Halpern

“I’m wild about Sasha . . . You’ll like her, too.” – Gregory Maguire Meet Sasha smart, funny, resourceful. Aspiring writer and pastry chef. Good listener (usually), good talker (when she feels like it), good friend (most of the time). Good sister? Well, that’s more complicated. You see, her brother has Tourette’s syndrome, which is really his problem, but in a way it’s Sasha’s, too (he can be pretty embarrassing at times). Let’s just say she’s working on it. Anyway, he’s away at a special school (until a fire sends the students home, unexpectedly). But with her baseball-loving professor dad, a mom who teaches neuroscience, a babysitter who’s the star shortstop for the Krieger Cats and doubles as a magician and card trickster, an ex-babysitter who becomes her substitute teacher, and an onagain-off-again best friend, Sasha is not alone. As she struggles with changing friendships and feelings about her older brother, learns her lines for her part in Cheaper by the Dozen , gets to know James, the quiet boy who plays opposite her, and helps the doctors solve a medical mystery, she comes to see herselfand her life in a different light.In this original novel, Sasha tells her story, complete with footnotes, card tricks, appendixes, and all her best vocabulary words, with brio.

Genres: Middle Grade, Disability, Young Adult

Hardcover

First published October 1, 2005

About the author

Sue Halpern lives in the Green Mountains of Vermont where she writes books and articles, consorts with her husband, the writer and activist Bill McKibben, looks forward to visits from their wonderful daughter Sophie, plays with their remarkably enthusiastic dog, and introduces Middlebury College students to digital audio storytelling. She is a Guggenheim Fellow and Rhodes Scholar with a doctorate from Oxford, the author of a book that was made an Emmy-nominated film as well as six others that weren’t, one-half of a therapy dog team, a scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College, and a major supporter of the ice cream industry.

(from her website)

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled with the rating on this.

Ultimately this is a story about a highly intelligent girl finding where she fits in, in a household where she tends to be an afterthought. Her academic parents are well-meaning but caught up in their own worlds and with her brother, who has Tourette's Syndrome.

I am really ready for more books about neurodivergent characters that are told from their perspective or at least where they play a larger role than being the sibling of a protagonist and a foil for their development. This is the third book I've read in a month with this sibling setup and handled the most poorly here. I fully believe there's a lot of complexity in those sibling relationships to explore, I don't think we got that here. We only get Sasha's perspective of Danny as an interloper (and sometimes) as a destructive presence in the family. Although we get a fair amount of therapy snippets, we don't really dig into anexamination of her underlying resentment too much because she diverts the conversation, and generally we see more displays of obligation than of love, even from the parents) which made me feel more sympathetic to Danny than to them. There was not the only thing with the handling of his diagnosis and treatment in the story that felt problematic but it's enough.

Also though, like Sasha herself, the story tends to be clever without feeling authentic. Though the pacing is a bit bogged down, it's at least always interesting, but it's hard to emotionally connect to the protagonist. Like Harriet the Spy, she's a quirky kid surrounded by quirky adults, but unlike Harriet, Sasha's intelligence is more overtly acknowleged (to the point where she improbably outdiagnoses a doctor) and we never get to see raw vulnerability. Without that, it's a lot harder to take her running judginess of everyone around her, her therapist, her former sitter, even the teacher leaving to adopt a baby.

I feel like I could get on board with Halpern's style but I would have to see it with a more sympathetic character. As for this one, the brother's treatment is enough that I cannot recommend. We need to do better with the treatment of neurodivergent characters.

[Cory · Rating 4 out of 5]

funny book, but you have to read carefully in the beginning to get it. the ending is sort of dull though but the middle is awesome. I read it about three years ago. Sort of reads like a Jerry Spinelli but with a girl protag.

[Tiff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Touching, believeable, and full of humor, this is an excellent look at life and dealing with a disability.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book. It's short, but funny even though it deals with a serious topic. It would be fun to read out loud.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insanely funny at the beginning. great storyline once you get into the meat of the book, very good. only problem, was the ending wasnt tottally satisfying, for me anyway.

[nona ★ · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was a lovely read!
And i absolutely adored it that the protagonist showed her honest point of view about certain things even though she knew that it might would be incongruous.