Sarah asked Tracey Garvis Graves:

Not really a question. I just have to tell you, how much I come back to think about your book "The Girl He Used To Know". I think, this is how my son thinks or I think he thinks! It was amazingly close to his autism ways. Shutting down, sleeping away, directness, etc. So now I think about Annika daily and think how I go about speaking to my son. I would love to know how you did your research to inside the asd mind??

Tracey Garvis Graves Hi Sarah,

Thank you so much for letting me know how much you're still thinking about The Girl He Used to Know. I'm also very happy to know that you related to the story on a personal level because of your son and that it has influenced the way you interact with him. That's truly fantastic!

I had to do a lot of research in order to write this book. I read 5-6 nonfiction books about ASD as well as countless articles and blog entries. I was very worried about writing Annika's character with the utmost sensitivity and authenticity, and I really wanted my portrayal of her to be as accurate as I could make it. It wasn't an easy book to write, but I am so thankful to hear that readers felt I succeeded in capturing Annika's thought processes in a realistic way.

Thank you so much for reaching out!

Best,

Tracey

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