Jennifer Prince

Columnist;

April is National Autism Awareness Month, yet the only best-selling book on the topic most people have heard of, much less read, is British writer Mark Haddon’s 2003 award-winning novel “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.”

That story is narrated by 15-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone, who has Asperger’s syndrome and decides to solve the murder of a neighborhood canine. It’s been adapted as a hit play in London and is set to open on Broadway in the fall. Warner Brothers reportedly owns the movie rights.

But there are as many stories as there are people on the autism spectrum, so the Citizen-Times asked columnist Jennifer Prince to pick a half-dozen of her favorite books dealing with autism from the shelves of the Buncombe County libraries.

Autism is difficult subject matter. Sensitive, well-informed writers, however, can create inspiring, illuminating stories about people on the autism spectrum, real and fictional. The six books listed here are just a few of those that fit that description.

• In “House Rules” (2010) by Jodi Picoult, Jacob Hunt is a teenager with Asperger’s syndrome. His flat affect, disinclination to make eye contact and twitching are traits of Asperger’s, but combined with his obsessive interest in forensic science, police investigators misinterpret Jacob’s behavior as that of someone who is lying — about a murder.

Narration of the story alternates between Jacob’s mother Emma, Jacob’s brother Theo, the public defender Oliver, the police investigator Rich and Theo himself. In this way, Picoult gives readers an intimate, perceptive look at how Asperger’s can effect individuals, family and community. Picoult, a prolific writer for adults, has another compelling — and important — family drama in this one.

• “How to be Human: Diary of an Autistic Girl” (2013) was written and illustrated by Florida Frenz, a young woman who has autism. The book really is Frenz’s diary.

She began the diary when she was 8, the year she understood really what it meant to have autism. In the diary, Frenz chronicles through words and pictures the challenges and triumphs she experienced through the years until she became a freshman in high school.

She labels each situation as a “step.” Step 1 was to “figure out faces.” Early on, Frenz had trouble decoding the meaning of peoples’ facial expressions. She provides her own drawings to illustrate what various facial expressions mean.

Her explanations are accessible, warm, funny and heartbreaking in their candor: “[Autism] is like being in a foreign country and not understanding the language, except worse, because your parents, family, friends, and teachers are fluent in it. When you don’t get facial expressions, you feel like a real idiot, or like you were mistakenly placed on the wrong planet.” Frenz’s book is illuminating and wise. A first-rate work of juvenile nonfiction.

• In “My Brother Charlie” (2010), Holly Robinson Peete and her daughter Ryan Elizabeth Peete tell a simple, elegant story about how their family lives with autism. In real life, Ryan’s twin brother RJ has autism.

In the book, the twins, named Callie and Charlie, have a lot in common — curly hair, brown eyes and both love hot chocolate with marshmallows. But Callie and Charlie relate to the world in different ways. Callie acknowledges that Charlie annoys her sometimes because his behavior is erratic, but she is a compassionate girl, too.

She explains, “I wish I could crawl inside Charlie’s world to move things around for him and for me. I know Charlie wants to be in my world, fitting in, making friends, having fun, and laughing.”

Callie points out, too, that Charlie is good at many things — naming the presidents, swimming, relating to animals, and comforting people who are upset. Shane Evans’ bold, bright mixed-media illustrations show a family that loves, loves, loves no matter what. A beautiful, important picture book.

• In Cynthia Lord’s novel for youths, “Rules” (2006), the title refers to the list of rules 12-year-old Catherine maintains to try and manage the behavior of her 8-year-old brother, David, who has autism.

Catherine loves David, but over the course of the summer, she becomes increasingly frustrated with his behavior and how their parents seem to ignore her in favor of him.

Catherine is delighted when Kristi, a girl her age, moves in next door and they become friends. Catherine also becomes friends with a teen, Jason, who cannot speak or walk.

Catherine is sick of people staring at her family and making rude comments whenever they go out in public. It turns out, though, that it is Catherine’s actions that hurt Jason and Kristi. Catherine thought she was striving toward what she thought was normal. What she discovers is that normal is a relative term. Insightful and poignant.

• Another novel for youths, “Al Capone Does My Shirts,” by Gennifer Choldenko deals with 12-year-old Moose, who, when his dad gets a job on Alcatraz Island in the 1935, moves to the island with his family. Moose’s 15-year-old sister, Natalie, has a “condition” — what is known today as autism.

According to Natalie and Moose’s mom, Natalie is 10-years-old — period. As Moose makes a couple of friends and learns to navigate the strict rules of life on Alcatraz, he discovers that Natalie is blooming into her own kind of adulthood.

When Natalie is denied enrollment to a school for developmentally challenged young people, Moose breaks the first rule of living on Alcatraz. He asks a convict for help, and not just any convict: Al Capone.

Choldenko’s novel brims with life. The characters are distinctive, each with his or her own vivid, believable personalities. The perimeters of Natalie’s world are drawn with a clarity that blends poignancy and astuteness.

In the end, Moose and his family discover that life is not rendered in black and white, not even life on a remote prison island. A terrific, well-researched historical novel about one family’s experience with autism.

• In “Marcelo in the Real World,” 17-year-old Marcelo has a form of autism his doctors cannot identify with certainty. Marcelo is excited about the prospect of spending the summer at his school’s stable as stable master, but his father, Arturo, has other plans for him. Arturo insists that Marcelo take a job in the mailroom at the law office where he works as a high-profile, corporate attorney.

Reluctantly, Marcelo consents. Once on the job, Marcelo makes friends with Jasmine and Wendell. As Marcelo does his work, he stumbles upon a picture that was never meant to see the light of day. It is the photo of a teenage girl with half her face missing.

As Marcelo starts piecing clues together, he discovers that his dad and the law office are up to no good. It is a summer of change and discovery for Marcelo.

Told from Marcelo’s point of view, this novel is a perceptive coming-of-age novel combined with a legal thriller. First-rate reading for teens.

These books are available through the Buncombe County Public Libraries. To learn more, visit www.buncombecounty.org/library.

WNC AUTISM EVENTSThe following events are free and open to the public except as indicated:• Autism Interest Group Meeting, 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Carolina Pediatric Therapy, 159 King St., Brevard. Connect with other families dealing with autism and meet professionals working with people on the autism spectrum in the Transylvania County area. Light refreshments served. RSVP appreciated but not required. Contact Jean Alvarez at jalvarez@autismsociety-nc.org or 800-708-3337, ext 1509.• After The Diagnosis: Get Answers, Get Help, Get Going! 10 a.m.-noon April 15, Autism Society of North Carolina offices, 306 Summit St., Asheville. A workshop for parents and grandparents of newly diagnosed young children. Get support, comfort and general information on autism spectrum disorder. Juliette Heim will lead the workshop. RSVP to Heim at 236-1547, ext. 1508 or jheim@autismsociety-nc.org.• Autism 101. 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. April 24, Autism Society of North Carolina offices, 306 Summit St., Asheville. This general overview of autism spectrum disorder through personal stories and videos provides a better understanding of the primary characteristics of autism, how people can be affected and strategies for improving interactions. The training can be tailored to suit the needs of a church, library, child-care provider, community program or business. Fee is $15 per parent, or $20 per couple; professionals $30. To learn more or RSVP, contact Jean Alvarez at 236-1547, ext. 1509, or jalvarez@autismsociety-nc.org.• Autism Book Club, noon May 7, Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe, 55 Haywood St., Asheville. Join Catherine and Carolyn, two local professionals in the autism field, for a discussion of autism-related books, both fiction and nonfiction, on the first Wednesday of each month. The May book selection is “The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism” by Naoki Higashida, Ka Yoshida and David Mitchell. To learn more, visit www.malaprops.com or call 254-6734.