A Boy Made of Blocks
Amazon.com
My review -
Sam
is eight years old, and autistic. His parents, Alex and Jody, are worn out and
driven apart trying to understand him and help him cope with the world.
Eventually they enter on a trial separation and Alex moves in with his friend Dan.
Alex feels guilt from a childhood incident and this colours his life. All his
well-meant interactions with Sam become head-on collisions. Gradually, he finds
he can connect with his son through the X-box game of Minecraft. At the
beginning of the book we can feel Alex's frustration when his son turns mulish
or destructive. He and Sam live in parallel universes, side by side but never
connecting. The logical world of Minecraft allows Sam to take on a setting in
which he can exert control. Slowly we see Alex begin to trust his own instincts
and those of his son and the bleakness he felt earlier in the book resolves
itself.
I
felt, from a knowledge of several autistic children through my work, that Sam
is beautifully and accurately portrayed. I shared Alex’s frustration, too, and
Jody’s despair that he would ever come to see her point of view. As a reader,
my viewpoint swung slowly, as did Alex’s, and I enjoyed the author’s skill in
manipulating my opinions this way. Cleverly done. I enjoyed this book immensely.
It manages to contain and contrast huge sadness and great joy. Highly
recommended.
Thanks
to Netgalley and the publisher for a review copy.
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