Georgia Kostopoulou
This book! Why have I not read this earlier? I’m so mad at myself right now! Let me tell you why you need to read this book!
Ginny Moon is a fourteen year old girl. She is autistic. She is in foster care, because her birth mother could not take care of her. She is now in her fourth forever family, one that will love her! But Ginny has a secret, one that no other knows, so even though she knows that she should not go back to her mother’s apartment because her mother might hurt her, she really has to go back there. She needs to make things right.
So, she makes her big plan of escape and she keeps her mouth shut, so no one can find out. She has tried to escape from every forever family home she’s been, because of that secret. She really likes the Blue House but she needs to go back. So she tries to find ways to get back.
Benjamin Ludwig has done a wonderful job in creating Ginny’s character! It’s pretty clear that he understands how the mind of an autistic child works and what are the aspects this child, this person needs in their life to keep it smooth. Through his book we learn that children or teens like Ginny need to have stability in their lives. They need a routine that does not change unexpectedly. They need to have a schedule set up for each day and for the coming days, so as they know what is coming their way and they can be prepared. The morning routine must be the same. The breakfast must be the same and the one expected, because otherwise they will not be able to handle it. There have to be lists with everything that needs to be done. There have to be rules that must be followed. If there are no rules, things can go ugly pretty easily. Even for the simplest of things, like how much can a person eat.
One really important aspect of the life of an autistic person is their family or close environment. They need to be surrounded by people that love them and care for them, by people who understand how their mind works and how they respond to emotions. They need a stable and comforting environment, like the one Ginny seems to have in the Blue House, until the coming of a new baby made it all so unstable. The coming of the new baby triggered some reactions not only inside Ginny’s mind, but in the whole family. Her forever mum is about to have a baby and she never before had a baby, which makes her really anxious on how Ginny would react around the baby and what could possibly happen to their family. The whole new baby thing is new to her too and affects her reactions greatly. The author makes a terrific job of painting this all out for us to understand what it means for everyone in the Moon family.
I really liked the breakthrough that Ginny was able to make in the end. She has learned how to advocate for herself, which is something that may be the easiest thing for everyone else, but a big issue for a special child! At least something really good came out of all this and make a couple more!
You should all read this book because it is an emotional story that could be true, but thankfully it isn’t. You should all read this story because it will teach you to stop and listen to what other people have to say. To what your children have to say. You should read this book because I loved it and I want you to love it too!
