The following is a post written by Kids Like Us author Hilary Reyl. In it, Hilary shares four incredible novels with autistic heroes that helped inspire Kids Like Us and the author herself.   

1. Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism by Ron Suskind
Ron Suskind tells the story of his autistic son Owen learning to communicate through the words and stories of Disney movies. At first, Owen echoes the characters without seeming to understand what he is repeating. Then, gradually, he starts using their stories and situations to describe his own life experience. Like Owen, Martin, the hero of my young adult novel Kids Like Us, interprets his world through the framework of a very familiar story. In Martin’s case, it is a book: Swann’s Way, the first volume of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. Owen Suskind’s mingling of figurative and literal into one mindset have helped me to get to know Martin.

2. Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
This young adult novel moves me through the beauty and integrity of its voice. It puts me under a spell where my world is framed through Marcelo’s insight. Marcelo has taught me to take an autistic perspective. More than that, though, he has shown me a unique and fully-formed point of view that happens to be autistic. Like Martin, Marcelo understands that he is different. He grapples with the conflict between wanting to be part of a neuro-typical world and wanting to be true to himself. And, also like Martin, he tries to express feelings of love and affection to a woman whose mind works in a completely different way from his.  Writing Martin, I have often thought with admiration of Marcelo’s honesty and constant rigor.    

3. Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Temmet 
Daniel Temmet’s memoir about growing up with Savant Syndrome is incredibly brave.  People with Savant Syndrome have almost unimaginable mental powers. Daniel has a photographic memory. He can do complicated, computer-level math in his head and learn an entire language in a week. He is also compulsive about numbers and routines. Deviations are virtually unbearable for him. He writes with grace and understanding about his pain and about the people who love and support him. While Martin does not have Savant Syndrome, he finds security in routine and in numbers, often understanding the world by counting his way through it. I am inspired by the safety Temmet creates for himself as well as the trapped feeling he describes. The feeling of living inside a paradox. I am touched by his gratitude for the people who try so hard to understand him even though they will always be on the outside. Like Temmet, Martin loves his family. Because his differences have made him so sensitive, he can see that just as he struggles to understand them, they also struggle to understand him. This mutual effort despite our differences is what Kids Like Us is about.

4. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Christopher Boone, the hero of this fantastic young adult novel, may have Asperger’s Syndrome but this is not what defines him. He has a fascination with maps, diagrams and various narratives that allow him to navigate a loud and confusing world. He has a creative and proactive response to sensory overload. I love the fact that this book is in no way a case study, but instead is one boy’s story for a quest to communicate and express himself. It has given me a sense of artistic freedom for Kids Like Us.  Yes, Martin is autistic and he finds ways to deal with rushes of sensation that can be deeply uncomfortable. His coping becomes a form of self-expression that is as individual as that of any character on any page. Although it is not similar to Kids Like Us, The Curious Incident has been a source of courage for me. While they are both autistic, Martin Dubois is as different from Christopher Boone as I am from you.  

Kids Like Us by Hilary Reyl

Martin is an American teen on the autism spectrum living in France with his mom and sister for the summer. He falls for a French girl who he thinks is a real-life incarnation of a character in his favorite book. Over time Martin comes to realize she is a real person and not a character in a novel while at the same time learning that love is not out of his reach just because he is autistic.

Start reading now.