MINDBLIND

Lovable 14-year-old “Aspie” Nathaniel Clark stores his memories in computer-like files in his brain, loves formulas, plays keyboard in a rock band, has some trouble in social situations, likes to spend time in his own mental world and really, really wants to be a genius. Nathaniel’s father, now divorced from his mother, does not believe in Asperger’s syndrome; he insists that Nathaniel can simply be “normal” if he chooses to. To prove this, he forces Nathaniel to go to a party, where Nathaniel unknowingly ingests quite a bit of alcohol along with his fruit punch. The sickness that ensues, coupled with the fact that Nathaniel thinks he sees the girl he loves with another boy, nearly results in institutionalization. Luckily, he has a great therapist, a loving mother and some incredibly supportive friends/bandmates who get him through the rough patch. The band decides to video-record themselves singing Nathaniel’s rocking math songs, and they quickly become famous. There is romance, grad school and a job at the grocery store just on the horizon. Overly optimistic? Maybe—but who cares? Readers will be happy to see Nathaniel succeed. (Fiction. 10-14)