The White Bicycle has left me very conflicted. I enjoyed the book. It was not a fast paced adventure tale but it does give you insight into the mind of someone with Asperger syndrome. Taylor, the narrator, speaks in very blunt and simple language that still manages to maintain a kind of poetic tone throughout the novel. Her voice however is not the voice of someone with Asperger's. I did a bit of research and learned that Beverley Brenna simply writes stories from the voices of character's with disabilities. People with Asperger's are able to write for themselves and an author speaking over them through fiction upsets me.
Putting this aside, the novel itself is beautiful. The images of the french countryside and interesting look into the true definition of independence are refreshing. The friendship between Taylor and Adelaide is wonderful and I love the comparison of both of their two person family units. It helps Taylor accept that things in her life will change and teaches her that she can be independent and have a family at the same time.

Brenna, B. (2012). The white bicycle. Markham, Ont.: Red Deer Press.

Summary: In this story, Taylor, a nineteen-year-old with Asperger's Syndrome, goes to France for a month with her mother to take what she thinks is a "job" babysitting her mother's boyfriend's son, Martin, who has cerebral palsy. Readers get to really experience life through Taylor's eyes, following her thinking as she fails to understand social cues that the typical person can pick up on. Throughout her time in France, Taylor is shown battling with her mom for her independence--and receives an answer from her mother by the end about whether or not she does get to have her independence.

Award: Michael L. Printz Award Honors - 2013

Curriculum Connection: I might read this book with 8th or 9th graders as they study characterization in a language arts class. In addition, this book would lend itself to further research of Asperger's Syndrome and how to interact with people who have it.

Diversity: The story is of a character who has Asperger's Syndrome. It also incorporates the French language and culture.

Genre: Contemporary fiction

Age: Secondary grades

The third in a series, but definitely stands alone (I haven't read the others). Young girl with Asperger's travels to France with her mother and her mother's boyfriend. She struggles with her Asperger's and her desire to be independent of her mother.

I am usually very excited when I read something that I know has received the Printz award. However, this one was very anti-climatic. After reading it, I realized that it was the third book of a trilogy. Maybe reading the first two would have helped me enjoy it. The first person narration of someone with autism was well written and I enjoyed this perspective. However, it seemed slow moving and predictable.

Read this one due to it receiving the Printz Honour.

Things I Liked:

- The first-person perspective truly read like someone with Aspergers (well, I don't have Aspergers so I wouldn't actually *know*, but it felt true to life.) Brenna presents Aspergers as a different way of living, not a deficient one and presents the ups and downs that come with it. Taylor still lives a full life, and watching try to achieve independence is not that different from a typical teen's, though it still has its differences.

- Mileage May Vary on this, but I personally enjoyed how introspective the novel was, to a degree. Seeing Taylor write out her thoughts and then analyze them, then later apply them to other situations she faces also felt incredibly true-to-life to. I guess this is just expanding on my first point.

- Taylor and her mother's relationship was very well-drawn. Taylor's frustrations with her mother's hovering and sometimes forceful behaviour are, again, relatable to a lot of teens, Aspergers or not. But even when Taylor claims to hate her mother, the reader knows she's not a BAD person. Both Taylor and her mother are easy to sympathize with because they're just doing the best they can with navigating each other's differing perspectives.

Things I Didn't Like As Much:
- I know I said I liked the introspective nature of the novel, but sadly this also led to it having very little plot. The sequences that dealt with Taylor remembering her childhood were quite good, but then others like the bits with Adelaide felt too short.

- It feels like Brenna is really beating readers over the head with the messages of existentialism, trying to under someone else's perspective and owning one's life. However, this same complaint also just feels like it would fit Taylor's voice (she repeats herself a lot, but it makes sense to her Asperger's), so I'm kind of on the fence about this one.

Overall, it's a decent novel but not one I found myself falling in love with. I would recommend this to readers who enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon and Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork.

Taylor is 19 years old and has aspergers syndrome. While vacationing in Southern France with her mother, she learns what it means to be an adult.

always so fascinating reading books told from the perspective of someone on the autism spectrum. they make it make so much sense! definitely going to read the others in the series.

I enjoyed this book, although it was a bit slow getting started.
The main character, Taylor, is a 19-year-old girl with Asperger's Syndrome who is learning some of the same lessons that we all learn as we approach maturity.
I would recommend the book to anyone who enjoys a coming of age story or a story of the development of an unlikely friendship.
Spoiler alert:



keep a tissue nearby.

Mixed feelings? Things I liked about this book:
1) Taylor's relationship with her mother. Taylor, as children often do, sees her mother's failings and mistakes very clearly, and while she loves her she is also unafraid to point them out. This is a coming of age novel and I think one of the most difficult things about coming of age is separating from a parent/guardian/caregiver, not just because we spend our adolescence having to rely on them, but also because they must separate from us. The White Bicycle depicts this beautifully and in a way that felt very real.
2) Adelaide. I know some people really disliked the pieces of the story about Adelaide, but I thought it was interesting that Taylor encountered someone who made her consider what her relationship would be like if the tables were flipped. Also, Adelaide was pretty colorful; I liked the swearing and the strange art lessons, and I was pretty amused that at 95 she was finding strange ways to torture her daughter. Mothers!
3) Luke & Julian. While small, it was nicely done, and I loved that Luke actually stood in front of a window and sighed, "No one understands me." Hilarious.

My sticking point is the prose. It was all right, but at times it felt a bit too much like Brenna was saying, "Hey! Look! Taylor didn't understand metaphorical language! Look, I know something about autism!" OK? She's 19, I'm sure she's got some of these very common phrases down now. Also, why did Taylor almost never use conjunctions? That lost me.

Not bad. It was enjoyable.