Anything But Typical

Diversity Book
Author: Nora Raleigh Baskin
Copyright: Nora Raleigh Baskin, 2009
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Reading Level:
     Ages: 10 and up
     Grade Level Equivalent: 4.1
     Lexile Measure: 640L

Five keywords/phrases to describe the book:
"Treat others how you want to be treated," family, acceptance, inclusion, love

Suggested Delivery: Individual read

Summary: Jason is a 12-year-old boy living with autism in the town of Weston, Connecticut. He is unable to live his life on a daily basis without something going wrong each day, leaving Jason feeling partially responsible but without knowing why. Feeling unable to connect with what he calls the "neurotypical" world, Jason finds solace in writing stories, and posting them to a website for others to read. Through this process, Jason finds comfort in a new friend, PhoenixBird, as she calls herself online. By forming a connection with PhoenixBird, also known as Rebecca, Jason feels close to her in a way he is not used to feeling. However, Jason is sure he can never meet Rebecca, even if that means giving up the one thing he's always wanted - to go to the Storyboard convention. Terrified by Rebecca's reaction to him if they were to meet face to face, Jason is faced with a dilemma. Readers will follow Jason through this engaging story told from Jason's point of view, which gives them great insight to what goes on in the mind of a child with autism.

Vocabulary:
1) Neurotypical (page 1)
2) Abstract (page 17)
3) Fontanelle (page 24)
4) Bytes (page 28)
5) Resonance (page 48)
6) IEP (page 58)
7) Regurgitate (page 60)
8) Defective (page 73)
9) Inclusionary (page 105)
10) Virtually (page 133)
11) Appendectomy (page 138)
12) Ricochet (page 142)
13) Autistic (page 151)
14) Mezzanine (page 181)

Electronic Resources

YouTube Video - This 15 minute video will give students a better look into autism and how it affects people who have it. Told by a young girl named Rosie, viewers are able to see how she deals with her autism, as well as other children who have it. They share their experiences, how certain things make them feel, and will give students' an idea of what it is like to have autism.

Nora Raleigh Baskin - This is the author's official website. Students can go here to learn more about the author, find other books she has written, and learn about appearances, author visits, and how to contact her. Teachers can also use this site as Nora provides teacher guides for each of her books.

Comprehension Strategies:
Before: Have a group discussion with the class centered around the question, "What is diversity? Are any two people in the world the same? How can two or more people be different from one another?" Sparking this discussion with students will hopefully make them realize that no two people are alike and there are many, many ways they can be different from one another.

During: Throughout the story, random words just pop into Jason's head out of nowhere, even if he doesn't know what the words mean. Have students compile a running list of the words that appear in Jason's mind throughout the book. Each time a new word comes up, students should also find the definition to write next to the word. Students should keep this list for after they've finished the book.
Note for the teacher: the list of words includes: confluence, adjudicate, halogen, lexicon, vizcaíno, serendipity, placate, Jaba Chamberlain

After: Have students fill out an exit slip with the following two questions on it:
1) After finding all the definitions for the words that appear in Jason's head, why do you think these words were the ones to randomly appear? Do you think they have meaning to Jason and/or his life? Why or why not?
2) How is Bennu related to Jason? Why do you think Jason wrote this story? Why do you think he changed the ending to the story?

Writing: Jason writes a story throughout the book about Bennu, a dwarf who is given the opportunity to have surgery to make him like everyone else, to "fix" him. Ultimately, Bennu represents Jason and how everyone around him wants to "fix" him, but he is just happy being himself. Have students write a short story about a fictional character that is meant to represent themselves and their experiences in life. After each student has written their story, the teacher will read them to the class, and the class will have to guess which story belongs to each student in the class.

Citation:
Baskin, N. R. (2009). Anything but typical. New York: Simon & Schuster 
          Books for Young Readers.