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The Space We're In

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The Space We're In

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Overview

Ten-year-old Frank has trouble navigating his relationship with his younger brother Max who is autistic.

Frank loves soccer, codes, riding his bike, and playing with his friends. His brother Max is five. Max only eats foods that are beige or white, hates baths, and if he has to wear a t-shirt that isn't gray with yellow stripes he melts down down down.

Frank longs for the brother he was promised by his parents before Max was born--someone who was supposed to be his biggest fan, so he could be the best brother in the world. Instead, Frank has trouble navigating Max's behavior and their relationship. But when tragedy strikes, Frank finds a way to try and repair their fractured family and in doing so learns to love Max for who he is.

In her debut novel, Katya Balen uses her knowledge of autism and experience working with autistic people to create an intriguing and intense yet always respectful family story.

For readers of Counting by 7s and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.

A Junior Library Guild Selection!
A Bank Street Best Book of the Year

Product Details
About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823443154
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	10/22/2019
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Katya Balen lives just outside London with her boyfriend and their rescue dog. She's worked in a number of special schools for autistic children. She now runs Mainspring Arts, a non-profit that organizes creative projects for neurodivergent people. The Space We're In is her first novel.

From the B&N Reads Blog

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Editorial Reviews

08/19/2019
Balen’s powerfully emotional debut tells the story of 10-year-old Frank and his five-year-old brother Max, who is autistic and nonverbal. Frank loves footie, codes and ciphers, and pretending to be a “wildboy” with his friends in the wilderness near his house; Max likes only four foods, hates bright colors, and will only wear one kind of T-shirt: “gray with yellow stripes.” Much of the siblings’ home life is organized around Max’s needs, sometimes leaving Frank feeling ignored, but their distracted parents are quick to give Frank special attention when he needs it. Frank’s dense stream-of-consciousness narration conveys authentic emotional shifts: trying to be sensitive to his brother’s particularities, but feeling frustrated that he doesn’t have “a normal brother” and finding himself unable to stand up to the schoolmates who mock Max. After a tragedy, Frank discovers inner strength that helps him connect with Max and produce a creative way for the family to process their grief. Balen, who has worked with autistic people in various settings, sensitively depicts the experience of love, and of loving a neurodiverse family member. Ages 8–12. Agent: Catherine Drayton, InkWell Management. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

★ "Frank’s narration is an honest take on a child’s experiences growing up with a special needs little brother, who sucks up parental energy and attention; he often shows signs of frustration with his brother for being different, with his father for not helping enough, and with himself for occasionally joining in with other kids who make fun of his brother just so he can fit in. It’s a gut-wrenching story of loss, but through Frank’s growing bond with Max it’s also one of gain, and readers will be deeply moved."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Starred Review

"[A] powerfully emotional debut . . . Balen, who has worked with autistic people in various settings, sensitively depicts the experience of love, and of loving a neurodiverse family member."—Publishers Weekly

"Balen's debut novel draws from her own experiences in a school for children with special challenges, and she balances the struggles of those with autism and those who love them in a book with an achingly huggable main character. . . .The mysteries of the universe, the complexities of life, and a protagonist readers will fall in love with."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

10/01/2019
Gr 3–7—Frank has always resented his brother Max. Max is autistic, and he gets most of his parents' attention; Frank often wakes up in the middle of the night to Max crying out, his family can never go out to eat since Max can't handle it—the list goes on. But when his mom starts having seizures, Frank's feelings ramp up. Frank believes that all the extra stress Max puts on his mom has made her sick. When tragedy strikes Frank's family, he realizes that Max didn't make his mom sick after all, and begins to truly appreciate his brother for who he is. Seamlessly told from Frank's perspective, the story drags a bit in points. While this depiction of a boy with an autistic brother is evocative, some readers may be tired of another novel that views an autistic character through the perspective of a put-upon neurotypical sibling. VERDICT Recommended for libraries with a strong interest in realistic fiction.—Jill Baetiong, Bloomingdale Public Library, IL

School Library Journal

2019-08-12
Frank loves number patterns, ciphers, and soccer, but his relationship with his younger brother, Max, doesn't fit into any logical category.
Frank is 10, and his fascination with codes and numerical sequences is challenged by the unpredictability of Max's autism. Frank is counting down the days until Max can start his new school, but his focus on the difficulties of life with his brother takes a back seat when true tragedy strikes the family and Frank begins a countdown of another kind. Leaving childhood innocence far too soon, Frank is supported by his two best friends, his loving family, an empathetic neighbor, and a teacher who understands the temptation to hide what is hurtful from the outside world. Balen's debut novel draws from her own experiences in a school for children with special challenges, and she balances the struggles of those with autism and those who love them in a book with an achingly huggable main character. The story, narrated by Frank, rings true as the author resists any temptation to make Frank more praiseworthy or more adult than he would be. The inclusion of the golden ratio, Morse code, occasional free verse poetry, and thoughtful changes in typeset add to an already admirable book. The tale is set in contemporary England; the main characters are presumed white; Frank's friend Ahmed's family is from Bangladesh.
The mysteries of the universe, the complexities of life, and a protagonist readers will fall in love with. (Fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews

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