About the Book and Author / Illustrator
This graphic novel by Aoife Dooley is based on her real life experience of autism. It is published in the UK by Scholastic and contains clear bold illustrations in hues of orange and blue as well as black and white. Our young reviewer is colour-blind and comments that unlike many graphic novels he was still able to appreciate the different coloured-tones in this book. Congratulations and thanks to the author for creating a story that will resonate with so many young people.
Frankie knows she’s not like anyone else in her class: she’s different, but she can’t quite figure out why. Is it the new freckle on her nose, or the fact she’s small for her age? Or that she has to go to the hospital sometimes? Everyone else seems to think she’s weird too, and they make fun of her at school.
Frankie’s dad left when she was a baby – maybe he was different too? It would explain why she always feels like an alien. So she and her best-friend Sam, embark on a mission to track him down.
Aoife Dooley is an illustrator, author and comedian Ireland whose first Children’s book was published in 2019 by Little Island Books. 123 Ireland won Specsavers Children’s book of the year.
Aoife openly shares her experiences of being diagnosed as Autistic at the age of 27, neurodiversity and how a diagnosis helped her to truly understand herself. Aoife has helped dozens of men and women to seek and receive a diagnosis over the last year by speaking about her own experiences. She has also created a number of books for adult readers including Your One Nikita series.
Book Review
The way Frankie explains things as she sees them in her mind also made me smile a lot
Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I would like this as it looked like it might be more for girls, but I saw the controller on the front and I am really into gaming so I decided to try it. I am really pleased I did because I loved this book.
Firstly I’m colour blind so sometimes graphic novels all look a bit bland to me as they usually use grey and black a lot, this was really bold and even if I couldn’t see specific colours I could tell which bits were different colours. It sounds silly but this made a big difference to my enjoyment of the story.
The story has some very funny bits, I could not stop laughing at the bit about Buzz Lightyear. The way Frankie explains things as she sees them in her mind also made me smile a lot.
I like that Frankie doesn’t quite fit in, I have definitely felt like that and her descriptions of saying things without thinking about them definitely sounds like me. It was nice to feel like other people do that too. It is a book that helps you feel like you are not alone even if you feel like alone at school.
The fact that Frankie finds there is a reason for the way she sees the world was nice, I think it might help other kids talk to their parents or teachers about themselves and maybe get answers for themselves as well.
This is a fantastic book for anyone who feels different, it helps you to know that you will meet people who get you and have friends that like you for who you are. I think this is perfect for anyone over 10, even adults. I will definitely be talking to people in my school about it.
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Reviewer Profile
- Name: Ryan
- Age: 10 years
- Likes: Lego, Dragonball Z and reading
- Dislikes: being woken up and losing on computer games!
- Favourite Book: Tom Gates: Dog Zombie Rules by Liz Pichon
- Favourite Song: The Final Countdown by Queen
- Favourite Film: Dragonball Z: Super Battle of the Gods
