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 My
Strange and Terrible Malady
by Catherine Bristow
$15.95   
April 2008, ISBN 978-1-934575-19-2
| Audience (i.e.
age, profession) |
- Educators
- Counselors
- Pre-teens
- Teenagers
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Surviving the teenage
years isn't easy. Especially, if you've just found out why you're feeling
so, totally, different from the rest of the kids at school.
In My Strange and
Terrible Malady, Ronita Baker, 11th-grade individualist, is not happy.
Doctors just diagnosed her with Asperger Syndrome. It's hard enough being
the misfit daughter of a perfect mother. School isn't much easier.
Things change when
Ronnie meets Hannah and she takes the time to explain the mysteries of
social interaction and other conundrums of daily life to Ronnie. Hannah
soon makes more sense to Ronnie than the despised Life Coach. At first
… but that changes when the Life Coach starts relating better to
Ronnie.
My Strange and Terrible
Malady takes a look at Asperger Syndrome from a young woman's point of
view. Ronnie is clearly not socially savvy, but she is learning. Social
and emotional interaction can be learned.
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Excerpt
is taken from Chapter 1 of My Strange and Terrible Malady
by Catherine Bristow.
Asperger's.
"It doesn't
do any good to sulk," says Mother in a reasonable tone. Mother
is always reasonable. Mother is sane, reasonable, beautiful, intelligent,
witty and insightful. I'm a jerk. Forever and ever, amen.
I've been a
jerk as long as I can remember. If you ask me for examples, as Mother
often patiently does, it's really easier to point at my life
tout ensemble, so to speak, and ask you to pick out any spot
where I'm not engaged in being a jerk.
Mother always
goes for the year I volunteered as a reader at the hospice. But
that doesn't count because I only volunteered to get close to Randy
Goldstein, who was assigned to another floor already the first day.
The only one who ever talked to me was the old fat woman who changed
the bedpans. And I wasn't a very good reader anyway from always
holding my breath because of the funny smell in there. So I don't
believe the hospice is such a shining moment in my history.
Right now I
am slumped over in the front seat, passenger side, with my head
against the window in the jerkiest, sulkiest position I can contort
my body into. Mother is driving, just waiting for me to give her
an opening so she can leap in and turn everything the doctor said
was black into white. And at home my brother is blissfully ignorant
of how soon he will be deep into making up jokes that contain the
word "assburger."
"It's not
even a girl's disease," I mumble into the side of the car door.
"What?"
says Mother, while expertly scoping out where the sudden noise of
a siren is coming from.
"I have
to be the one girl in the universe to get this disease. I'm an anomaly."
"That's
not what he said, Ronnie." Mother smoothly pulls over to let
the wailing ambulance by. Not like when I had to pull over for an
ambulance during driver's ed. I got so panicked people were shouting
helpful directions from nearby cars. "And it's not a disease."
"Oh."
"It's a
syndrome."
"Really."
"Which
has up until now been under-diagnosed in women. So there could be
a lot of other girls feeling the same way but not understanding
why. In a way, we're lucky."
"Don't
say."
She gives up.
One thing about Mother, she knows when to hold her fire. Am so liking
the "we" part incidentally - the old "all for one
and one for all" mentality.
We drive on,
two binary opposites encased together by a blue Toyota: Lynette
Baker, perfect parent, and Ronnie Baker, reported girl child of
sixteen with just what it takes to click on the teen scene - boy's
name, boy's haircut and now a nifty new boy's disease. Oh pardon
me, syndrome. I elaborate.
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Book
Reviews.
"My Strange
and Terrible Malady allowed us to experience life as a teenager with
Asperger Syndrome. Even though my teenage daughter with Asperger Syndrome
and I live it day in and day out, Ronita's thoughts and words comforted
both of us. Her character showed us that we are not the only mother and
daughter in the world living the often tumultuous teenage years with AS.
My Strange and Terrible Malady is a must-read not only for teens with
AS and those who care for and love them but for all teenagers who cope
with trying to fit in and find themselves."
- Meredith Coates,
Youth and Family Ministries coordinator; and Meghan Coates, 15-year-old
diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome
"My Strange
and Terrible Malady is a delightful new addition to the growing collection
of books aimed at helping teenagers understand the Asperger experience.
Welcome to Ronita Baker's world where clothes are selected by whatever
falls off the hanger in the morning. Recently diagnosed with 'ass burger'
syndrome, Ronnie takes us along as she makes the journey from being an
insecure and ashamed teen to an empowered and 'happy?' young woman by
learning (with guidance from both a friend and a life coach) how to navigate
the neurotypical world. This is a warm, funny tale of adolescent confusion,
the importance of mentoring/coaching and the power of friendship and acceptance.
Thanks, Catherine (and Ronnie too!)."
-Ellen Korin, author
of Asperger Syndrome: An Owner's Manual and Asperger Syndrome:
An Owner's Manual 2
"My Strange
and Terrible Malady is a welcome and needed look into the mind and
life of a young woman with Asperger Syndrome. With economy of structure
and authenticity of detail, Catherine Bristow's prose immerses the reader
in the daily routines and thinking of Ronita, from whom we gradually learn
about this little-understood disorder. This is a must-read for high school
students, who will relate immediately to a teen who struggles to understand
the world around her. For everyone, Ronita's struggle is at times sad
and funny, but ultimately, inspiring and full of hope."
-William H. Richards,
M.Ed., teacher, writer and researcher
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