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ClareR (6054 KP) rated Underdogs in Books

Jul 2, 2019 (Updated Jul 2, 2019)

Underdogs

Chris Bonnello | 2019 | Dystopia, Fiction & Poetry, Young Adult (YA)

7.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

A big thumbs up for neurodiversity!

I liked this - it’s such a positive, uplifting book, set in a world where cloned soldiers have taken over the country. The seemingly only free humans (the rest of the population are crammed into overcrowded citadels) are all young people with autism, anxiety, PDA, developmental delays and ADHD (I may have missed some conditions!), and they are fighting to stay alive.

This story shows how these young people’s conditions affect them, and how they cope with them - how they use their conditions, which are seen as a weakness by many, to their advantage. Neurodiversity is so well described by the author, and it was really interesting to be in the heads of the main characters. I honestly think that this book should be read in schools (year 6 and above, it’s a bit too graphic in places for younger readers, I think). With more inclusive education in schools, I think that this book could help students to understand their fellow classmates. And really, as an adult I learnt something about them too.

I’ll be interested to read any other books that follow this, and I’ll be keeping an eye out!
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and the author for serialising this book.