Reading Science in 7th Grade! 2013

Into the World of John Elder Robison

The novel, Don’t Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison is about John Robison (the author), and his life story. John has trouble connecting and interacting with others. In his childhood, he never had a real home, for his parents continuously fought, his brother became distant, and he moved repeatedly. John struggles to find a job, but he takes interest in engineering, and works with the legend KISS. John soon finds a stable home, job, and a new wife (Martha), to start his supportive life. He finally learns about his disease, Aspergers, and writes about it in this moving book in order to teach, and make the world aware of the autism/Aspergers spectrum, and to tell his coming of age story.

           I could relate to John Robison and liked the book a lot. My cousin is autistic, and I've also taken Best Buddies. This book helped me to understand people with these kinds of disabilities better, and it's very interesting to learn about John's life, and how he connects with others. In order to read this compelling story, background information on Aspergers/autism is not needed, for John makes it easy to read this book, and follow his life events, while getting new perspectives on all living things. 

John Robison’s brother, Augusten Burroughs, also has an interesting story, and he writes about 

it in his story Running with Scissors. 

             Therefore, this is a great book for learning, getting different perspectives, and overall, a fun and interesting story to read.