Anything But Typical

Anything But Typical

By Nora Raleigh Baskin

13 ratings 56 reviews 32 followers
Interest LevelReading LevelReading A-ZATOSWord Count
Grades 4 - 8Grades 2 - 8X4.135780
Jason Blake is an autistic 12-year-old living in a neurotypical world. Most days it's just a matter of time before something goes wrong. But Jason finds a glimmer of understanding when he comes across PhoenixBird, who posts stories to the same online site as he does.

Jason can be himself when he writes and he thinks that PhoneixBird-her name is Rebecca-could be his first real friend. But as desperate as Jason is to met her, he's terrified that if they do meet, Rebecca wil only see his autism and not who Jason really is.
By acclaimed writer Nora Raleigh Baskin, this is the breathtaking depiction of an autistic boy's struggles-and a story for anyone who has ever worried about fitting in.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 9781416995005
ISBN-10: 1416995005
Published on 3/9/2010
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 208

Book Reviews (56)

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vikcy vikcy

Nora Raleigh Baskin, the author of Anything but Typical-2010, takes her reader to a life of a boy. Jason Blake he is the main character as the author takes you through a journey of his weird/hard life. Jason is at school as he gets into fights and learns. He is at home as trouble comes. Finally when he is at Seth’s house in connecticut the trouble starts to boil. Jason is a normal kid except he has a disease!!! You follow his life adventure and troubles and you explore his life. This book is in first person and it makes it very affective because you feel like you are there and first you get the story of what happened and then Jason explained/talks about what he thinks about this and states his opinion. “After I kicked Seth, and he fell, and then somebody stepped on a lot of his CDs. Aunt Carol came running up the stairs. My mother was right behind her. Seth was yelling so much, so loud. The cracking of the CD covers. The thumping of the footsteps on the stairs. Heels clicking on the wooden floor coming closer. Harsh snapping of hard plastic.” Anything but typical made me cry, laugh, feel mad, feel sad, and feel mad. It is full of emotions! I think that if you look books that are very understanding and in one place then this is not a good book for you. But if you like books that are complicated, confusing, and are always in different places then you should definitely read this wonderful book. Personally I love every part of the book. Anything but Typical won a Schneider family book award. Nora is kind and worked together with many people to make and publish this amazing book.

“Anything But Typical” was written by Nora Raleigh Baskin which shows the experience of a kid with ASD. It takes place at typical middle school in Connecticut on the present day. The main character, Jason, is a writer, so his parents are going to invite him to a writing convention. Jason writes on a website called StoryBird, so he is going to a StoryBird convention. But, once he finds out his friend on the website is going, he changes his mind! He is too scared to make a fool out of himself at the convention in Texas, but when his dad already bought the tickets, things got tricker. Will Jason be able to shove his way out of this sticky situation? Though, Jason Blake isn’t your typical middle school kid, he actually has a disorder called ASD, a type of autism. Though that doesn’t stop him from getting creative! He has a neotropical family, his little brother Jeremy(who understands his issue and is always looking up to him), and his loving mother and father who support him all the way as Jason goes through his mindblowing experience of having a life with ASD. The author, Nora writes in the third person. She makes you feel like you are in the shoes of Jason, it’s like you are experiencing the things he is, which only make the book more effective and anything but typical. Nora made the book different, she gave some quotes that were pretty straight out there, like so, “Even the fan whirring on the ceiling of the room is yelling at me in a mechanical voice that has no words.” and “And then one day while he was taking a walk, one of the air hoses in his suit had a malfunction and the man died right on the street. He suffocated in his own invention that was designed to protect him.”. Wondering why things like these were written, read the book to find out! I personally thought the book was confusing in the beginning, but interesting. It goes through the life of an interesting kid and in the end was happy I had a chance to read it afterwards! Anything but typical made me feel for the character. It brought the book to life and almost made me cry. The situations are relatable so it is really effective and is an adventure for anyone who reads. Nora had won an award for her book, the SCHNEIDER FAMILY BOOK AWARD for anything but typical. She also wrote the book The Truth About My Bat Mitzvah and other books made for young adults and some children.

Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin takes the readers to the like of an autistic child named Jason Blake. She really makes you feel like you are Jason in the book in his autistic world.

Nora Raleigh Baskin is the author of the book, Anything But Typical. She explains the world of an autistic boy from his point of view. There are many characters in the book like, Jason Blake who is autistic and has a tough life, Jeremey his younger brother who always his brother for help, and Jason’s mom and dad who is supportive of Jason. Jason goes to school like any other kid and goes home like any other kid. He is a regular kid with autism. He goes to school and his favorite place to go in school is the computer lab and his least is the art room. When Jason got a little treat from his parents to a place he’s been wanting to go for a long time, he gets excited until…….“I am afraid that Rebecca will see me.” Nora Raleigh wrote this book in first person to make the reader believe that they are actually experiencing what the character is experiencing and feeling. Nora is also an Award Winning American Author of books for children and young adults. She won the Schneider Family Book Award for Anything But Typical and grew up in Brooklyn and New Paltz, New York.

Mitchellvictory Mitchellvictory

The book is about a boy named Jason Blake who has a special type of autism called ASD. In the book you learn what it's like too have autism Jason is not the happiest in the world because he only has a few friends and his family isn't always nice to him.The book mostly takes place in Jason's home town in Connecticut. But during the middle of the book Jason comes upon an unexpected plot twist and is forced with a very big decision whether he goes to the convention and faces his fear or whether he does not.One thing i really like about this book was how the author wrote it,It's as if the character is really talking to you and he tells you the story through his perspective.“Most people talk in their own language.they strongly prefer it. This so strongly prefer that when they go to foreign country they just talk louder may be slower because they think they will be better understood.”.“When i write,i can be heard and known.But nobody has too look at me.Nobody has too see me at all.”I like this book,I like it a lot. No it's not an adventure really but it is it's an adventure about his life and what it's like to be a twelve year old in middle school.Nora Raleigh Baskin is an author of several books such as The truth about my Bat Mitzvah. And My so called family.She has also won an award called the Schneider family book award. This is a great chapter book too read on your down time.

'Anything But Typical' is such a unique book. The author did a great job in adding drama when she describes the situation that the main character has to deal with. What a sensational story! Bravo to the author!

“Anything But Typical” was written by Nora Raleigh Baskin which shows the experience of a kid with ASD. It takes place at typical middle school in Connecticut on the present day. The main character, Jason, is a writer, so his parents are going to invite him to a writing convention. Jason writes on a website called StoryBird, so he is going to a StoryBird convention. But, once he finds out his friend on the website is going, he changes his mind! He is too scared to make a fool out of himself at the convention in Texas, but when his dad already bought the tickets, things got tricker. Will Jason be able to shove his way out of this sticky situation? Though, Jason Blake isn’t your typical middle school kid, he actually has a disorder called ASD, a type of autism. Though that doesn’t stop him from getting creative! He has a neotropical family, his little brother Jeremy(who understands his issue and is always looking up to him), and his loving mother and father who support him all the way as Jason goes through his mindblowing experience of having a life with ASD. The author, Nora writes in the third person. She makes you feel like you are in the shoes of Jason, it’s like you are experiencing the things he is, which only make the book more effective and anything but typical. Nora made the book different, she gave some quotes that were pretty straight out there, like so, “Even the fan whirring on the ceiling of the room is yelling at me in a mechanical voice that has no words.” and “And then one day while he was taking a walk, one of the air hoses in his suit had a malfunction and the man died right on the street. He suffocated in his own invention that was designed to protect him.”. Wondering why things like these were written, read the book to find out! I personally thought the book was confusing in the beginning, but interesting. It goes through the life of an interesting kid and in the end was happy I had a chance to read it afterwards! Anything but typical made me feel for the character. It brought the book to life and almost made me cry. The situations are relatable so it is really effective and is an adventure for anyone who reads. Nora had won an award for her book, the SCHNEIDER FAMILY BOOK AWARD for anything but typical. She also wrote the book The Truth About My Bat Mitzvah and other books made for young adults and some children.

Jason Weber Jason Weber

Nora Raleigh Baskin is the author of the book anything but typical. It is a book about a autistic 12 year old boy named Jason Blake. This story takes place in Jason’s “neurotypical” world. It shows us the way he sees things. Whether it is at school at home at his therapist's office or on vacation. It shows what he is thinking and wanting to do. The Main characters in this story are Jason, Jeremy(Jason’s little brother) Their parents, and phoenixbird Jason’s online “girlfriend” In the story Jason is an amazing writer. He writes all kinds of stories and one person phoenixbird reads his stories and likes them. So, they start talking through direct messages and seem to like each other. Jason likes this because he doesn’t have to see her and he can talk with her without her knowing he is autistic. Soon the storyboard conventions comes around and jason get tickets to go. But the problem is that phoenixbird got tickets too. He was going to have to meet her... The author's writing style is really effective. It is effective for a couple reasons, one of these reasons is writing in first person. It allows you to see how jason perceives things and what he thinks about. It shows you the way he sees the world. Another reason it is effective is because the way it flashes scene to scene randomly. I think this is because the author was trying to show us how how Jason sees the world how not everything connects. He processes some things but not all of them. In the story Jason begins to think he is a disappointment so he says this. “The only letters anybody cared about where ASD, NLD, and maybe ADD, or ADHD, which I think my mom would have liked better. BLNT. Better luck next time. This is one of the main conflicts in the story Jason knowing he is different from everyone. I think that this book was very entertaining and just when you thought it was getting boring, something exciting happens. It is a great book and I think you should read it. Nora Raleigh Baskin won the Schneider family book award for this book. The ALA Notable Children's Books. The Bank Street Best Books of the Year. The Black Eyed Susan Book Award Master List . And the Booklist Editors' Choice.

This book was very interesting to read. I like how this book was talking in a persons mind and what the person thought. I also liked that the things happening in the real life was explained in someones mind .

AudreyMitchell AudreyMitchell

“Anything But Typical” was written by Nora Raleigh Baskin which shows the experience of a kid with ASD. It takes place at typical middle school in Connecticut on the present day. The main character, Jason, is a writer, so his parents are going to invite him to a writing convention. Jason writes on a website called StoryBird, so he is going to a StoryBird convention. But, once he finds out his friend on the website is going, he changes his mind! He is too scared to make a fool out of himself at the convention in Texas, but when his dad already bought the tickets, things got trickier. Will Jason be able to shove his way out of this sticky situation? Though, Jason Blake isn’t your typical middle school kid, he actually has a disorder called ASD, a type of autism. Though that doesn’t stop him from getting creative! He has a neotropical family, his little brother Jeremy(who understands his issue and is always looking up to him), and his loving mother and father who support him all the way as Jason goes through his mind blowing experience of having a life with ASD. The author, Nora writes in the third person. She makes you feel like you are in the shoes of Jason, it’s like you are experiencing the things he is, which only make the book more effective and anything but typical. Nora made the book different, she gave some quotes that were pretty straight out there, like so, “Even the fan whirring on the ceiling of the room is yelling at me in a mechanical voice that has no words.” and “And then one day while he was taking a walk, one of the air hoses in his suit had a malfunction and the man died right on the street. He suffocated in his own invention that was designed to protect him.”. Wondering why things like these were written, read the book to find out! I personally thought the book was confusing in the beginning, but interesting. It goes through the life of an interesting kid and in the end was happy I had a chance to read it afterwards! Anything but typical made me feel for the character. It brought the book to life and almost made me cry. The situations are relatable, so it is really effective and is an adventure for anyone who reads. Nora had won an award for her book, the SCHNEIDER FAMILY BOOK AWARD for anything but typical. She also wrote the book The Truth About My Bat Mitzvah and other books made for young adults and some children.

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