Do You Think This Is Strange?
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4.7 • 6 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Shortlisted for the 2016 Amazon.ca First Novel Award
Longlisted for the 2016 Leacock Medal for Humour Writing
Winner of an Independent Publishers Book Award (IPPY)
Freddy has problems. Some of them are because he's autistic. Most of them are because he's a teenager.
When he’s seven years old, Freddy's mother walks him to the train station, sits him on a bench, kisses his forehead, and disappears from his life. In a few short days, everything changes. His father moves him across town, enrols him in a different school, and takes him away from little Saskia, the only friend he’s ever had.
Ten years later, Freddy is struggling to get through his last year of high school. He painstakingly avoids interactions with other students, who don’t understand his hyper-literal perspective. But then Saskia appears, and she’s different from the laughing little girl he remembers. She no longer smiles, and she doesn’t speak.
As they reconnect, Freddy begins to remember what really happened ten years ago. And everything he thought he knew begins to unravel. Both humorous and heartbreaking, Do You Think This Is Strange? is a coming-of-age tale you won’t soon forget.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Cully Drake's outstanding debut, it takes punching the quarterback, getting expelled and being reunited with a long lost friend for 17-year-old Freddy to realize there's a strange lapse in his memory. Communicating and relating to people is an everyday struggle for Freddy who is autistic. A decade after their last autism group therapy session together, Saskia Stiles remains high on Freddy's numbered list of favorite things. Reunited at his new high school, Saskia mutedly forces Freddy to confront the past. The way Drake weaves pieces of past and present together is accomplished and clever. Freddy's preoccupations with numbers, events, and thoughts are stereotypical of autistic leads, but Freddy's thought threads' and strategies to express emotions are presented quirkily but with a high level of grace and understanding. While some of Freddy's interpretations of behaviors are clearly included for humorous impact, they're never disrespectful. The relationship between Saskia and Freddy is everything teen romance readers yearn for, but complex enough for adult readers. With an enthralling character voice, an atypical narrative structure, and an unexpected mystery, Drake's first outing sets a high bar for his next.
Customer Reviews
How Strange Indeed
Well written insight to an autistic child’s world.
Until an autistic child comes into your world, most of us have no clue
Do You Think This is Strange
A profoundly penned novel, richly detailed and credibly imaginative. One of the very best that I’ve read in recent years; uncommon characters struggling through commonplace occurrences.
A truly unique coming of age tale....you will feel for Freddy as his story unfolds and he discovers the missing link in his personal timeline. Poignant, moving.