Miller, Ashley Edward and Zack
Stentz. Colin Fischer. Razorbill (Young Penguin Readers Group), 2012. 978-1-59514-578-9. 226 p.
$17.99, hc. Grades 8 and up.
Colin Fischer is a fourteen-year-old freshman with Asperger’s
Sydrome. He is high-functioning and
extremely intelligent, but is an outcast because of his lack of social skills. He is very observant and detail-oriented, and
has kept a notebook of his observations for many years. He does not excel at any sports, except
jumping on the trampoline, which seems to calm his nerves and help him to
think.
On his first two days as a freshman, Colin causes a scene in
class, gets sent to the principal’s office, learns to shoot basketball, becomes
a witness in a school gun incident, gets into a fight, and lies to his parents
for the first time. This, from a boy,
who has never been in trouble at school!
When he is sent to the office for disrupting class, he is able to tell
Dr. Doran, the principal at West Valley High School, specifics about a student’s
cellphone that no one else would even notice!
The next day, as Colin’s friend, Melissa, celebrates her
birthday with cake in the cafeteria, there is a school shooting! The obvious culprit is Wayne, one of the
school bullies, but Colin knows he is innocent and sets out to prove it. Although Wayne has tormented Colin since
grade school, the two pair up and go on a wild adventure to figure out who owns
the gun used in the shooting! Using what
they learn, what Colin overhears and his honed powers of deduction, Colin pins
the crime on the girlfriend on another of the school’s thugs. The solving of the crime results in mutual
admiration and an unlikely friendship between Colin and Wayne!
Colin Fischer is just a delightful novel! I cannot remember the last time I laughed so
much while reading a book! Colin is a
wonderful character, very matter-of-fact, and takes everything so literal. He writes down everything in his spiral notebook,
which is actually more of a journal, including the word, “investigate”, if he
needs more information. Because he has a
hard time deciphering facial expressions, he carries around flash cards to help
him label emotions. In the book, the font
for these emotions…ANGER…SERIOUS…IMPRESSED…and so on, seem to mimic the actual
words he might see on his flash cards.
During the story, readers find out more about Asperger’s Syndrome, both
through writings in his notebook and through dialogue.
Colin’s mom and dad are great parents! They have worked at raising Colin to be
independent, but are still surprised when moments arrive when he doesn’t need
their help. He is still able to surprise
them with his accomplishments. His
brother, Danny, on the other hand, is resentful and jealous of Colin, who just
seems to shrug it off. This is one-sided
sibling rivalry!
My favorite part of the book was the quest that Wayne and
Colin went on, specifically the time spent in the home of the La Familia
gang! I also loved how Mr. Turrentine,
Colin’s gym teacher, took the time to actually teach Colin how to shoot the
basketball. Mr. Turrentine had the best
line in the book when he said to Colin, “Life is a contact sport, and pads are
not an option.”
This is a
great guy book, but girls will also enjoy it.
It’s a quick read and one that shouldn’t be missed! I highly recommend it for upper middle
school, high school, and public libraries!
*Reviewer’s
Note: This book was received from Library Media Connection in exchange for
an honest review.
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