Stuck in Neutral (2000)

This was a fascinating look inside the mind of a boy suffering from a debilitating condition. The use of first-person narrative is an ambitious and rewarding choice. Shawn is a funny, complex, believable teenager. The world perceives him to be a mentally disabled, without any awareness to his surroundings, but readers will enjoy the busy life inside Shawn’s mind. The theme is one of sadness and isolation, yet Shawn accepts his condition with humor and maturity, challenging the reader to look past appearances. I particularly liked Trueman never gets preachy, but instead let the reader decide how things turn out and whether anyone is the villain. ( )

Read in 2006 - pre-Goodreads

Review: 12.01.17

I remember being horrified with this book. This book is oh-so-sad, and the ending! And that has stayed with me for the last decade so this book must have done it's job. A lot to ponder. ( )

Fourteen-year-old Shawn McDaniel thinks his father may be planning to kill him.

The relevant facts are real - but is the story true? Who can know? Trueman clearly hopes that his son is like Shawn and is happy enough somewhere inside - but what if he's not? This would certainly be an interesting book to discuss with your teen. I also picked up the sequel (?) from the library and will read it soon.

(I have now read, and been impressed by, [b:Inside Out|478518|Inside Out|Terry Trueman|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348052711s/478518.jpg|1464585] and it is not a sequel in any sense of the word. I was confused; it's [b:Cruise Control|478529|Cruise Control|Terry Trueman|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348053709s/478529.jpg|466962] that is the sequel. I'll try to find that, too.) ( )

The story is told from the point of view of Shawn McDaniel who has cerebral palsy. In the voice of a typical teen, he tells how he understands everything that is going on around him, even as his own family believes he can’t. Shawn has an incredible memory for remembering everything he hears. He lives with his mother, brother, and sister who bear with him the best they can. His father, however has had greater problems coping with Shawn’s condition and agonizes over the pain he believes his son is going through. He wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning poem about the experience and it has come to define his career. A muttered aside by his father has Shawn believing that his own father plans to kill him.