Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing -

This book is a combination of present-tense, third-person prose and short diary entries from the perspective of Tally, the autistic main character. The diary entries mainly focus on charting her anxiety levels and explaining terms and concepts related to autism, often breaking them down into pros and cons. I had never, ever read descriptions like this before that I didn't write myself. It meant so much to me to read about this from another person's perspective, and to see Tally's stress about trying to behave and keep self-control, but getting to points where she literally cannot restrain the explosive behavior that takes over. It was so accurate, and even though Tally's triggers were different than mine, I cannot even imagine what an overwhelming comfort it would have been if I could have read something like this when I was twelve.

People think that because Tally's autistic, she doesn'trealise what they're thinking, but Tally sees and hears - and notices - all of it. And, honestly? That's not the easiest thing to live with. I wanted to see how Tally copes with autism and really it doesn't show much of that. But autism shows up when horrible events happen. It's quite a sweet book, my English class agree. We all read it together, went through what might happen and how Tally felt. Really, that was fun. The book was interesting but I think they should have put someone else's point of view in it, like wonder. Cause Tally became a bit annoying. Tally Olivia Adams is 12 years old and in 7th grade with her friends Lucy Aisha and Layla. Her big sister Nell is boring and annoying. Her parents struggle to help her with her autism. Tally life turns around as unexpected events come around .... I would say that about 90% of the protagonist's behaviours are recognisable in my daughter - Some parts made me laugh, others made me cry. Some parts made me go 'Ohhhhh' - lightbulb moments of realisation. Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments

This glimpse into the world of a young autistic girl is astonishingly insightful and honest. Tally's struggles to 'fit in' are heart-wrenching, and her victories are glorious." -- Ann M. Martin, Newbery Honor and New York Times bestselling author of Rain Reign This may be the most annoying book I've ever read! The idea of featuring autistic characters in fiction is a good one, and I think it's a great idea to help people understand what it's like to live with autism. But in spite of being based on the real life experience of a girl with autism, it doesn't ring true. The story is too didactic, and Tally's "Top Tips" for dealing with someone with autism sound like something an adult would say, not a middle school girl.I am not autistic, and I had the very great blessing of being homeschooled, which I appreciated even more after reading this book. However, I deeply identify with Tally's high sensitivity to stimulation and agitation over it, her obsessive-compulsive tendencies, some of her tics, and her constant stress over trying to find some way to appear at least semi-normal, or at least normal enough to fly under the radar. This was also my first time reading a novel that reflected some of my behavioral issues from the past. Although Tally's are more extreme than mine were, or at least seem to make less rational sense, her feelings of grinding anxiety, rage, and explosion are painfully familiar to me.