Sounds perfect until you add in the fact that Martin, who has high functioning autism, attends a general-ed high school for the first time.
Fluent in French, Martin makes friends, whom he refers to and names after characters from his favourite book. He tries to socialise with his mother's actor friends, dabbles in cooking and stays connected with his best friend from LA. He finds peoples' motivations difficult to read and faces some challenges which test his resolve.
Throughout, Martin remembers things he learnt from his father who is divorced from his mother.
Martin must learn to use his intelligence to guide him through social interactions and differentiate imagination from reality, particularly as he starts to fall in love at the same time as he needs to understand if his friends are using him.
A sweet coming of age tale set in a beautiful part of France, described as a Rosie Project for teen readers.
Title: Kids Like Us
Author: Hilary Reil
Publisher: Text, $19.99
Publication Date: 30 October 2017
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781925498912
For ages: 13+
Type: Young Adult Fiction
