“The Reason I Jump” Naoki Higashida (2016) Review | Revealing

The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism
Naoki Higashida, 2016
自閉症の僕が跳びはねる理由～会話のできない中学生がつづる内なる心～東田直樹
208 pages
Read in 2022.03
check price on amazon.com


✔ An essay from a non-verbal autistic boy
✔ How he sees the world
✔ Translated by David Mitchell


🔽 Review summary 🔽
★★★★☆  It’s revealing, beautiful and almost magical. His love for nature, his strong wish with to be with other people and be understood – these are refreshing and optimistic, but how it's written as a book feels too "comforting" for others


🔽 Book review and notes 🔽

It's revealing, beautiful and almost magical.
Not only that, his love for nature and being with others, his strong wish to be with other people and be understood - these are refreshing and revealing but also optimistic, and I must say, comforting.

It's comforting for people who know little about children with autism.
This book will make you feel moved instantly and I cannot help but think that it's carefully crafted by savvy adults.

We should not forget that it's a book from this particular and talented 13 year old boy. 
He's articulate, even if he doesn't speak in a conventional way and that's great and that's a big hope for parents, but this is one person on the spectrum. 

Definitely need to read in Japanese, which should be closer to how it was originally written by him (and not involving a famous writer) and I'd like to read more of his books, how he is progressing with his writing.

🔽 Where to buy / Summary and more info 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
The Reason I Jump: one boy's voice from the silence of autism

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●
Il motivo per cui salto (Italiano)