FICTION

Charlie Makes a Splash

by Holly Robinson Peete with RJ Peete and Shane W. Evans (text) & illus. by Shane W. Evans
Scholastic. Aug. 2022. 40p. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9781338687262.
COPY ISBN
K-Gr 2–This gentle family narrative, a follow-up to My Brother Charlie, is told from the point of view of Charlie, a young boy who has autism. Along with his mother, father, and twin sister Callie, he engages in a variety of enjoyable activities. With a deep affinity for water, Charlie particularly relishes swimming, walking in the rain, visiting the aquarium, washing hands, and taking baths. The lyrical text, replete with poetic phrases celebrating the tactility of water, affords a powerful impression of the sensory rhythms of RJ Peete’s own experience with autism. In his digital art, Evans depicts stylized Black characters with enormous eyes. The swirl and flow of water in the surrounding environment looks as warm and inviting to readers as it must to Charlie.
VERDICT A positive and informative look at autistic experience through a child-friendly lens.
Reviewed by Jonah Dragan , Jul 01, 2022

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