Waiting for No One

Waiting for No One by Beverley Brenna

Pages: 175
"Beverley Brenna's fifth novel for young people, Waiting for No One, is a gem of a book ... From the moment readers meet Taylor as she makes a glorious hash of her first job interview, they are her friends for life. Taylor is a funny, honest, smart, endearing girl with Asperger's syndrome. Little things others take for granted often confuse her. She longs to escape from those who, for her own good, keep her dependent. She tells the sometimes comic, always moving story of her fight for freedom in a voice all her own. One of the most importnat characters in the story is Taylor's gerbil Harold Pinter. Harold Pinter does not notice the syndrome but simply loves the person ... So will you when you read this book." -Jean Little.

This book is the story of eighteen-year-old Taylor Jane Simon. She has Asperger's syndrom which makes the book very interesting. She thinks about things in different orders then I do sometimes and she notices things and comprehends things differently. She lives with her mom who is making her dependent, where as she wants to be independent. That's why she applies for a job at a bookstore. She thinks that she ruined the interview though, so she is afraid to call the manager. She goes to dance class and a biology class in college where she meets Luke Pheonix, and she has a photographic memory. To top it all off, when she leaves Canada to visit her Dad in Cody, Wyoming, she meets her Dad's new girlfriend. Sometimes, the only thing that can keep her from falling off the world is her pet gerbil Harold Pinter.

Taylor is just such a sweet, honest and caring girl who looks at the world in a whole new perspective. Sometimes she blurts out words that she doesn't mean to - sometimes curse words, which she is trying to quit saying. She is brutally honest with her feelings sometimes and when other people didn't always understand it was interesting to see their reactions. I absolutely loved reading this book and watching her go through just a few weeks of her life as she struggles with understanding simple words like "how." I also loved her pet guinea pig. Harold Pinter was very adorable.

The plot was new and exciting and even though it was a very fast read, I enjoyed the book sooooo much. It was just written beautifully. I highly recomend reading this book.

Overall Rating: 5 stars