4 stars
A heartwarming story about a town coming together to search for a missing child.
Aurora and Frenchie are best friends. But when Aurora starts making new friends, she finds it difficult to balance her friendship with Frenchie, who is autistic and nonvocal. When Frenchie goes missing, a part of Aurora can’t help but blame herself. The self-proclaimed “big old blurter” Aurora (who demonstrates characteristics of ADHD and/or autism) throws herself into the search to find her best friend.
The story shifts between Aurora’s first-person narration and the third-person experiences of others including Frenchie and community members involved in the search. Through Aurora’s narration, the reader learns about her friendship with Frenchie. I especially enjoyed the areas that showcased how Aurora learned from Frenchie (how to assist him without doing everything for him, how to read his communication cues, and the ways he learned best).
I was all-in on the story from the beginning. It’s presented as a mystery that allows the reader to start to puzzle things into place. The story itself was well-told and engaging. I especially enjoyed seeing how all of the characters were connected.
As far as autism representation goes, Frenchie honestly is a fairly minor character. The book centers more on disproving misconceptions about autism and being nonvocal than it does showing the experiences of autistic individuals. Connor notes that she talked with parents and siblings of autistic children to enhance her characters and that shows. The book does what it does well, but it does lack the voices of actual people who are autistic.
A sweet story. Touches on themes of neurodiversity, acceptance, inclusion, community, making new friends while maintaining past relationships, single parenthood, and new siblings and adoption.