By Toni Lapp
Think back to when you were preparing to make the transition from grade school to middle school (or junior high, if you were like me). Chances are, your social interactions gave you an inkling of what to expect. Perhaps you had older friends who were in upper grades, or maybe you had friends whose older siblings shared advice.
Reading the newly published “Middle School: The Stuff Nobody Tells You About,” I’m reminded of what a jarring change the shift to middle school can be for girls — on and off the spectrum. However, girls on the spectrum are at a natural disadvantage because they often do not have the social circles — and hence, the information shared in these networks — that typical kids have.
Adolescent girls on the spectrum need all the information they can get, and local publisher Autism Asperger Publishing Co. (AAPC) serves it up in this book, written and illustrated by Haley Moss, who at 15, surely knows the material well. Indeed, she tells of attending three different middle schools, switching schools between 6th and 7th grades and 7th and 8th grades.
The author writes with brutal honesty, which any person on the spectrum will appreciate: “The ‘friendship front’ isn’t good for me at all times because of constantly changing friends,” she tells the reader at the outset. Each chapter features advice from her on the selected topic (example: good habits before school starts, changing classes, lockers, and so forth) as well as a teacher’s perspective and advice from other girls on the spectrum.
Here’s a sampling of Haley’s advice:
* On hallway etiquette: “On the way to class, there may be kids who bang into you in the hall. Try to stay cool and don’t hit or push back. In most cases, this is an accident, as the hallways and walkways are crowded with kids rushing to and from classes.”
* On showing off knowledge in class: “Sometimes it is best not to raise your hand at all, even if you know every answer.”
* On friendships: “In addition to friends and acquaintances, there are ‘frenemies.’ These are people who may pretend to be your friends but are mean and talk about you behind your back.”
Haley describes her first day at a new school with great detail, referring to a seatmate from one class as “World History Girl,” and telling of her relief that the girl finds her at lunch. “I don’t know if I can pull this social stuff off,” she writes. “I tend to be shy and a loner, and she is very shy and very self-confident.”
While boys can relate to many aspects of the book, it is intended for girls. Haley talks about the need to keep spare change handy to purchase sanitary napkins, for instance. She also talks of the importance of looking fashionable, so other girls will be nice (and refers more than once to the movie “Mean Girls” as being instructive).
I initially found Haley’s anime-inspired cover illustration to be somewhat out of sync with the topic, until I read in the preface that her mother first told her she had autism by telling her she had magical powers. Indeed, those reading her work may agree.
