Jessi's Secret Language Part 2

[drmaggiemoreau]

Jessi’s Secret Language Part 2
So, after my first snark, I was so excited to read all the comments, and I’m jumping back in for part 2!

Comments

[heymalice]

man, this book just keeps getting WORSE doesn't it? damn. that last chapter in particular was just...chilling. yuck yuck yuck. :(

question! was that one gif MISTER ROGERS or am i imagining things due to exhaustion? either way, that gif rocks. also, other than jenny being awful as fuck to matt&that horrendous last chapter, i was laughing through this. you kick ass at snarking.

it's kinda fucked up that some of these books got published, to be honest. did NOBODY involved read through the most awful of them&think, "this is a really gross message"? anything? wow. think this book may stay in the box of books i got recently, along with kristy&the secret of susan. NO THANKS. :/

[drmaggiemoreau]

Yup! It was Mr. Rogers. Apparently he was teaching kids what finger was which, but I guess he slipped up and flipped everyone off.

I don't know what was going through anyone's heads when they published these books, but I can hazard a guess. Admittedly, I know nothing about publishing, but I assume their business goal boils down to "make money". And BSC books sold. I can totally see a publisher getting a manuscript for this book, and thinking "Welp, these books sell like hotcakes. I'll just have someone proofread it and send it on its way!"

And as for Kristy and the Secret of Susan, I'm just like NOPE. For all the shit I give this book, I can honestly say Kristy and the Secret of Susan was worse. Especially the ending, when her parents named their new baby Hope. Like "We hope this kid isn't like our first kid!" FAIL.

[heymalice]

THAT'S AWESOME! oh mr rogers...lol.

yep, money. gotta be all about the money. it's a shame.
i'm really tempted to burn/otherwise destroy my copy of "kristy&the secret of susan", to be perfectly honest. &i'm not one for the burning or even banning of books, but this one kinda deserves some kind of destruction in my mind. it makes me so sad&so so angry even just looking at it, i think wrecking the damn thing would be almost like...therapy? i know i'm probably not the only one who feels this way.

[anabellabobella]

Repurpose the book for something, like birdcage liner. I tore up the copy I had. I couldn't stand having it in my house, and didn't like the idea of donating it somewhere where an impressionable kid would probably get it. When 1 in every 88 kids has autism to some degree, the last thing kids need to read and believe is that autistic kids are so defective that they should be sent away and ignored instead of being part of the family.

[heymalice]

too true. i actually thought last night about tearing it up for collaging (i love making collages) but i wouldn't want to be able to still make out the words. could go over it with pastels or crayons, add images. make it unrecognizable.

i'd seriously use it for soaking up bacon grease or something, but wouldn't want the ink (or the book's horridness) to effect my food. ha!

i can't believe ann just published her THIRD book on autism. that's just frightening. this one is from the perspective of of a you g girl who actually is autistic. i don't even want to see how badly ann fucks that up.

[anabellabobella]

Supposedly Ann actually consulted an expert this time, to which I say it's about damned time she does some actual research into something! But also consulting doesn't mean listening.

Reviews are mixed to positive, but then again, Fifty Shades' reviews are too, so that's not saying much.

[heymalice]

ann actually doing research - what a brainbusting concept that must've been for her. i wonder how much of it actually sunk in.

i'm tempted to check some reviews, but even the interviews i read with her talking about it made me angry.

[anabellabobella]

Thing is, consulting with a professional can be as something as simple as asking if they think X about Y, and there's nothing saying that the person asking has to abide by what the person consulted says. I refuse to buy that book, but am curious to know if there is anywhere in the book where she thanks that professional by name. If not, then who knows if the person she consulted is someone who read the Susan book and that's all they know, or really is a professional. I honestly wouldn't mind if an actual parent to an actual autistic child was consulted (the experience of living with an autistic child isn't the same as providing therapy for one and then going home at the end of billable hours), and would even prefer that, but really, for all we know, her consulting is a fan of the previous book, and that's all they know. I really want to see if she thanked a doctor or someone for their input on autism

[heymalice]

i'd be interested to know if she actually consulted with someone legit as well. i think to properly do a book like this, she would really need to consult with multiple people - parents, people on varying degrees of the autism spectrum, &then doctors/professionals. but that would be expecting waaaaaay too much from her, considering how much she hates research.

&i also agree that she appears to be using autism&aspergers interchangably. i really don't know how well THAT will turn out. she generally makes an offensive mess of things when she tries to write anything that isn't pretty much fluff, so...not gonna be good, i'm betting. i dunno, i think she should stop writing about actual issues, cuz she's clearly out of her depth&has proven time&time again that she won't put in any actual work to get these books remotely right or even to a point where they aren't upsetting&offensive. i won't be buying this book.