A review by masonlou8
Blue Bottle Mystery - The Graphic Novel: An Asperger Adventure by Kathy Hoopmann

3.0

I was provided a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest opinion.

The artwork in this graphic novel is very simplistic and colourful, easy to follow as targeted for middle grade.

I enjoyed this Graphic Novel it was very informative on a basic level, it showed family dynamics and symptoms of aspergers. I believe this should be put in all schools for children to read, to recognise that there are illnesses out there that define people the way they are. I have only really learnt about AS in my adult life, this could be that it's more recognised and understood now.

There are several characters in this story that surround Ben and you get to see all their ways in which they communicate.

Grandma is around to look after Ben when his father is working, she is very supportive and understanding and is a go between Ben and his father.

The dad, is a stereotypical dad, wants his son to be good at sports and have a rough and tumble, he doesn't understand why Ben is the way he is and clearly gets frustrated when Ben can't explain himself.

Andy, Ben's best friend, is a decent kid and is very tolerant but he himself also gets frustrated with Ben on occasions but sticks with him, its great to see that true friends will stick around and keep coming back.

The teacher (I have forgotten her name.... it's something double-barreled) is very frustrated, she has her own problems too, but Ben can't read her emotions, he takes things too literally and is mistaken for being rude.

The blue bottle and the genie is just added to make the story interesting for the kids to read, It doesn't have any real relevance to AS.

This book looks at family dynamics, friendship, bullying and obviously Aspergers Syndrome.

This is such an easy read, definitely one to read with kids to make them more aware or anyone that has never heard of AS as it shows all they symptoms in Ben's character.

Overall I rated this 3.5 stars out of 5.