UNLOCKED

A book review about Autism: because “Christian Books Change Lives!”

     One of the most difficult of childhood behaviors about which parents must cope, must be autism.  When a child has autism, at least in its most common forms, he/she is literally confined inside behaviors which appear to be anti-social.  The child usually does not respond, at least not in common ways to stimuli such as touch and talk.  It appears as though the child is ignoring you.  Not only coping with this behavior, but managing to maintain a positive perspective and outlook requires in some cases extreme optimism, or a belief in miracles.  This book, "Unlocked" is about such an individual.  You will find “Unlocked” by Karen Kingsbury at www.InHisHonor.org.

     Karen Kingsbury shows a remarkable ability to get inside the heads of the characters about which she writes.  In this book, “Unlocked” she writes about a young man in high school by the name of Holden.  Holden, in typical autistic fashion is very withdrawn and functions in fact in his own little world.  His autism is thought by his family to have been caused by an incident which happened when he was a child.  He apparently lived a normal life until this event, as evidenced by the fact that he was best friends as a child with Ella, a neighbor .  Ella is now a very popular cheerleader attending the same high school as Holden and a thoughtful, committed Christian.

     One day, Ella discovers Holden being mocked and abused by a group of high schoolers.  She determines to befriend Holden and only after making this decision, realizes that Holden and she were friends as children.  Nevertheless, she is determined to reach inside Holden and discover, or re-discover, exactly what will make Holden come out of his shell.  Ella is the star of the varsity play being performed by the drama department.  The drama teacher is determined that this play will be long remembered as the highlight of his teaching career.  He is very demanding and has no time for someone such as Holden.

    Quite by happenstance, Holden one day hears some of the music being performed for this play and stops to listen on his way to class.  The drama teacher notices Holden and in a manner quite characteristic of all of us, shoos him away.  The teacher never even dreams that Holden could act in such a play and simply does not want to be bothered.  I found so much of human nature in this book, it was painful.  I thought to myself, how many times have I walked by someone with whom I should have interacted, only to be scared off with the problems involved in how to interact with them.  We have all been there.  Think of some person you know who is mentally retarded, shy, emotionally disturbed, and yes, autistic.  Most of us hurry on our way, much like the priest and the Levite in the story of the Good Samaritan.

     Ella does not.  She decides to try to reach out to Holden.  She notices rather early that Holden loves music.  He used to sing songs to her all the time when they were childhood friends.  Holden has never forgotten how to sing.  His ability is cloaked, but not to Ella.  She convinces the very straightforward and impatient drama teacher that Holden should be allowed to try out not only for the play, but for the leading male role in the play, which requires considerable singing.  Slowly, the drama teacher and Ella, with infinite patience, are able to convince Holden to try and then to succeed, in this leading, singing male role.

     What makes this book stand out and also makes it eminently worth reading is that this book celebrates the little person in life.  Holden was never destined to be President, nor a Supreme Court Justice.  He would never write well known books.  He was not a star athlete.  Holden is Everyman/Everyboy who is not special.  Not only is Holden not special, he is handicapped and therefore destined to be pitied, and of course shunned by the mainstream.  But one person recognized the human being in Holden, one high school girl of faith and when she determined with God’s help to befriend Holden, the results were miraculous.  Karen Kingsbury once again has done a superb job of making human characteristics come to life.  www.InHisHonor.org is proud to feature authors like Karen Kingsbury.

     Holden came out of his shell, learned the lead male role in a major play and began the difficult process of an autistic individual of re-integrating into society.  What a treasure Karen Kingsbury has created!  If like me, you treasure the works of God to rehabilitate humans with a spark of the divine, you will marvel as you read.

     In a personal note, I grew up with three mentally handicapped brothers.  Although I was far from unselfish, I learned to treasure my brothers for who they were and to acknowledge that God holds a special place in His heart for those whom He has so equipped.  I related very powerfully to the story of Holden in “Unlocked” because I saw many of the  same characteristics in my brothers, although they didn’t ultimately have the same potential as Holden.

     At www.InHisHonor.org, we have an entire library of books, fiction and non-fiction, which admirably tell the story of God’s love, as related in books like “Unlocked”.  I would encourage you to browse our website at your earliest convenience.  We all need encouragement.  We can all find it at www.InHisHonor.org, where “Christian Books Change Lives.”  See you soon!