Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Daniel Isn't Talking

Daniel Isn't Talking
reviewed on


I didn't find this book to be very realistic. There was more "fanatic" than "fact" in this book, including passages accusing vaccines of causing autism (there's no proof of a link between the two). The plot was incredibly predictable, and the characters didn't really seem to grow over the course of the novel. The entire character of the daughter was ignored--surely her mother's obsession with her brother would've affected her in some way, but her character wasn't developed at all.

I suppose if it's read entirely as fiction, it's acceptable, but keep in mind that the little boy in the book is an extreme example of autism and that his mother demonstrates an extreme reaction in response to it. Maybe I'd have related to her better if I were a mother, but I know a mother of an autistic child who never reacted in such a fashion and her daughter's improving every day.