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reviews

There Are No Words

Mary Calhoun Brown
Lucky Press, LLC (2009)
ISBN 9780977630028
Reviewed by Charline Ratcliff for RebeccasReads.com (01/10)

I found “There Are No Words” to be a very interesting, informative and easy read. Jaxon MacKenzie is an autistic twelve year old girl living in the modern world and yet this story seems firmly rooted in a past era. I attribute this “feel” to two separate but intertwined   things. Jaxon lives with her grandparents who come from an older generation which encompasses a different set of values and she gets pulled into a painting that sends her back in time to July of 1918. “There Are No Words” is the story of Jaxon’s life here as well as her adventure in the past.

I definitely appreciated the historical facts which were used in the telling of this tale as it made the book very interesting to me. I also enjoyed the various photographs and pictures which were used throughout the book. They were an authentic touch and consequently they made the story that much more realistic. I am sure that the younger readers will greatly enjoy this aspect as well.

It was also wonderful to read the book from Jaxon’s perspective and to be present during her different stages. She starts out as an autistic child unable to really communicate with the world around her yet once she goes through the painting she suddenly finds she is able to interact with people in what we would consider a “normal” manner. How wonderful to finally have the ability to talk with people outside of her head! How amazing to have people treat her the same way they treat everyone else!

I give high praise to the author, Mary Calhoun Brown, for being able to help me understand and experience life in a way that an autistic child might. How many times do we overlook or simplify what Autism is simply because we do not understand it or have never experienced its effects in our lives? How frustrating it must be to be that child. To have to wonder about life every day and yet never have any answers to your questions. Jaxon was truly blessed to live with someone as intuitive as her grandparents.

“There Are No Words” is a charming and likeable story and I recommend it to readers of all ages.