Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I read Emma Lesko’s Super Lexi back in February, and I ended my review with “I’m kind of bitter that our library system doesn’t have the sequel.”  My friend Britt, however, instead of nursing bitterness, filled out a ‘request a purchase’ form, which is why I have now read the sequel, courtesy of that same library system.  (I’m so sorry, SLCO Library.  I will never doubt again.  *Bonus points for the “Princess Bride” quote.*)

Super Lexi is Not a Fan of Christmas gives us another glimpse into the life of a child who struggles to relate to the world around her.  While her classmates look forward to the Christmas party/gift exchange that comes just before Christmas vacation, Lexi is dreading the “hoopla” and looking for ways to avoid it.  She is able to share some of that with her best friend, but she can’t express herself to her parents or her teacher, and so they are more or less unaware of her struggle (or at least the extent of it); I wanted to be bugged by that, except that parents and teachers don’t automatically know what children are thinking, and Lexi is exactly the sort of child who struggles to help them out in that area.  The entire situation rang true.  Emma Lesko’s ability to narrate from Lexi’s point of view is fabulous; Lexi’s idiosyncrasies are partly expressed, partly demonstrated, and her linguistic quirks add immeasurably to the overall effect.  Lexi may deal with OCD, she may be autistic, she may struggle with something else entirely.  What she IS is superbly drawn and developed as a character.

Bottom line?  Every child, every teacher, every parent, every ONE ought to read about Lexi.