Jessica Mulqueen is currently writing a YA fantasy novel. She also works at TERI, Inc.’s therapeutic equestrian center for students with developmental disabilities. In her spare time she reads voraciously, swims, and spends too much time on the internet. Jessica lives in San Diego County in southern California.
Although several elements of Red’s autism are portrayed well and I’m eager to read the sequels, the character is often relegated to muttering statistics and nervously stimming in the background.
As much as I crave representation in fiction, it bothers me that some people seem to see autism as a way to create conflict or add a unique viewpoint to a narrative. It is even more disturbing when so many of these portrayals are inaccurate or incomplete.
Overall, I was very pleased with Al Capone Does My Shirts and how it depicts autism. Moose and Natalie are complex and endearing characters who remain with you long after the book is closed.
Jessica Mulqueen