|
HAZE
By Kathy Hoopmann
Jessica Kingsley Publisher:2003
Reviewed by Loi
Eberle, M.A.
Kathy Hoopmann, the author of Haze, is also the author of
the Asperger Adventures series for middle-grade children.
In her young-adult novel, Haze, she focuses on how this condition
affects relationships. Hoopmann writes about Asperger’s syndrome
by describing it through the eyes of the main character,
Seb, a male adolescent, as he tries to navigate with difficultly
through a seemingly alien culture of high school. Though
much of the description is in first person, it is augmented
by conversations between his peers, which communicates how
people with this condition might appear to others. The descriptions
of the various characters in this mini novel are in themselves
vignettes of various problems encountered by adolescents,
from cliques and alcohol consumption, to neglectful or abusive
parents.
The plot could seem a bit contrived, but it serves to capitalize
on the role of computers in the lives of many adolescents
who are dealing with Asperger’s and social isolation. The
book is brief and the story is captivating enough to keep
the reader’s interest. By interweaving an assortment of characters
throughout the story in various sub-plots, the author is
able to elaborate on the intellectual and kinesthetic experience
of having Asperger’s. This literary technique lends a much
more comprehensive understanding than can be derived merely
from reading a description of the symptoms in a textbook.
|
