Just thirteen years old, effectively unable to speak , Higashida used a special alphabet grid to compose this slim, informative book, which provides an unprecedented look into the mind of a young person with autism. Constructed in a series of questions and answers, interspersed with short fictional stories, Higashida gallantly attempts to explain why he and others with autism do the things they do, which often confound caretakers and onlookers. He bares his heart by putting forth the questions people ask, or long to ask-such as "why do you talk so loudly and weirdly?" and "do you have a sense of time?"-providing insight into the life of someone with autism. Higashida often achieves a clarity and wisdom that is surprising for such a young person, like when he suggests that autism should be viewed as simply another personality type. Other times the reader is reminded of his age, when he earnestly pleads on behalf of himself and others with autism for understanding and patience. The result is a mixture of invaluable anecdotal information, practical advice and whimsical self-expression. This is imperative for Higashida because, as he so elegantly puts it, "being able to share what I think allows me to understand that I, too, exist in this world as a human being." (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

This is the fascinating, frenetic, and emotionally affecting autobiography of a 13-year-old Japanese boy on the autistic spectrum. Ably introduced and translated by writer David Mitchell, who himself has a son with autism, it is presented in the form of brief answers to innocuous questions posed by laypersons, such as, "Why do you hum all the time?" or "Why do we have to ask you 50 times before you do something?" The answers are honest and open, and readers will find them genuine and engaging. While Higashida's responses are often posited as "typical" for "us kids with autism," listeners should be aware that they stem from one perceptive and astute individual. Narrator Tom Picasso relays an excellent balance of eagerness and innocence. VERDICT This exceptional listen will find an appreciative audience among all individuals affected by autism as it succeeds wildly at creating empathy and understanding.--Douglas C. Lord, New Britain P.L., CT (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A memoir of living with autism, by Naoki Higashida, a Japanese 13-year-old. AUTISM is an endless mystery, largely unknowable by its nature, yet there are dozens of books by or about autistic people determined to explain the lives of those affected. The newest is "The Reason I Jump," popular in Japan since it was published in 2007. The author, Naoki Higashida, was 13 years old at the time he wrote the memoir, and nonverbal. He wrote by spelling out words on a Japanese alphabet letter board. The slim volume consists of short chapters beginning with questions like "Why do you speak in that peculiar way?" and "Why do you like spinning?" Describing why, exactly, he likes to jump, Higashida tells us: "The motion makes me want to change into a bird and fly offto some faraway place. But constrained by ourselves and by the people around us, all we can do is tweet-tweet, flap our wings and hop around in a cage." Higashida is bright and thoughtful. He maintains a blog and has written other books. His American publisher describes Higashida, who can also type on a computer and is able to read aloud what he has written, as a "motivational speaker." As the parent of an autistic adult, I know autism has hidden depths, but they are hidden under real impairment. The author tells us that he gets lost and panics . He can't remember rules , sit still or make sense of time. The book comes to English readers through the passionate efforts of David Mitchell, the author of "Cloud Atlas" and the father of an autistic child. Mitchell and his wife, KA Yoshida, provided the translation. Mitchell believes the book is proof that the standard definition of autism is wrong, that autism's obvious restrictions of socialization and communication "are not symptoms of autism but consequences." Higashida, he has also said, is "more of a writer than I am." I will leave that consideration to others, but by its own context, "The Reason I Jump" makes for odd reading - a book about disordered sensorineural processing by a person with disordered sensorineural processing, written one letter at a time in adolescent Japanese prose and then translated into colloquial English ("It really gets me down"). The author barely mentions other people - there are brief references to his mother and his teacher - but he uses the plural ("our," "we") on almost every page. The constant presumption that he speaks for "people with autism" and "us kids with autism" is jarring. The English edition is being treated more as a fragile objet de consciousness than as a book, as though criticism or analysis would be vulgar. Unfortunately, it's impossible to sort out what is Higashida here and what is Mitchell. The two have never met in person, and Higashida had almost no involvement in the English edition. Mitchell has said that Yoshida "did the heavy lifting" from the Japanese, and that he "provided the stylistic icing on the cake." "The Reason I Jump" may raise questions, as many books have, about the nature of autism. But it raises questions about translation as well - that "icing." Translation, at its best, is a dance between an objective search for equivalent language and an intuitive grasp of the author's intent, which may have nothing to do with the translator's point of view. The parents of an autistic child may not be the best translators for a book by an autistic child. Mitchell writes that reading "The Reason I Jump," he "felt as if, for the first time, our own son was talking to us about what was happening inside his head." No parent of an autistic person - and I include myself here - can help longing for such a chance, and looking for it wherever we can. We have to be careful about turning what we find into what we want. THE REASON I JUMP The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy With Autism By Naoki Higashida Translated by KA Yoshida and David Mitchell Illustrated. 135 pp. Random House. $22. Higashida tells us he gets lost and panics. He can't remember rules, sit still or make sense of time. Sallie Tisdale's most recent book is "Women of the Way: Discovering 2,500 Years of Buddhist Women."

A 13-year-old Japanese author illuminates his autism from within, making a connection with those who find the condition frustrating, mysterious or impenetrable. For the renowned novelist David Mitchell, who provides the introduction and collaborated on the translation, this book is "a revelatory godsend." The father of a young autistic son, Mitchell had never felt well-served by books written by others who provided care for the autistic or by more scholarly analyses of the condition. The book takes the form of a series of straightforward questions followed by answers that are typically no longer than a couple of paragraphs or pages. "We really badly want you to understand what's going on inside our hearts and minds," writes Higashida. "And basically, my feelings are pretty much the same as yours." He describes the difficulty of expressing through words what the brain wants to say, the challenge of focusing and ordering experience, the obsessiveness of repetition, the comfort found in actions that others might find odd, and the frustration of being the source of others' frustration. "We don't obsess over certain things because we like it, or because we want to," he writes. "People with autism obsess over certain things because we'd go crazy if we didn't. By performing whatever action it is, we feel a bit soothed and calmed down." In addition to demystifying his condition and translating his experience, the author intersperses some short fables and a concluding short story that shows remarkable empathy and imagination, as the death of an autistic boy leaves a family transformed. "[Higashida] says that he aspires to be a writer, but it's obvious to me that he already is one," writes Mitchell. Anyone struggling to understand autism will be grateful for the book and translation.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.