Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman

Reviewed by Rajah Ghadache

When I first opened this book I thought it looked interesting, the first page was kind of rude but the book settled into a nice introduction. The author seemed to automatically make you feel sorry for Shawn McDaniel because he cannot do the simple things that I can do, as he was brain damaged. The important part of this book was trying to understand Shawn's struggle especially when he believed that no one could understand him.

My favourite part in the book was when Shawn had this crazy idea that his dad, Sydney McDaniel wanted to kill him. I believed for a couple of pages that his dad would kill him because he had said to Shawn 'One day I am going to end your pain'. This was a sort of exciting moment because even though I believed that his dad did not want to kill him, there was still something within me that thought he might.

I could clearly image Shawn's anguish and his need to be understood.

The author wrote the story clearly, so that the reader could follow Shawn's story and thoughts in every page. What I had felt most upsetting in the book was when people called Shawn a 'retard' because they did not know how Shawn felt or even try to understand his fight. I also found another thing upsetting and that was when Shawn had said that his dad had left the family just because of Shawn's disability.

Generally, the book brought out interesting issues surrounding Shawn's disability and also the problems he had with his family. I would definitely recommend this book to all readers of different age groups as the book has a special appeal, which will capture people's heart.