Whale Eyes

January 1, 2025
In this memoir, an outgrowth of his documentary of the same title, Emmy-winning filmmaker Robinson recounts how he changed others' perceptions of his disability. Born with anomalous retinal correspondence, a form of strabismus that prevents his eyes from focusing simultaneously, Robinson found reading a time-consuming "obstacle course." Worse than the shame of falling behind his classmates was when strangers stared at his outward-turned eyes, feelings captured in pointed notes and Rea's cartoon illustrations. When Robinson reached middle school, his architecture professor mother took time off to home-school him and his dyslexic older brother. Under her tutelage, Robinson discovered helpful reading strategies--and a passion for documentary films, which ultimately led to his studying film at Duke University. In 2021, theNew York Times published his autobiographical short film, Whale Eyes (titled after his own term for his condition), affirming visually disabled people and enabling nondisabled people to better understand Robinson--and themselves. Robinson (who presents white) candidly explores numerous topics, including disability tropes, privilege, and ways to turn "out-trigue"--the discomfort we feel with the unfamiliar--into empathetic connections. Myriad interactive visuals immerse readers in Robinson's perspective. Backgrounds switch from white to black, sentences spiral, and words and letters scatter across the pages, which often need to be turned sideways or upside down. Unfortunately, these effects may overwhelm some neurodivergent or print-disabled readers, reducing the very connections Robinson strives to make. Frank, unusual, and insightful. (note on surgery, resources)(Memoir. 11-18)

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Starred review from January 6, 2025
Filmmaker Robinson crafts
an accessible and immersive account of growing up with strabismus, a condition of eye misalignment that causes difficulties with tracking objects, depth perception, and reading. Intermittent abstract artwork by Rea (Fixing Flamingos) depicts
sight tests for readers to engage with throughout and help to illustrate how the subject navigated the world: how strabismus affected his performance
in school, how he related to others, and how others perceived him. Using frank language, Robinson details the ableism he encountered from those he addresses as “starers”; he also recounts the loving efforts his mother took to ensure that he could engage with the world in meaningful ways, which influenced his path toward filmmaking. The debut author additionally describes the process of making a documentary, also titled Whale Eyes, about his youth, and how the film connected him to other people with visual impairments. Hoping to use his story to “entice the world into caring” about his experiences—and those of people like him—Robinson presents
a sincere reflection on childhood experiences of growing up in a world not built with him in mind. Ages 10–up.

Starred review from February 1, 2025
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* Written as a complement to Robinson's New York Times Opinion video on his disability, this lively, interactive memoir also serves as a stand-alone narrative of the author's personal journey with strabismus, a misalignment of the eyes commonly known as crossed eyes, and alternating exotropia, in which one eye turns outward. As Robinson explains his disability during childhood--including his myriad tests and therapies, unsuccessful surgeries, social mishaps, unconventional education, and being the subject of constant staring--he imaginatively helps readers understand his condition by incorporating intermittent activities, such as inverting the book and looking at red dots in relation to boxes, as well as changes in fonts and thought-provoking illustrations. The last third of the book transitions to a more traditional narrative as Robinson describes his entr�e into filmmaking and recognizes his identity as a disabled individual. He credits the discovery of an archival film on whales that questionably contended that whales see out of one eye at a time. Undeniably, however, humans can only look into one whale eye at a time, inspiring Robinson to proudly claim the name "Whale Eyes" for his disability and identity and to use this concept as a way to educate others through his filmmaking. His heartfelt memoir is truly eye-opening and will encourage readers to seek out his other works.

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Starred review from March 28, 2025

Gr 5 Up-Robinson turns the lens on himself in this moving memoir of his life with a visual anomaly called strabismus. The book is an outgrowth of a short film that Robinson made after studying at Duke University's Center for Documentary Studies, which was picked up and presented by the Opinion desk of the New York Times in 2021. After years of living with the condition and trying to explain it or help others see past it, Robinson settles on the term "whale eyes" to describe the misalignment of his eyes: "We love looking at whales. And yet none of us have ever questioned the fact that we can look into only one of their eyes at a time." Robinson effectively uses second-person narration and carefully plotted and illustrated pages to take readers through the experience of trying to identify letters, track strings of them across the page, and decode their meaning. He puts readers in the position of sitting through dreaded silent-reading time in elementary school, getting the "wrong" answers every time on vision tests, and stepping up to the T-ball plate, only to strike out. He credits his mother's innovation and persistence in helping him succeed in school and also advances in technology (like digital audiobooks and screen highlighting tools) that make texts more accessible. The last third of the book is focused on Robinson's career using film to tell stories that will "get people to care" about issues or lives they may not know anything about, or even find off-putting at first glance. With Rea's affecting and mesmerizing line drawings, this is an important book for all readers. VERDICT Highly recommended for all middle and high school collections, as well as the parent/teacher shelves in public libraries.-Jennifer Costa

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