The Year of the Buttered Cat

A semiautobiographical story from 13-year-old Lexi tells of her worries leading into her second Deep Brain Stimulation surgery. Lexi's been disabled since she was a baby, scarcely able to control her muscles or speak. Home-schooled (though, as she reminds readers, not for religious reasons like many other home-schoolers in her Charlotte, North Carolina, community), she's incredibly bright: reading young and starting to learn French at 5. She starts off communicating by moving magnetic refrigerator letters on a cookie sheet and experiments with different assistive technology communication devices. This ostensibly first-person perspective from Lexi--including her author's note--is written by her mother based on conversations between mother and daughter via alphabet magnet and gesture (Lexi contributes several paragraphs to the author's note). Lexi, as portrayed here, is a cheeky White kid who loves jokes, fanfic, and her four siblings. Lexi is a believable and likable young person. Five- and 6-year-old Lexi, in flashbacks, has a frustratingly indistinguishable internal voice from the teenager, but she's still a clever and compelling narrator. Her mother's voice rarely dominates; her mother's concern about the possible malpractice that led to Lexi's brain injury seems of little interest to Lexi herself. It's important that Lexi is a real, funny, smart, geeky kid. It is also important that she's not the one telling us so, despite the first-person narrative voice. Amusing and compelling--though hopefully, we'll next read about Lexi in her own words. (authors' note, doctor's note) (Fictionalized memoir. 9-12)

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May 1, 2021

Gr 5 Up-Just weeks after her birth in 2002, Lexi Haas developed a neurological condition called kernicterus. Though she cannot speak, walk, or perform other essential skills, she is brilliant. As this book, which she cowrote with her mother, shows, Lexi faces many obstacles that may make her life more difficult, but she doesn't let it get her down or hold her back. The story shared in this book is mostly true, as the authors' note explains that some aspects were added or altered to make a more compelling story. At its heart, however, the struggle Lexi and her family deal with is there. The book alternates between Lexi at age 13 in the hours leading up to the elective brain surgery she hopes will help her, and age five, a prominent year in her life. Despite her kernicterus, Lexi still faces some of the same challenges as her peers. This book is an inspiring story filled with love, laughs, and support. Readers may not have known Lexi before reading her story, but they will love her after. VERDICT An excellent nonfiction pairing where titles like R.J. Palacio's Wonder, Lynda Mullaly Hunt's Fish in a Tree, and Sharon M. Draper's Out of My Mind are popular.-Amanda Borgia, Uniondale P.L., NY

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