Trueman, Terry. Stuck in Neutral. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2000.
Annotation:
My name is Shawn McDaniel and I am 14 years old. I go to school every day, love eating potato chips, listening to rock music and thinking about girls. But I have one major problem. Call it intuition, but I suspect that my father is going to kill me.
Premise:
Stuck in Neutral is a book based on the life of a 14 year old boy named Shawn who has cerebral palsy. The condition has robbed him of all physical motor skills which prevents him from even controlling his own eyes. Since Shawn has absolutely no way to communicate with the outside world, everyone believes that he is practically brain dead and is little more than a vegetable (a term he finds very unusual). The irony is that Shawn is actually extremely intelligent, and can fully comprehend most everything that is going on around him.
And while most of his family has learned to accept Shawn’s condition, his father is having a harder time dealing with it. He loves his son very much, but he also believes that Shawn is nothing more than an empty shell of a boy. His angst is only made worse by the fact that Shawn has 10 to 15 seizures per day which he thinks is bringing his son pain, when in reality, Shawn is experiencing the one joy that he has in his life. For when Shawn’s body is suffering a seizure, his mind is experiencing a sensation of rising from his body which grants him the ability to control his movements in this “spiritual body”. He can walk and speak like everyone else he knows, and can even fly. But while Shawn is enjoying these brief moments of freedom, his father believes that he is enduring unimaginable pain and suffering. So after 14 years, Shawn’s father decides that he must free Shawn from his unfortunate life. The only problem is that Shawn is quite happy and wants to live.
Nomination:
Stuck in Neutral is a very quick read, however it is amazing how this story unfolds so seamlessly without lacking too many details. You truly feel what Shawn is going through in his daily life, in addition to how he is dealing with the fact that his father may be planning his death. The author does not skimp on the details of his father’s life and his state of mind (for obvious reasons), but Shawn’s mother is little more than a two dimensional character who is seldom mentioned. This is unfortunate since his mother is the focal point for his understanding of love.
It goes without saying that Shawn is different from most teens his age; however, he faces a lot of the same dilemmas that many young teens must endure. Such as dealing with a parent who cannot see the young teen as anything more than their little boy or girl. Dreaming of a love with someone that can never be. And experiencing the pain of being ridiculed, and the helplessness of being bullied. While most of these problems are dealt with in a “chin up and move on” manner, it does show the young adult that these obstacles can be overcome, sometimes with a little outside help.
Ultimately, Stuck in Neutral is a unique story that addresses some important (and largely overlooked) topics such as how the handicapped are viewed in society, how families must deal with members who have severe mental and physical disorders, and if euthanasia can be justified. And while this book does tackle some very controversial and difficult issues, it does a very good job of not taking one side over the other. It is this ambiguity that makes Stuck in Neutral the type of book that can help broaden a young adult’s perspective on issues that otherwise may never be addressed.
Genre Category: Fiction
No comments:
Post a Comment