- Title: Losing Normal
- Author Francis Moss
- Paperback: 264 pages
- Publisher: Encelia Press (October 23, 2018)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1732791023
- ISBN-13: 978-1732791022
Winner of the 2018 Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators SPARK award!
Readers' Favorite Silver medal winner!
Everyone we love, everything we know, is going away… and only an autistic boy can stop it.
Alex knows exactly how many steps it takes to get from his home to Mason Middle School. This is normal.
Alex knows the answers in AP math before his teacher does, which is also normal.
Alex knows that something bad is coming out of the big screen in his special needs class. It’s pushing images into his head, hurting him, making him forget. Alex pushes back, the screen explodes, and nothing is normal any more.
Giant screen televisions appear all over the city. The programming is addictive. People have to watch, but Alex cannot.
Sophie, the sentient machine behind all this, sees the millions and millions of eyeballs glued to her and calls it love. To Sophie, kids like Alex are defective. Defectives are to be fixed...or eliminated.
This is a look at how artificial intelligence in the form of a computer named Sophie is utilized to help with behavior modification.
In Losing Normal Alex and Sara share their views and history.
The main focus appears to be on Alex who has Aspberger's Syndrome. But readers also see the consequences of stress disorders such as Posttraumatic.
What I appreciate is how this story focuses on behaviors and how they significantly affect daily life.
Through comprehensive dialog and strong character interaction, readers are able to see the challenges and overlapping symptoms and how it takes strength to combat behaviors.
This book was made available through the generosity of the author for an honest review.
About the Author
Francis Moss has written and story-edited hundreds of scripts for many of the top animated shows of the 90s and 2000s. Beginning his television work in live-action with Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, he soon starting writing cartoons, staff writing and freelancing on She-Ra, Princess of Power, Iron Man, Ducktales and a four-year stint on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, writing and story-editing more episodes than you can swing a nunchaku at. He also co-authored three middle-grade non-fiction books: Internet For Kids, Make Your Own Web Page, and How To Find (Almost) Anything On The Internet. He's the sole author of The Rosenberg Espionage Case.