Review of Mockingbird by Katherine Erskine

11-year-old Caitlin has Asperger’s syndrome, and has always had her older brother, Devon, to explain the confusing things around her. But when Devon is killed in a tragic school shooting, Caitlin has to try and make sense of the world without him. With her dad spending most of his time crying in the shower, and her life at school becoming increasingly difficult, it doesn’t seem like things will ever get better again. 

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The best thing about this book for me was that it managed to deal with two very tough subjects and yet still feel like a light fluffy read. Caitlin's view of the world was unique and compelling; I found myself devouring the whole story within a couple of hours as I couldn't put it down!

The story is told in the first person, from Caitlin's point of view. I don't believe it could have worked any other way - as Caitlin has Asperger's, so the way she sees things is very different to the way we do. Although only ten, she has a strong voice and it was really interesting to see the different things she would say and do - simple sayings that we use easily confuse her, she has to have her clothing a certain way and she hates any shades of pink!

Of course, the book deals with a second difficult subject - death. Caitlin's brother, who guided her through life, was murdered in a school shooting and as well as having to cope with that, her Father isn't quite there. I did feel slightly angry towards him at times, though!

The ending is well wrapped up and did leave me wanting more - I wanted to find out what would happen to Caitlin when she moves schools!

5/5