Written by: Jonathan Mooney
First line: Sons, You have each asked me a question, in different ways, at different times, and, I think, for different reasons.
Why you should read this book: Framed somewhat as a letter to his children, this book braids Mooney's experience growing up with dyslexia and ADHD with an examination of the limiting and historical ideas of normality and a discussion of the power of being different. While he struggles for much of his youth to blend in and succeed according to other people's standards, he comes to understand that the conditions others call disabilities are, for him, wells of strength from which he can draw new ways of being. Through his cultural research, he discovers that there is, scientifically, no such thing as normal after all, that it is our differences that make us human and allow us to thrive, and that viewing differences as problems robs humanity of its fullest potential.
Why you shouldn't read this book: You've never had to work to fit in.
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