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Waiting for No One
Taylor Jane Simon is an eighteen-year-old girl with Asperger’s
Syndrome who has a refreshingly different view of the people she encounters and the life
she wants to have. Young adult readers will identify with Taylor’s struggle for independence
and self-control, and empathize as she outlines the ways—both positive and negative—that her
Asperger’s Syndrome affects her daily life. Connecting with a play by Samuel Beckett, Taylor
explores a fear of solitary existence while reaching out to a world at times perplexing. Most
important, Taylor wants to be seen as an individual, not as a stereotypical “person with
special needs,” or a rare wild flower—images that haunt her from the past. A cameo performance
by Taylor’s new gerbil—Harold Pinter—adds further emphasis to themes of existentialism and humour.
Waiting for No One is the stand-alone sequel to Wild Orchid, which was shortlisted
for the Canadian Library Association’s prestigious Young Adult Book Award, a number of provincial
readers’ choice awards, and is a starred selection from the Canadian Children’s Book Centre.
Wild Orchid also appears on the New York Public Library’s list of Recommended Books for the teens.
Beverley Brenna is an assistant professor of education at the University of Saskatchewan
and a former special education consultant, as well as the author of six books for young people,
including Wild Orchid and The Moon Children, both from Red Deer Press. |
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Fitzhenry & Whiteside |