SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Manga
  • All Ages
  • Young Adult
  • Interviews
  • News

March 21, 2018 by Brigid Alverson

Review: ‘Blue Bottle Mystery: An Asperger Adventure’

March 21, 2018 by Brigid Alverson   Leave a Comment

Blue Bottle MysteryBlue Bottle Mystery: An Asperger Adventure
Written by Kathy Hoopmann
Illustrated by Rachael Smith
Adapted by Mike Medaglia
Jessica Kingsley Publishers

If I were Ben, the protagonist of this story, I’d point out that there really is no mystery, in the sense of a problem to be solved. That’s Ben—very literal-minded, careful about details, wary of change. The book opens with a teacher scolding Ben, and each time she says something and he misunderstands, the situation escalates. It’s a surprisingly painful scene for the first few pages of a graphic novel, but it’s also the reality for many children.

Fortunately, Ben has plenty of things going for him. He knows what makes him upset—even if he can’t control it—and what makes him happy. His mother is dead, but he has loving relationships with his father and grandmother, and if his father doesn’t always get why Ben is different, he at least accepts it most of the time. His grandmother has a good way of explaining things and helping him learn ways to cope with his fear of chaos and loss of control. And his best friend Andy does the same at school, helping him decode the mysterious ways of his teachers and the other students.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

When Ben and Andy find a blue bottle buried in the schoolyard, they laugh at the idea that it might have a genie inside that will grant them three wishes. And then Ben wins the lottery and Andy has a growth spurt—and they remember that when they found the bottle, Ben wished for lots of money and Andy wished he could be bigger so he could join the basketball team.

So is it a genie? All the signs point to yes, but then, to their horror, Ben and Andy start remembering some of their other wishes—that the school bullies would explode, and that school would be canceled forever—and they quickly un-wish them. But neither of them remembers, until the very end, what their first wish was when they uncorked the bottle. Without spoiling the story, that one comes true, too.

In the meantime, Ben’s father spends some of their lottery winnings on a psychiatrist who diagnoses Ben with Asperger’s syndrome. She explains what it feels like to be Ben, and she reassures Bens’ father and grandmother that they are doing a good job of supporting him.

And that’s it. Ben is Ben, and his Asperger’s is not going to be “cured,” but as the psychiatrist points out, “different” is not necessarily bad, and some of Ben’s differences are true strengths.

While the three-wishes story is cute, the really interesting aspect of this book is being able to eavesdrop on Ben’s thinking, especially when he is struggling to understand or communicate with someone else. The art is simple and straightforward, a bit clumsy in places, but the faces are very expressive. This graphic novel was adapted from a prose book of the same title, and it’s a good read in its own right as well as being a vehicle to help a new group of readers learn about what it might feel like to be a person with Asperger’s.

Filed under: Graphic Novels, Reviews

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Brigid Alverson

Brigid Alverson, the editor of the Good Comics for Kids blog, has been reading comics since she was 4. She has an MFA in printmaking and has worked as a book editor and a newspaper reporter; now she is assistant to the mayor of Melrose, Massachusetts. In addition to editing GC4K, she writes about comics and graphic novels at MangaBlog, SLJTeen, Publishers Weekly Comics World, Comic Book Resources, MTV Geek, and Good E-Reader.com. Brigid is married to a physicist and has two daughters in college, which is why she writes so much. She was a judge for the 2012 Eisner Awards.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

February 2023

Insomniacs After School, vol. 1 | Review

by Brigid Alverson

February 2023

Review: A Visit to Moscow

by Brigid Alverson

February 2023

Science Comics: The Periodic Table of Elements | Review

by Brigid Alverson

February 2023

Review: Bomb

by Brigid Alverson

February 2023

Kiss Number 8 | Review

by Brigid Alverson

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

2023 Caldecott Jump

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Ben Mortara and the Thieves of the Golden Table | This Week’s Comics

by Lori Henderson

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

New Reports Show a Decline in YA Book Sales and I Have Some Thoughts as to Why That Might be Happening

by Karen Jensen, MLS

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Newbery Medalist Amina Luqman-Dawson visits The Yarn

by Colby Sharp

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Nonfiction Graphic Novels Spotlight Microhistories and Overlooked Historical Figures

First Second Launches History Comics | Stellar Panels

Superheroes Meet Real-Life Science in DC’s ‘Flash Facts’

10 Shonen Manga Must-Reads | Mondo Manga

Jen Wang Draws from Reality

Commenting for all posts is disabled after 30 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023