Siobhán Dowd (1960–2007)

Ted and his sister, Kat, watch as their cousin, Salim, boards a sealed pod on the London Eye. Thirty minutes later, the pod returns, but Salim has disappeared.
Ted has eight theories, but no one is listening. No one except, sometimes, his sister, Kat. Each of them is determined to unravel the mystery. Kat, out of guilt. Ted because his brain doesn't work like anyone else's--it runs "on its own unique operating system"--and he's curious to see if that allows him to piece together clues that no show more one else even sees.
Never named, the symptoms of Ted's syndrome suggest high-functioning autism, making this the second mystery I'm familiar with solved by an autistic boy (the first being "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" by Mark Haddon), but certainly not unique in literature for youth emphasizing the unique abilities and contributions of people with "differences."

Perhaps the greatest strength of the book is how well Dowd used the solving of the mystery and Ted's perspective on the world to develop each other. Rather than relying on exposition, Ted's thought process unravels the mystery and the unraveling of the mystery reveals Ted's character. One could argue that the real mystery exposed by the book is the inner world of an autistic person.

As seems to be a trend in more of the youth literature I've been reading this year, the mystery was simpler--within the realm of possibility for a brother and sister (thinker and doer, respectively) team to solve. But as the value of the book lies less in the mystery itself and more in the character of Ted, that's not particularly a detraction. show less

For the benefit of Americans: the London Eye isn’t an eye at all, but a Ferris wheel so enormous that riders can see 25 miles in all directions.

Londoners Ted and Kat Spark take their visiting 13-year-old cousin Salim to ride the London Eye; it is Salim who takes a free ticket to ride the attraction, but he never exits the London Eye when the ride is done!

Twelve-year-old Ted struggles with some of the more common effects of autism: He has an obsession (weather); when upset, he flaps his show more hands and goes “Hrumm”; he struggles with slang and idioms, which he takes literally; he has trouble with hugs, making eye contact and determining facial expressions; he paces when thinking or stressed. (My daughters with autism didn’t grunt or flap their hands, but they were beset with the other issues.) But Ted has an advantage over his older sister Kat, his parents, his Aunt Gloria (Salim’s mother) and even the police. As he says at the book’s beginning, “This is how having a funny brain that runs on a different operating system from other people’s helped me to figure out what had happened.”

Siobhan Dowd’s suspenseful middle-grade mystery will enthrall both its target audience and their parents; I couldn’t stop reading this riveting mystery! Fans of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time are in for a treat with another novel of a young man with autism and a drive to solve a mystery. Highly recommended. show less

Solace of the Road is beautifully written by Siobhan Dowd and tells the story of teen Holly who hates her foster family, hates her school, and generally her whole life. But when she finds a blonde wig she is able to transform into a different character, the fearless Solace. She decides to leave, take to the road, get herself to Ireland and find her mother and although Holly/Solace calls the A40 the road to freedom, the reader is in constant fear for this young girl.

Life on the road is hard show more but Holly is lucky enough to find a few good people who help her along her way, but still she has hours of time alone with nothing but her thoughts and eventually, the real memories of what life was like with her dysfunctional mother emerges and Holly realizes that she has nothing or no one to run to.

I found Holly’s story touching even as it was told with both humor and grit. Her stress and loneliness at dealing with a new foster family and then with the dangers of being alone on the road felt very real. Solace of the Road is a simple story elevated by the author’s empathetic storytelling. show less

What absolutely sold me on The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd was the voice of the main character, Ted, a twelve year old boy with probably Asperger’s Syndrome, although it is never defined as such. Ted just tells us that he has a different brain from other people. When Salim, a cousin comes to visit and disappears while riding the London Eye, it is up to Ted and his older sister, Kat to solve the mystery as they blame themselves for the disappearance. By developing theories that they show more step-by-step eliminate, along with Ted’s unusual way of looking at things, they are eventually able to put the pieces together. But even then, something is still not quite right, Salim is still missing and as the clock ticks down, Ted and Kat must once again put their heads together and figure this out.

This is a great YA mystery that I think would fully draw in kids between 10 and 12, but it is still an enjoyable read for any age. I think the author’s respect for both her target audience and the mystery genre itself shines through the pages, and she is able to deliver a fresh, dynamic story with a unique narrator. show less