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Cachi is a twelve-year-old with profound autism. Everyone wants to help him, but no one can see the world from Cachi's viewpoint. Like a person with dementia, the afflicted can't explain, and their reality is altered in such a way that sometimes they can't be reached. But what readers can do is empathize, and the narrative effectively pulls them into the protagonist’s life. By peering into Cachi's world, readers have the opportunity to learn how to be more helpful, less intrusive, and more compassionate, even if unable to truly "understand."
Cachi's world is intense. Often, he sees himself as small as a blade of grass. The world can seem pretty ominous when seen from the turf's viewpoint. And therein lies Cachi's fears, paranoia, angst, and confusion, "Cachi shared a certain amount of confusion, because he knew that this was only in his mind – except - some of it must be happening…." Eventually, his mind seems split between big Cachi and tiny Cachi as he joins the world everyone else perceives... mostly.
McQuown keeps the story as light as possible while relaying Cachi's joys and fears. He most spectacularly describes the devotion of his parents and the pain they endure when they can't reach him, "Hold onto me tight, Cachi. Your mother and I know you are fighting inside son and we are fighting for you out here. You just have to show us what to do. Show us Cachi, and we will move mountains to help you." McQuown’s portrayal of an autistic child and the raw emotions of his parents comes across as poignantly real. Any parent who reads this book should be able to relate to it on a heart level, whether they have an autistic child or not.