Starred review from February 1, 2017
I want to tell you what it's been like, growing up black, in the South, with ASD (autism spectrum disorder). Prahlad (a poet, PhD, and authority on African American folklore) suspected he had Asperger's syndrome for decades but was only formally diagnosed with the disorder at age 57. As a child, he was different. He cried a lot, was subject to spells of rage, believed he was clairvoyant and witnessing wandering spirits, suffered from convulsions and asthma, and often felt overwhelmed and out of control. Color, both the shade of his skin and the hues of the spectrum, is a potent influence on Prahlad because he also has synesthesia (a mingling of the senses), and his writing sometimes seems hallucinatory. Yet it is also lyrical and loving, as he shares his journey from birth in Virginia to life in California to settling in Missouri. As he describes his religious experiences and marriages, he provides readers with much to contemplate on the topics of race, home, family, disability, and survival. Finally, Prahlad considers the might of memory and its ability to hurt or heal: Everything still remembers. The earth remembers things. DNA remembers. Objects and things remember. And readers won't easily forget this prismatic and powerful story of an atypical life.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)