Starred Review for Adam Rocks...and Max Rolls!

This lovely offering from the Autism Looks like Me series (six titles) casually explores how an autistic child is both different from and similar to his classmates by folding facts into a fictional but realistic narrative. The book opens with the autistic child, Adam, rocking foot to foot during class storytime because the motion helps him "listens better." However, classmate Max starts imitating and making fun of Adam's movements. Adam, upset, asks his teacher, Mr. Hassan, to help. Mr. Hassan helps Max understand that Adam's rocking soothes him and is similar to Max's own habit of rolling his pencil. This new perspective leads Max to better understand Adam, to whom he apologizes. By clearly identifying the characters’ feelings, Miller makes the book accessible to both autistic and non-autistic readers. Garcia fills the illustrations with characters, colors, and patterns that embody the idea of soothing. A brief glossary explains the term soothe, as well as autism and stimming (which are not in the story), and the back matter includes an additional page of strategies for self-soothing. —Booklist Starred Review 

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