A neurodivergent child, who happens to be nonbinary, tests out a new learning about social greetings in this empowering story.
Verity is excited about their upcoming field trip to the aquarium. Every time a neighbor asks, “How are you, Verity?” they respond with a slew of facts about the sea creatures they’re going to see. After their brother John gently suggests that the question “How are you?” is just a greeting and not an invitation to natter about sea life, Verity decides to test this for themself.
They walk through their neighborhood and ask several neighbors the question. The neighbors each respond, “Good,” adding only a short sentence afterwards. “‘How are you’ seems like a fancy way to say hello,” Verity concludes, noting that sometimes people aren’t easy to figure out.
When their field trip is cancelled, Verity is understandably upset. Their brother asks, “How are you, Verity?” but Verity doesn’t feel “good.”
Their brother lovingly tells them he would be upset if his field trip had been cancelled, and this gives Verity the encouragement they need to express their feelings. Verity then asks John to help them with a fun, sea-themed activity to save the day, and Verity then expresses that they are “Good!”
In a Reader’s Note at the end, author Meghan Wilson Duff explains that when they were Verity’s age, they, too, found it hard to understand some things that were obvious to others. They wished they knew all the rules or had someone like Verity’s brother who could explain them.
What I appreciate most about the story, though, is that while Verity’s brother does explain social greetings to them, Verity doesn’t just accept his words, but goes and tests things for themself. Too often books make children mere recipients of support or wisdom, but not so here. Verity has agency (and a scientific bent) and isn’t going to accept something without their own empirical evidence.
And yes, Verity uses they/them pronouns, but that is incidental to the storyline and not remarked on; it’s simply quiet, positive representation. Taylor Barron’s bright, bold, and somewhat whimsical images add to the appeal of the book.
The Reader’s Note also offers some further notes about neurodiversity and on supporting neurodivergent young people. Published by Magination Press, the imprint of the American Psychological Association, this is bound to be a useful title for neurodivergent children and their families as well as others trying to figure out the puzzles of human social interactions.
Verity and John read as Black. Neighbors have a variety of racial/ethnic identities.
