Book Review: Can You See Me?

Can You See Me? is a book written by author duo Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott. In the book, we learn about the life of Tally, an eleven-year-old girl with autism.

When we first meet Tally, it’s the last day of the summer holidays, and the next day, Tally is going off to secondary school for the first time. She knows that she will have to hide her autism as best she can because she knows from experience that people don’t understand. Over the course of Can You See Me?, we see Tally trying to cope in different situations, and the ways in which her autism makes life difficult.

I really enjoyed Can You See Me? as it is very factual about autism, but doesn’t appear so at first. The facts are woven into the plot and don’t change the tone of Westcott’s book. This is achieved by the diary entries written by Tally from her point of view at the end of lots of chapters in the book. The diary entries are a contrast to the rest of the book, which is written in the third-person and were actually written by eleven-year-old Libby Scott, based on her own experiences of autism.

This book deserves a four-and-a-half-star rating because of its entertaining and powerful discussion of autism. The only flaw with Can You See Me? is that some characters could have slightly more personality developed by the authors.

Overall, this is a very engaging, emotional and exciting book that really helps you understand autism, and uses ideas that non-autistic people can relate to. I would recommend it for any nine-to-13-year-olds who are looking for a good book to read.

By Ellie M, Year 7, St Thomas More Catholic School