Debra Briatico (Children's Literature)
In this honest, touching story, fourteen-year-old Shawn McDaniel describes how his life is like a "good news-bad news" joke. The good news--he loves living in Seattle, he thinks his brother and sister are pretty cool and he has the ability to recall everything he's ever heard since the age of five. The bad news--his parents are divorced and he has cerebral palsy, a condition that leaves him motionless and unable to control his muscles or communicate with others. Everyone around Shawn believes he is retarded and has no understanding of his surroundings. However, this belief couldn't be further from the truth. Shawn's actually quite alive on the inside, and he finds pleasure in his dreams and everyday experiences such as driving around Seattle with his family and watching television. One day, when he overhears his father make comments about ending his son's pain and suffering, Shawn becomes afraid and anxious. His father loves him tremendously--in fact he writes a poem about Shawn's condition, which wins the Pulitzer Prize--but he's torn about whether or not to end his son's life. The debate about euthanasia continues throughout the rest of the book, and the abrupt ending leaves the reader wondering about his father's final decision. Although this topic is very controversial, the author handles it tactfully and provides an insightful look into the life of a physically handicapped teenager. This unforgettable, eye-opening book makes an excellent selection for both young adults and adults. 2000, HarperCollins, $14.95. Ages 10 up.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 2001)
Fourteen-year-old Shawn McDaniel describes himself as a secret genius--secret because nobody knows about the rich intellectual life he leads inside his head. He remembers everything he's ever heard or seen. In a first-person narrative, he gives readers a witty running commentary on the state of the world in general and the state of his life in particular. On the outside, Shawn's body won't obey the smallest command, due to cerebral palsy. He's never been able to communicate with anyone and has been diagnosed as having the mental capacity of a four-month old. When Shawn realizes his father is plotting to kill him as an act of mercy, he struggles to tell his dad that he's not in pain and enjoys life. Trueman's captivating first novel is hard to put down and has a delicious open ending. It will likely inspire lively discussion among teen readers of ethical issues such as euthanasia and quality of life. A note at the end of the book explains that the author is the father of a son like Shawn, and that the character he has invented is based on what he imagines might be going on inside the boy's head. CCBC categories: Fiction for Young Adults; Understanding Oneself and Others. 2000, HarperCollins, 114 pages, $14.95. Ages 13-16.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2000 (Vol. 68, No. 11))
A teenager with profound cerebral palsy, who is utterly unable to give even those who know him best the faintest sign that he is sentient, narrates this devastating family portrait-cum-moral conundrum. Inside Shawn's twitching, drooling, seizure-racked body is a sane, intelligent teenager with an eidetic memory. A sympathetic observer of the effect his presence has on everyone around him, he leads a relatively rich, if vicarious, inner life. It is fueled by dreams (or perhaps more than dreams) of flight, total recall of everything he has ever seen or heard, and feelings as intense as anyone's: love, amusement, bemusement, frustration-and anxiety. He overhears comments about "ending his pain," from his doting, tormented father Sydney-who has begun research for a biography of a man convicted of smothering a profoundly disabled child. Trueman has a son with CP, and has obviously drawn in part from that experience, both for the story's events and for the issues he raises involving the social and emotional costs of caring for the physically helpless. Thematically, the story is built around Sydney's dilemma as he desperately searches for reasons not to end his son's life, and finds many seductive, compelling arguments otherwise; the abrupt, ambiguous ending leaves him on the verge of killing Shawn, or not, and so transmits his inner debate to readers. Though character is not the author's strongest concern here, like the similarly lucid brain-damaged teen in Joan Leslie Woodruff's "The Shiloh Renewal "(1999), Shawn will stay with readers, not for what he does, but for what he is and has made of himself. 2000, HarperCollins, $14.95. Category: Fiction. Ages 12. © 2000 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Paula Rohrlick (KLIATT Review, May 2000 (Vol. 34, No. 3))
Shawn, age 14, lives in Seattle, and he tells us the "good news" about himself first: he has total recall of everything he has ever heard, a talent that makes him proud. But the "bad news" that follows is truly heart-rending; Shawn is confined to a wheelchair, so severely disabled with cerebral palsy that he can't control any of his muscles, and frequently experiences seizures--which he enjoys, as they help him feel like he can escape his body. He can't talk, walk or feed himself, can't even swallow or blink when he wants to. Worst of all, no one knows that he has a lively intellect, because he has no way of communicating. The stress of caring for Shawn has broken up his parents' marriage; Shawn says of his father, "He couldn't handle my condition, so he had to leave." But his writer/journalist father does love him; he even wrote a touching poem about Shawn that helped to win him a Pulitzer Prize. Now Shawn's father is interested in the case of a man who killed his brain-damaged son--and Shawn begins to strongly suspect that his father may be thinking of killing him. Even more heart-rending, this novel was written by the mother of such a child, as she explains in an author's note at the end. She holds out the hope that her young son, like Shawn, might be a "secret genius witty and funny and wise;" sadly, no one will ever know because he has no way of communicating. This book will provoke thought and discussion, as it ends without making it clear whether or not Shawn's father will kill him, thinking that he will be putting Shawn out of his pain and not understanding the bright, thoughtful person trapped inside a body that won't obey him. It certainly will help YAs understand something of what life might be like for the severely handicapped, and for their families. KLIATT Codes: JS--Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2000, HarperCollins, 118p, $14.89. Ages 13 to 18.

Jerry Weiss (Parent's Guide, Fall 2000 (Vol. 3, No. 1))
Trueman has created one of the most provocative books of the year. Sean McDaniel, a fourteen-year-old cerebral palsy victim, has lost control of every muscle in his body. He can't eat, speak, blink, move in any direction without help, and has periodic seizures. He has one thing going for him: he can hear, understand and remember what everybody says. He has no way of letting others know how intelligent he really is. Thus he is thought to be retarded. Of all the symptoms, it is the seizures that his father finds most disturbing. Strange things happen to Sean during seizures, including periods of uncontrollable laughter. His father feels completely helpless and believes his son is suffering unbearably. Would Sean be better off dead? The tension makes this book a memorable experience. 2000, HarperCollins, $14.95. Ages 10 up.

Kate McDowell (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, June 2000 (Vol. 53, No. 10))
Shawn’s narration has the sarcastic edge of many fourteen-year-olds, but Shawn himself is different in one simple and powerful way--his cerebral palsy prevents him from voluntarily controlling any of his muscles. His mother and two siblings are unaware that he not only has the ability to perceive and understand the world around him but is actually blessed (or cursed) with a perfect memory for every detail of his life so far. And his life may not go much farther: recent details lead Shawn to suspect that his father, who left the family years ago, is plotting to kill him in order to end the misery he’s sure his son endures. Poetry written by Shawn’s father (a Pulitzer-Prize-winning writer and frequent TV talk-show guest) opens each chapter; although the poetry itself is amateurish, the plot is riveting, as Shawn reveals more about the roots of his suspicions and the facts of his everyday existence without muscle control. Trueman’s characterization is fascinating, portraying Shawn as a believably philosophical young man who, while still hoping for a chance to make connections to others, can understand his father’s wish to end his pain. In the end, Shawn loses consciousness to one of his many daily seizures at the moment that his father is approaching his helpless body, and readers are left suspended in the tension of an unknown outcome. Trueman has created a compelling novel that poses questions about ability and existence while fostering sympathy for people with severe physical limitations; readers will find themselves immersed in questions of “what if” at the same time that they are drawn through the story by Shawn’s witty voice. (Reviewed from galleys) Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2000, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2000, HarperCollins, 128p, $14.89 and $14.95. Grades 7-12.

Stephen Fraser (The Five Owls, September/October 2000 (Vol. 15, No. 1))
With a voice tucked deep inside the lead character's psyche, not unlike Bruce Brooks' recent novel Vanishing, Terry Trueman has his protagonist, a young man with cerebral palsy named Shawn, describe his situation in this way: "I do sometimes wonder what life would be like if people, even one person, knew that I was smart and that there's an actual person hidden inside my useless body; I am in here, I'm just sort of stuck in neutral." Shawn lives his life in a wheelchair. He has total aural recall of everything he has ever heard, which gives him a unique perspective on the world. Sadly, he cannot share what he knows and feels. Shawn's father is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, who has written about his son in a blank verse poem (quoted throughout the book in snatches) that brings audiences to tears. In one poignant moment, we see Shawn listening to the poem read aloud, as people watch him and hear about him. The real dramatic focus of the novel is Shawn's divorced father's sudden interest in a real life case of a father who killed his son (who had been afflicted with a similar physical disability) in an attempt to bring an end to his suffering. Shawn wonders, "Is my own father planning to kill me?" What gives added tension to Shawn's predicament is his total inability to communicate with anybody and his total dependency on others. This novel could have taken a more plot-driven tack, creating a Hitchcock-like story with suspense and pathos. Instead, first-time author Trueman has made the events of the story take second place and written a wonderful inner dialogue, giving voice to a fully-aware, witty, bright, and normal young man who just happens to have cerebral palsy. The voice is amazingly true to any fourteen-year-old young man, lusty, funny, self-deprecating, and loving. Readers will be fascinated by Shawn's description of what it is like to be severely handicapped and what out-of-body experiences feel like when he has seizures. It is not clear at the end of the novel exactly what does happen. Does the father emulate the news story he has been studying and actually kill his own son, or does he face his frustrations and try to deal with the handicap in a more positive way? Stuck in Neutral will raise ethical questions and probably inspire some young readers to seek more practical knowledge about the handicapped. One thing is sure: readers will be fascinated by and care about Shawn. 2000, HarperCollins, $14.95. Ages 12 up.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2000)
Born with cerebral palsy and unable to communicate, Shawn is presumed to have the mental age of a three-month-old. Bright, funny, occasionally sarcastic, and astonishingly optimistic, Shawn longs to make contact with others. This fascinatingly horrifying premise evokes one of our darkest fears and deepest hopes--that a fully conscious being may be hidden within such a broken body, as yet unable to declare his existence. Category: Older Fiction. 2000, HarperCollins, 116pp, $14.95, $14.89. Ages 12 to 14. Rating: 2: Superior, well above average.

Virginia Hoskins (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 13, No. 3))
This story is told in first person by fourteen-year-old Shawn McDaniel, who is "stuck in neutral" because damage at birth left him with cerebral palsy so severe that he has no control over any part of his body. He cannot voluntarily blink his eyes, swallow, or even twitch a finger. In addition, Shawn has grand mal seizures. They were painful when he was young, but thanks to medication, there's no longer physical pain, and the mental effects are truly enjoyable: he has "out of body" experiences in which he can eat, run, jump, talk, go anywhere he wants, hug a girl he likes, etc.--just like everyone else. And inside that wreck of a body (as he calls it) is a highly intelligent young man with total recall and a wonderful sense of humor. He can read--his older sister used him as her student when she played school. He listens to the radio and family conversations. He watches TV when his head happens to turn that way.... In short, while Shawn would like to be able to communicate with the outside world and would prefer not to be paralyzed, he gets a great deal of enjoyment out of his life with his mother, older brother, and sister. Shawn's father, a well-known writer, is convinced that Shawn is suffering and moved out years ago because he couldn't bare to witness his son's pain. Now Shawn's father has become very interested in doing a book about a famous euthanasia case in which a father killed his two-year-old, paralyzed son. And Shawn fears his father is going to kill him to save him from his misery. And there is absolutely nothing Shawn can do about it; no way he can tell anyone! At first, his fears about his father seem far-fetched, but as the story continues, the reader may begin to fear the worst. Then Shawn's father comes to see him alone--for the first time in nine years. As Shawn becomes convinced that his death is eminent, one of his seizures strikes--and the book ends. Mr. Trueman is himself the father of a boy like Shawn, so he writes with knowledge and compassion. While this book is a great read and provides serious food for thought about disabilities and euthanasia, care should be taken in recommending it to adolescents who are frequently dealing with nasty emotional upsets of their own. Even as an adult, the reader may find the ending very disturbing. Grades 11 and up. 2000, HarperCollins, 114p, $14.89. Ages 16 up.

Roxy Ekstrom (VOYA, December 2000 (Vol. 23, No. 5))
As Shawn tells it, his life is like one of those "good news-bad news" jokes. He is fourteen years old, loves living in Seattle with his older brother and sister, and has the weird ability to recall totally everything he has ever heard. That is the good news. The bad news is that Shawn is stricken with cerebral palsy so profound that he cannot control a single muscle in his body--not his arms, legs, fingers, eyes, or mouth--nothing. That affliction and grand mal seizures--up to a dozen a day--lead him to think that his dad is planning to kill him. Inside Shawn's head lives a perfectly normal, intelligent, exceptionally witty teenager who refuses to feel sorry for himself. No one knows this; to everyone else he is a total vegetable. His dad divorced Shawn, and by default, the rest of his family, when Shawn was four. After Shawn's father won a Pulitzer Prize for his poem about Shawn, he has made a career being a talk show darling. Now he has taken to wondering aloud, "You're helpless. Hopeless. Maybe you'd be better off if I ended your pain." Shawn's feelings are locked forever inside him--no way does he want to die. This moving first novel by Trueman is a blend of the imaginary and the real. The author's own son has cerebral palsy, cannot communicate, and has been diagnosed as profoundly developmentally disabled. Trueman explores the what-ifs, creating a compelling teenage character with a strong affirming personality. Teens who listen to Shawn tell his story might change their perceptions forever. VOYA CODES: 4Q 2P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2000, HarperCollins, 116p, $14.95. Ages 12 to 18.