Inside Out Girl

"Your inside is out, and your outside is in." -- Beatles, 1968 from "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me & My Monkey Olivia Bean 10, whose name is as deliciously appealing as her very quirky character dances to her own tune. She lives with her widowed father Len and her paternal grandparents are part of her life. Len is clearly a good father trying his best with Olivia who, at 5 was diagnosed with a Nonverbal Learning Disorder or NLD. A condition that has closely overlapping behaviors with autism, the distinguishing factor of NLD is an indiscrimate display of affection. Author Tish Cohen defines Asperger's Syndrome, which is the spectrum partner to autism as a condition wherein people are content to remain in their own worlds. That is not true. Many if not most people AS crave social interaction and social acceptance but have trouble navigating social terrain with their neurotypical (NT) counterparts. Olivia's behavior is very bizarre. She hugs everyone without question; she does not even know when her own birthday is and she wears her clothing inside out. She plays with Barbie dolls in a very unusual way and has an encyclopediac knowledge about rodents. In fact, readers are introduced to Len and Olivia when her rodent dies and she refuses to bury him. A chance encounter with magazine editor Rachel Berman bring two families together. A divorcee with 2 children, Janie 14, and Dustin, 12 Rachel has all she can manage with the magazine and her children's issues. Unknown to her, Janie is gay and Dustin is a typical pre-teen interested in skating and heckling his sister. He is very funny and the typical brother. Len and Rachel plainly need each other, even if their kids don't hit it off right off the bat. Olivia likes bubblegum pop while Janie prefers "pure punk" from the 1970s and 1980s. She fancies herself a "punk purist" and idolizes the Dead Kennedys, Sex Pistols and their punk peers. In one very funny moment, Janie tells Olivia that her sugary pop tunes are "mainstream BS" and Olivia repeats that to all and sundry. Olivia also has very rigid routines about food and Rachel learns to work within the boundaries of Olivia's very specialized needs. As it turns out, Olivia and the Berman kids attend the same school. Janie's life parallels with Olivia's wherein she is rebuffed by a neighbor girl and classmate on whom she has a crush. This in turn leads to a huge dent in her reputation among her peers. Olivia, never able to figure her peers out, takes everything they say seriously even when they set her up for cruelty and ridicule. Toward the latter part of the book, some of her worst bullies trick her into accepting an invitation with devastating results. Len has his own very serious concerns to think about as well. He has to make some very major decisions concerning his only child and that is where Rachel comes in. Each help the other make connections they thought were forever lost. The Beatles' 1965 "In My

Rachel Berman meets Len Bean quite by accident. He is a widowed lawyer with a daughter, Olivia, who has a learning disorder. She, on the other hand, is a divorced publisher of a parenting magazine. She has two rebellious children, 12-year-old Dustin and his older sister, Janie. All three kids have issues of their own. Some their parents know about, other issues will be revealed later on in the book. This endearing story is about them. How love developed between Rachel and Len and how each of their offspring found their own place in a world that can be cruel at time. At times, it was laugh out loud funny. Other times, I was grabbing the box of tissue. I can't see how anyone wouldn't fall deeply in love with this story as well as the characters. This author is extremely gifted and I will be looking for her first book, TOWN HOUSE. After reading INSIDE OUT GIRL, I bet you will too.

Tish Cohen, author of TOWN HOUSE, generally writes children's books. INSIDE OUT GIRL is a book for adults about children. It takes a sympathetic and sensitive look at the hidden lives of youngsters, sees what they see and tells us how they feel --- about bullying, pop culture and even being gay. Len Bean is a widower trying, often desperately, to raise Olivia, a six-year-old with "special needs," in this case a learning disorder that gives her the appearance of a higher-than-average verbal intelligence masking a total inability to understand what people are trying to tell her. If you tell Olivia "You're pulling my leg," her eyes go to your legs. Olivia thinks, hopes, that every day is her birthday and keeps on believing that children, any children, will come to her party. For Len, life is less than a party, knowing as he does that Olivia will repel rather than attract other kids, and will need a high level of personal care all her life. Len meets Rachel Berman on the roadside, where he is trying ineptly to change a tire while looking out for the obstreperous Olivia. Rachel knows how to change a tire. She is the highly competent managing editor of a children's magazine called Perfect Parent, which has been losing sales lately because the reality of parenting is less than perfect. She takes time out of her packed schedule, which includes monitoring her two adolescent kids and unruly mother, to help Len, whose specialty is divorce and adoption law. His profession is part of the attraction --- that and Olivia, whose gun-metal gray eyes speak volumes to Rachel, reminding her starkly of a secret in her past that will come to light in the course of her crisis-to-crisis life as a single mom trying to engage in a courtship after a bad divorce. As Len and Rachel become something more than friends, Olivia innocently believes that Janie and Dustin are her friends as well. She can't understand that people in their early teen years would rather, in the parlance of Janie and Dustin's favorite made-up game, "kiss a dead body crawling with a million trillion maggots" than be seen hanging out in public with a special needs kid. This leads to a terrible betrayal of Olivia. But worse is to come. Thoughts of Olivia, and her growing affection for the child, have unlocked a Pandora's box of feelings in Rachel. Olivia's needs link Rachel back to her long-hidden past sins. And Len has something else going --- something worse, something that threatens Olivia's future in the most crucial way. But neither of them wants to talk about it. Until Olivia gets lost while the two families are out together experimenting in blending, and a Code Adam is released. Her loss and recovery signal that it's time to talk. Through the eyes of Olivia and Rachel's kids, Dustin and Janie, we are led into the often seamy underworld of junior high school. At 14 Janie is pretty sure she's a lesbian --- that's a tough revelation for someone her age and made more so by her frustrated crush on T

Inside Out Girl was just released last month and is on my 'You've got to read this one!' list. Rachel is a single mother of two who obsesses over accident reports, parenting tips and ensuring her children are safe.It is out of character for her to pull over and help a man and his daughter change their flat tire. Len is the widowed father of Olivia. Surprising herself further, Rachel agrees to a date with Len. As they continue to date, Rachel's children are horrified to find out that Len's daughter Olivia is the ' Inside Out Girl" who attends their school. Olivia has non verbal learning disorder. Although very bright, she is unable to process facial and voice cues, resulting in socially inappropriate behaviour and anxiety. She often chooses to wear her clothes inside out, thus the name. She is extremely well informed about rats, frequently quoting rat facts in times of stress. As she falls in love with Len, Rachel is forced to face some issues from her own past. Her children are also going through difficulties that she is unaware of. Could this relationship really work? Cohen's writing is so real. I found myself furious at the bullying of Olivia, nodding in sympathy with Rachel's angst and applauding the parenting of Len. Cohen has done a remarkable job with all the characters - they truly come to life - especially Olivia, who will make you laugh, make you cry and cheer for the little girl who can teach us all a thing or two - and not just about rats. This would be a great read for a book club. I'm off to find a copy of Town House - Cohen's first novel for adults, which has been optioned for a movie.

I loved this book! It is a beautiful story with wonderful characters. I loved Olivia, a quirky and adorable mix of innocence and heart breaking vulnerability. I loved the relationship between Len and his daughter Olivia. A moving story and a great read from cover to cover.