The Blue Bottle Mystery is a children's/young adult chapter book in which the primary character is Ben, a 4th or 5th grade boy who becomes diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome during the course of the story. The mystery of the blue bottle was a cute story device and the descriptions of Ben's behavior and thoughts were consistent with what I understand about kids on the autism spectrum. However, Ben has a longtime best friend in the book, Andy, who is amazingly tolerant, which is not consistent with students I have known on the spectrum. Kids with autism have a very difficult time maintaining long term friendships with peers. I also didn't care for the fact that Ben is diagnosed with Asperger's by his family physician instead of a team of experts. Although this is not an uncommon practice, it is not the best practice. The author, Kathy Hoopmann, is a teacher in Australia and has written other books about kids on the spectrum and those diagnosed with ADHD. The parent of one of my students with autism recommended this book to me. She used it to help introduce her son to the disorder. I may recommend The Blue Bottle Mystery to other parents for such a use.
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