Under The Mountain

The best thing about this book for me was that it managed to deal with two very tough subjects and yet still feel like a light fluffy read. Caitlin's view of the world was unique and compelling; I found myself devouring the whole story within a couple of hours as I couldn't put it down!

The story is told in the first person, from Caitlin's point of view. I don't believe it could have worked any other way - as Caitlin has Asperger's, so the way she sees things is very different to the way we do. Although only ten, she has a strong voice and it was really interesting to see the different things she would say and do - simple sayings that we use easily confuse her, she has to have her clothing a certain way and she hates any shades of pink!

Of course, the book deals with a second difficult subject - death. Caitlin's brother, who guided her through life, was murdered in a school shooting and as well as having to cope with that, her Father isn't quite there. I did feel slightly angry towards him at times, though!

The ending is well wrapped up and did leave me wanting more - I wanted to find out what would happen to Caitlin when she moves schools!