Stuck in Neutral | 
 enlarge | Author: Terry Trueman
Publisher: HarperTeen
Category: Book
List Price: $8.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  197 reviews
Sales Rank: 50001
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 128
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 4.8 x 0.4
ISBN: 0064472132
EAN: 9780064472135
ASIN: 0064472132
Publication Date: October 1, 2001
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Amazon.com Review
Fourteen-year-old Shawn McDaniel loves the taste of smoked oysters and his mother's gentle hugs. Unfortunately, it's impossible for Shawn to feed himself or to hug his mom back. Shawn has cerebral palsy, a condition he has had since birth that has robbed him of all muscle control. He can't walk, talk, or even focus his eyes on his own. But despite all these handicaps, despite the frustration of not being able to communicate, Shawn is still happy to be alive: "Somehow all the things I think about and remember turn to joy... favorite movies... pinecones... chocolate pudding... the scent of Comet in a stainless steel sink.... Life can be great, even for me. Even for me." That is why he panics when he begins to suspect that his father is thinking of killing him. Shawn knows that his father is trying to be kind; he imagines that his son's life is an endless torment. His dad has no idea of the rich life that Shawn lives inside his head. And Shawn, helpless and mute, has no way of telling him. Stuck in Neutral is a truly unique journey into the mind of a truly unique character. Shawn McDaniel, who is literally trapped in his own body, will serve as a powerful metaphor for teens who feel cornered by circumstances or their own physical shortcomings. Terry Trueman's first-person portrayal of Shawn is made all the more poignant by the fact that Trueman's own son, Henry, also suffers from cerebral palsy. This is an original and moving debut. (Ages 11 to 15) --Jennifer Hubert
Product Description
Shawn McDaniel is an enigma and a miracle--except no one knows it, least of all his father. His life is not what it may seem to anyone looking at him. Not even those who love him best have any idea what he is truly like. In this extraordinary and powerful first novel, the reader learns to look beyond the obvious and finds a character whose spirit is rich beyond imagining and whose story is unforgettable. My life is like one of those "good news-bad news" jokes. Like, "I've got some good news and some bad news--which do you want first?" I could go on about my good news for hours, but you probably want to hear the punch line, my bad news, right? Well, there isn't that much, really, but what's here is pretty wild. First off, my parents got divorced ten years ago because of me. My being born changed everything for all of us, in every way. My dad didn't divorce my mom, or my sister, Cindy, or my brother, Paul--he divorced me. He couldn't handle my condition, so he had to leave. My condition? Well, that brings us to the guts of my bad news.
Books for the Teen Age 2001 (NYPL), Books for Youth Editor's Choice 2000 (Booklist), Top 10 Youth First Novels 2000(Booklist), 2001 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA), 2001 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers (ALA), and 2001 Michael L. Printz Honor Book
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| Customer Reviews: Read 192 more reviews...
 inside the head November 6, 2008
A wonderfully imagined look into the mind of a boy debilitated by cerebral palsy. The author, who himself has a son with cerebral palsy, imagines that Shawn, though confined to a wheelchair with absolutely no control over his own motor functions, is very smart, incredibly observant, and has perfect memory of everything he's heard since a young age.
Unfortunately, what Shawn's been hearing lately makes him think that his father is planning to kill him, to "end his pain." Naturally, Shawn has his own thoughts about that plan, but knows that he's completely powerless to stop his father. Yet the father is not portrayed as a villain, but is sensitively drawn as a father who is just trying to do the right thing by his son.
 Absolute Terror July 2, 2008
I couldn't put the book down. It's horrible. I'm sorry the book - and, aparently, Shawn's life - are so short.
The book is powerful because of all the here-and-now details: the fly crawling on Shawn's face and he can't do anything to stop it; the taste of the bbq-flavored potato chip Shawn's brother slips into his mouth; the vivid descriptions of what it's like to experience a seizure.
A short, powerful book.
Fabulous Suspense Novel May 25, 2008
This is the best suspense novel I have ever read! I couldn't put it down. Author, Terry Trueman, is brilliant!
Although short, this is a haunting premise March 14, 2008
Terry Trueman's Stuck In Neutral was inspired by his son Sheehan, who has cerebral palsy, is not able to communicate, and has been labeled profoundly developmentally disabled. Trueman recently penned Sheehan: Heartbreak and Redemption, about his own personal struggle with his son's severe cerebral palsy that inspired Stuck in Neutral. Trueman's protagonist Shawn McDaniel is in much the same boat; he's unable to communicate or control any of his muscles, including his eyes, and even his family has chalked him up as profoundly retarded.
But Stuck in Neutral, told from Shawn's point of view, reveals a witty narrator with a photographic memory and a zest for life, even if he's not able to communicate it to his family. There's not a trace of self-pity, even though he's at the mercy of family and caretakers for everything from feeding to bathrooming, and he's in a class of profoundly retarded classmates. The plot revolves around the suspicion that Shawn's father is planning to kill him out of "mercy" for Shawn's suffering and his ever-present seizures.
The binding link that weaves throughout the story centers on his father's poem about young Shawn that won numerous awards including the Pulitzer. Now his father, who deserted the family years ago, is a celebrity for his poem that presents Shawn as a helpless, pitiable object, not the funny, smart teenager that he's become, if only in his head, and his father seems inspired by a recent "mercy killing" of another handicapped child.
Trueman does a masterful job of leaving the ending open (he penned a novel written from Shawn's brother Paul's perspective, Cruise Control, that explores Paul's feelings towards his brother and his situation, which is also open-ended in its final decision), and Shawn is an utterly hip, real narrator that shows us how easy (and dangerous) it is to judge someone based on appearances.
Anyone who has anything to say about the Teri Schiavo murder should read this February 23, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Go ahead and shell out 7 bucks and see what it's like to be on the other side...I dare you.
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