Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman

Reviewed by Lori
Stuck In Neutral
Title: Stuck in Neutral

Author: Terry Trueman

Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 289114

Description: Fourteen-year-old Shawn McDaniel, who suffers from severe cerebral palsy, relates his perceptions of his life, his family, and his condition, which makes him believe his father is planning to kill him.

2001 Michael L. Printz Honour Book

Rubric Rating: Level 3: Laud it

Why I Read It: I was looking for a quick read and this book was small with a low page count.

Lori's Notes:  Shawn is profoundly disabled.  He is unable to speak, move, or interact with those around him.  However, he remembers absolutely everything that he hears.  So when his father talks about "ending his pain" Shawn knows that his father, a Pulitzer-Prize winning author, is planning to kill him.  Shawn's father feels his son is in agony as a result of the cerebral palsy and a seizure disorder that causes Shawn to have multiple seizures daily. However, Shawn loves his seizures, they allow him to exist outside of his body and gives him the freedom his broken body does not allow.  The story is written entirely from Shawn's perspective, which is interesting since he has no real voice of his own.  He is living within his own mind and this is where we meet him and learn what life is like for him.  A life he values despite its limits.  This book is short at 114 pages and ripe with opportunities for classroom discussion.  Some chapters begin with excerpts from his father's prize winning poem about Shawn.  The ending is left very open - almost too open for my liking but again will provide opportunities for discussion as to what might happen next.

Recommended Readers: Grade 9 and Up.  Highly recommended for Reader's Circle selections. Because the book is short with a male protagonist, it is a good selection for high school boys who are reluctant readers.

Favourite Passages:
"It's one thing not to be known for who I actually am, but to be known for who I've never been by a roomful of strangers was the worst." (Page 29)
"Words just stand for the things they are and for what people mean them to stand for." (Page 41)
"The thing that kills him is not knowing whether Shawn is aware or not." (Page 51)
"Of all people I guess I should know, because of my spirit travels, that we are more than just our bodies and our brains.  I should believe that we have souls.  Yet I'm still not sure." (Page 59)
"I want to love someone, and feel loved in return, for my real self.  What if someone loved me enough to somehow break through and discover that I'm inside this body?" (Page 60)
"Life can be great, even for me.  Even for me." (Page 85)
"Memory is all we have, for ourselves and for the people we love.  The memories of us, once we die, are all that's left of us." (Page 99-100)
"No one will know.  No one will know me.  I'm just not ready to give up the hope that someday I might be known.  I'm not ready." (Page 100)
"Nothing is ever easy, is it, Shawn? Nothing is ever like it seems.  You know none of us really knows you.  I mean, it takes just as much faith on our part to believe that you're retarded as it would to believe that you're a genius." (Page 112)

Themes: Cerebral Palsy, Children with Disabilities, Family, Relationships, Euthanasia, Being "seen" and "known," retardation and genius, Bullying, Poetry, Family conflict, Fathers and Sons, Mothers, and Children, Siblings.

Cross-Genre Links:
Movie: My Left Foot (1989)
Google Search: Cerebral Palsy
Google Search: Euthanasia
Google Search: Parents who Kill
Music: To know you is to Love you by Bobby Vinton

Possible Discussion or Essay Topics:

  • People think Shawn isn't intelligent because he isn't able to speak or interact with them.  What sort of assumptions do people make when interacting with individuals who are unable to communicate?
  • Shawn has a very interesting sense of humour.  How do you think this helps him?
  • What do you think of Shawn's family?  His Mother? Brother and Sister? Father?
  • How does Sean's condition affect his family?  
  • Do you think Shawn's father is being selfish?  Would he really be "ending" Shawn's pain or his own?  Explain.
  • What did you think of Paul's reaction to the bullies who pick on Shawn?
  • What does Shawn mean when he says he hasn't been "seen"?

Other Support Materials:
Stuck in Neutral Teacher's Guide
Stuck in Neutral Teacher's Guide Ebook

Next Book in Series:
Sequel: Life Happens Next
Companion Novel: Cruise Control

Other Books by Terry Trueman:
No Right Turn
Hurricane
Inside Out
7 Days at the Hot Corner


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