Naoki Higashida was born in Kimitsu, Japan in 1992. Diagnosed with non-verbal autism as a child, he learnt how to communicate using an alphabet grid and when he was thirteen wrote The Reason I Jump. Published in Japan in 2007, its English translation in 2013 was widely acclaimed and became a No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller as well as a New York Times bestseller. It has since been published in over thirty languages.Higashida's sequel to the book, Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight, about living with autism from his perspective as a young adult, was published in Japan in 2015. An English-language edition, including new material and a short story Higashida wrote especially for it, was published in 2017 and was in turn a Sunday Times bestseller. He has also written children's books, poems and essays.
An extraordinary account of how autism feels from the inside.
*Observer*
The most remarkable book of the year. The book throws a pontoon
bridge over the chasm dividing autistic and neuro-typical
experience.
*Spectator*
The Reason I Jump reads effortlessly, each page challenging
preconceptions that autistic people lack empathy, humour or
imagination.
*Independent on Sunday*
This is a wonderful book. I defy anyone not to be captivated,
charmed and uplifted by it. But above all, you will never feel the
same about autism again.
*Evening Standard*
The freshness of voice coexists with so much wisdom . . . it will
stretch your vision of what it is to be human.
*The Times*
Impossible to forget.
*Evening Standard*
A book that acts like a door to another logic, explaining why an
autistic child might flap his hands in front of his face, disappear
suddenly from home - or jump.
*Sunday Telegraph*
A book that makes me want to say, "This is truly important, and
anyone interested in autism should read it," is a rare find. The
Reason I Jump achieves that status . . . [it] builds one of the
strongest bridges yet constructed between the world of autism and
the neurotypical world . . . There are many more questions I'd like
to ask Naoki, but the first words I'd say to him are "thank
you".
*Sunday Times*
Every page dismantles another preconception about autism.
Higashida's language is precise and has a poetic quality that
elevates it far beyond a self-help book for the parents of autistic
children. His fictional stories, also included in this book, vary
in length from a few lines to dozens of pages and are united by
their beautiful simplicity. They all share a strong single theme,
namely, that even if living is different and difficult, you can
still find companionship and happiness. Once you understand how
Higashida managed to write this book, you lose your heart to
him.
*New Statesman*
This is a wonderful book. I defy anyone not to be captivated,
charmed and uplifted by it. But above all, you will never feel the
same about autism again.
*Evening Standard*
We have our received ideas, we believe they correspond roughly to
the way things are, then a book comes along that simply blows all
this so-called knowledge out of the water. This is one of them . .
. This book is an entry into another world. It was discovered by
K.A. Yoshida, wife of the novelist David Mitchell, who gave us some
memorable other worlds in Cloud Atlas . . . Naoki says he wants to
be a writer when he grows up. David Mitchell points out that he
already is one. This spectacular little book may or may not be the
beginning of a prolific career, but it's a wholly realised work of
art in itself, and its dignity and stoicism are sometimes almost
unbearably moving. And no, he doesn't wish he was 'normal'. He says
he is happy as he is, and I think I believe him.
*Daily Mail*
As much a winsome work of the imagination as it is a user's manual
for parents, carers and teachers. In its quirky humour and courage,
it resembles Albert Espinosa's Spanish bestseller, The Yellow World
. . . This book gives us autism from the inside, as we have never
seen it.
*Independent*
The freshness of voice coexists with so much wisdom . . . it will
stretch your vision of what it is to be human.
*The Times*
The Reason I Jump reads effortlessly, each page challenging
preconceptions that autistic people lack empathy, humour or
imagination. Higashida's insights confirm some of my suspicions
(perhaps the phrases that my sister repeats feel pleasurable, 'like
a game of catch with a ball'), whilst challenging others . . . And
raising new possibilities.
*Independent on Sunday*
The most remarkable book of the year was The Reason I Jump by Naoki
Higashida. The book throws a pontoon bridge over the chasm dividing
autistic and neuro-typical experience.
*Charlotte Moore, Spectator Books of the Year*
Written by an autistic Japanese boy when he was just 13, this
remarkable book, which became a No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller
earlier this year, offers an unparalleled view inside the closed
world of childhood autism. Higashida's eye-opening answers to 58
questions - such as: "Why do you ask the same questions over and
over?" or: "Why can you never stay still?" - are accompanied by a
series of short tales, and an introduction from the novelist David
Mitchell (who has an autistic son himself) that makes clear just
how exceptional and rare this book is.
*Sunday Times*
A remarkable memoir. A touching and fascinating guide to the
tangled byways of his mind. Every page dismantles another of our
preconceptions about autism.
*Mail on Sunday*
Revelatory
*Guardian*
Ask a Question About this Product More... |