Something More

A beautifully written coming of age story. The beats are pretty familiar, but Jessie's perspective is so carefully considered at every moment. Jessie is more than a collection of the character tropes associated with the new to high school. The way Khalilieh considers her autism diagnosis and her Palestinian-Canadian background make Jessie feel like a real person, which is aided by how well Khalilieh has captured the actual voice of a teenager. Reminds me of the best parts of Bo Burnham's Eighth Grade.  Would highly recommend to anyone entering high school, or wanting to have a deeper empathy with the experience of what it's like to be a high schooler with an autism diagnosis.

(I rate on a 5 star scale and a 4/5 is “I really liked it” so don't take the missing star as any indication of lesser quality.)