With the Light... Vol. 7: Raising an Autistic Child

This stellar masterpiece of a book makes me think of the 1968 George Harrison song, "The Inner Light" and the spiritual "This Little Light of Mine (I'm Gonna Let it Shine)." This book might make you cry. This book is the 7th in a series about Hikaru Azuma, a child with autism.Since this book was written in the Japanese manga style, readers are also treated to Japanese literary culture. The book's story sequence is from right to left, which is the opposite of most Western languages. A glossary of Japanese words and a list of Japanese holidays and description of services for people with autism are provided as well. Readers are engaging in a form of cultural sharing with this book.Sachiko and Masato Azuma's first child, Hikaru, now 13 and in junior high* has severe autism. Hikaru is a linking of cultures as well. Masato's mother is Western and his late father was plainly Japanese. Sachiko is not Asian. Hikaru is more Asian in appearance. There are other non-Asian and even Eurasian characters as well as one Afro-Asian character in an earlier volume, which provides a "diverse" look at Japan and Japanese culture.Readers are treated to aspects of Japanese culture, such as foods and sources of entertainment. Honorific titles and expressions are explained as well. Readers get a good, clear picture of Japanese culture and services. The book also includes useful websites about autism and can also be seen as a good resource tool.Now 13, Hikaru has entered puberty. He has adjust to the changes in his own body and the way he sees the world. He touches himself in front of people and Sachiko works with him to teach him that this is something that is only done in private. Unfortunately, this has resulted in some embarrassing moments for his younger sister Kanon, now 6.Kanon is now having to defend her brother to the cruel taunting of her peers. She gets into fights defending him and even tells one child that her brother isn't dumb! He taught her how to write! She was right to defend him.A social personality, Kanon has a best friend. The girls enjoy playing and dressing up. They are "best friends forever." Both are younger sisters and feel they have a lot in common.More changes are on the way. Masato has to transfer for business reasons and the Azumas move in with Masato's mother. An indominatble personality, Masato's mother is not amenable to change and chafes at having to rearrange her home to accomodate her son's family. She also does not get along with Hikaru and cannot fully accept his autism.Other characters who are part of the Azumas' life make appearances. In the 2nd installment, Kanon is invited to a Girls' Day party at a peer's home. Since Sachiko has no place for Hikaru to stay, she has to bring him, then 10 to the party. Things go awry; Kanon takes another child's toy and Hikaru has an accident.Kanon encounters those same peers in this book. The mother of Non-chan, the child whose toy Kanon snatched tells her daughters that they had met Kanon "a long time ago," and that Kanon made Non-chan cry when she took her toy rabbit. That was bad enough, but telling Non-chan about Hikaru's accident was just plain needless. The girls were being biased against the Azuma children and they had no memory of the Girls' Day party!Kanon suffers even more fallout. She is not invited to another child's birthday party. She tries to put on a brave face, only crying in private about this latest ostracism and the problems her brother is encountering.Another child is also running into chronic problems. Eri-chan, a girl who has known Hikaru since infancy is having challenges of her own in private school and living in a household with domestic violence. Eri-chan, now 13 is involved with an older boy and is facing some major decisions. A kind nurse from her old school helps her take stock of the decisions she is making and offers her a ray of hope.Hikaru, like many with autism has language processing issues. Marginally verbal, Hikaru can read and is quite adept at figuring out how to plan things. He does not respond when people greets him. This causes him to have run-ins with his indomitable grandmother, who still does not fully accept him. On one occasion when she was left with Kanon and Hikaru, an ugly misunderstanding led to blows. Luckily Kanon was able to explain what had really taken place.Readers are introduced to Masato's sister, a linguist living in Seattle. She learns from her close friend in Japan that her mother is dating. Alarmed, she tells Masato this. He takes it more in stride after his initial shock wears off. He reminds his sister that their mother always did love to go dancing and has a closet full of dancing dresses and shoes to show for it.Indeed, their mother does go off for a weekend of fun and dance with her date. It is there, on that fateful date that she discovers her date's personal investment in autism.The illustrations are nothing short of phenomenal and the character development vivid brilliant. The drawings are magnificent and the characters are very appealing and believable. The rich diversity of characters makes a good thing better.At times, one can easily forget that this is a novel. Serious topics such as death, marital issues and aging are realistically and sensitively included in this sixth installment. This book has a preface about people in Japan who have autism. It is very interesting to learn about autism services in other countries. The Japanese character for "autism" is "closed off" or "cloistered self." The irony of the Japanese character for autism is that Hikaru is part of a very integrated community and, thanks to the many people he knows is anything but cloistered.Keiko Tobe has unified people from all over the world with this stellar book. She wisely included explanations and descriptions of Japanese culture and mores as well as some humor. I like the way she talks about people who have influenced this book. While Tobe does not go into great detail about autism, her story and the magnificent drawings clearly depict severely autistic behavior and how it impacts others.This is a delightful book that will remain a bright light in the hearts of all who read it. It is a form of cultural sharing as many readers unfamiliar with manga have learned a lot about this form of art thanks to this stellar series.

Great book

I love the series. Was very happy to find the last 3 books of this series on Amazon.

As a librarian, I recommended this series to many who had autistic family members, worked with autistic individuals, or were just interested. All found the series rang true to their own experiences despite the setting in another country. The series follows a young Japanese family from the expectation of their first child, the discovery of his autism, and their daily trials through to Junior High age (the author passed away while working on the 8th vol.). If your local library doesn’t own it, you can get it from another through inter-library loan (and maybe recommend it for purchase for your library).

It's a beautiful story, i recommend it to al the aduld female manga fans, it's not a story for kids but it's a beautiful book for women of all ages