A Book Review Analyzing Terry Trueman's Stuck in Neutral Novel

This report provides a comprehensive book review of Terry Trueman's young adult novel, 'Stuck in Neutral.' The review delves into the narrative, which centers on Shawn McDaniel, a teenager with cerebral palsy, and explores his experiences and those of his family. The story is told from Shawn's...Read More

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Book Review
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Author Note

1BOOK REVIEW
Topic – Book Review for Stuck in Neutral
Stuck in Neutral is a young adult novel which is written by Terry Trueman. It
concentrates on the concept of cerebral palsy, euthanasia and the quality of life. The primary
character is Shawn McDaniel diagnosed with the disease. The story is told from the perspective
of Shawn and how his family adjusts with the situation. All the family members of Shawn have
been talked about in the novel (Densmore-James, 2016). The book received the Michael L.
Printz Award in the year 2001. The topic of the book originated from the author’s son being
struck with cerebral palsy. The author wanted to beware and educate people who read him
regarding the condition and how to show tolerance those people with such disabilities.
In the novel, fourteen-year old Shawn Michael is somehow convinced that his father is
trying to kill him out of love. The main protagonist in the story is Shawn who has caught
cerebral palsy. When he was born, a particular blood vessel burst which left him out of his
muscle control. As a result, he cannot lift his arm, cannot walk, or even smile. Shawn’s family
believes that his brain is dysfunctional but he is not completely physically inept. In reality, it is
only the partial truth. The truth is that, Shawn’s brain completely functions. Moreover, he even
has extraordinary memory power as he can easily memorize anything he hears from people’s
conversations. His only problem is, he cannot put his memory into words. This is the reason
behind his living the world in his own mind. The most pathetic fact is, he does not have the
ability to let others know that he is completely alive in his dysfunctional body.
The plot is set in the backdrop of Seattle, where Shawn stays with his mother, sister and a
brother who are 17 and 16 respectively. The entire responsibility of Shawn is taken by his
mother who feeds him the meal and looks after him. The day Shawn was born, his father left as

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he could not see his son suffering in through the seizures. Shawn has been tolerating six to
twelve grand mal seizures and now he has got used to it. Although his father has revulsion for
the seizures, Shawn loves them. In the novel, Shawn’s father is shown to have won the Pulitzer
Prize for a poem written on the illness of Shawn. The poem also reflects the effects of Shawn’s
illness on the family. It further discusses the struggle of Shawn with his disability and pain both
emotional and physical.
The course of the novel enables the readers to know that Shawn’s father is working on a
new project. In the project, Shawn’s father tries to reflect on the emotional aspect of a father
having a son like Shawn and endurance the father has to hold every in such condition. In the
project, Shawn’s father utilizes the example of Earl Detraux . The climax of the project
culminates in portraying Earl Detraux as a helpless father who suffocates his disabled son. He is
not portrayed as a murderer but a father who loved his son more than anything and could not see
his suffering. Shawn’s father, Sydney E. McDaniel depicts the complicated nature of a father’s
love which forced a father end his son’s life (Hazlett & Sweeney, 2015).
Shawn comes to learn about the project and alarmed that he will face the same climax as
the son of Earl Detraux. Shawn wants to live and believes that his father loves him a lot. Shawn
does not want to die, wants to live but cannot protest against anything. He cannot communicate
with his father and tell him that he is comfortable with the seizures. It is incapable of expressing
his true feelings due to his disability. The novel ends at Shawn’s father professing his love or his
son by gifting his ultimate relief from all his pain. Sydney sits by the side of Shawn’s bed, takes
the pillow in his hands and replicates the action of Earl Detraux. Shawn puts his own life in the
hands of his father just like an obedient son.

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Thematically, the story is established around the dilemma of Sydney when he searches
for reasons which could restrict him from ending his son’s life. He finds various compelling and
seductive arguments but stops at the abrupt idea which leaves him on the verge of killing his son
(Kurtts & Gavigan, 2017). Although the characters are not the strongest concern of the author in
this novel, the character of Shawn stays with the readers always not for what he does with the
readers but for what he has made out of himself.
As I found out, the most glaring part of the book is that there is a serious discussion on
the question of “should we euthanize people just because they do not appear to be worth living
without taking their consent? “I believe the fact that Shawn cannot live without taking the
assistance of other people does not make his life unworthy of living and invalid. There is no
reason of euthanizing him because he does not have the ability to express his opinion on the
matter. Moreover, there are few valid questions regarding the quality of life for the severely
disabled people and the family members. As per my observations, some books dealing with such
issues are insightful enough. However, this particular book concentrates on the dilemma of
killing or not killing the high-schooler because he lives on the assistance of others in his
everyday life.
On the other hand, the story can be closely related with Trueman’s disabled son. The
similarities can be spot in the novel. Taken for example, Shawn’s father’s being a winner of
Pulitzer Prize and divorcing his wife after the disabled baby is born. Lastly, he profits by writing
on the life of the disabled child. There are other problems too in the book which are mostly
associated with the characterization of Shawn (Thiele, 2016). The novel shows some instances
when the narration was jarring. For instance, it perceived like a strange choice to possess a child
who is unable to express his feelings to someone else or fight for himself. In the novel, Trueman

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is trying to get across of Shawn’s being a normal kid from inside irrespective of how he looks
like. I believe, this fact is accomplished far better in other places by Trueman. Apart from this,
he also had an eidetic memory which is not much emphasized in the novel. Presumably, it
provided the strong inspiration for Sharon M. Draper to shape a similar character with similar
character traits in Out of My Mind. The characters in the books of both Trueman and Draper, are
struck with palsy and their stories are also written by their parent. The most pathetic fact is that
the disabled children are not worthy enough to be the subject of a book unless they possess the
traits which make them appear disabled.
On a concluding note I would like to say that, as an educator it has emphasized the
concept of euthanasia and Shawn’s desire to stay alive for proving that his life is worth living.
Shawn’s father’s going against his son’ desire to do what is right for his son and the moral
conflicts are what make the novel so memorable and attractive. I will take the positivity of the
character of Shawn even after being a disabled child and learn from his urge to live the gift of
life in a limited form. The book has taught me about the moral conflicts and I would like to
encourage others to support and fight for the rights of disabled people because they are also
worth living like normal people. They are also worth living, worth being educated and worth
spending their lives as per themselves.

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Reference
Densmore-James, S. (2016). Giving Students Voice: Book Dealing and Discussions That Build a
Broken Community. After the Storm: Militarization, Occupation, and Segregation in
Post-Katrina America: Militarization, Occupation, and Segregation in Post-Katrina
America, 99.
Hazlett, L. A., & Sweeney, W. (2015). Using Young Adult Literature in Implementing Common
Core Literacy Standards with Inclusion Students in Non-IDEA Classrooms. Teaching
Young Adult Literature: Integrating, Implementing, and Re-Imagining the Common Core,
78.
Kurtts, S. A., & Gavigan, K. W. (2017). Understanding (dis) abilities through children’s
literature. Education Libraries, 31(1), 23-31.
Thiele, J. H. (2016). Thrillers, Suspense, and Adventure. Crossover Readers' Advisory:
Maximize Your Collection to Meet Reader Satisfaction, 83.