The American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) named Ketchup Is My Favorite Vegetable: A Family Grows Up With Autism an Outstanding Book of 2017.
“This book beautifully captures the struggle and joy of having an autistic child.”
Ketchup Is My Favorite Vegetable:
A Family Grows Up with Autism
How do you create an ordinary family life, while dealing with the extraordinary needs of an autistic child?
Meet Mickey - charming, funny, compassionate, and autistic. In this unflinching portrait of family life, Liane Kupferberg Carter gives us a mother's insight into what really goes on in the two decades after diagnosis. From the double-blow of a subsequent epilepsy diagnosis, to bullying and Bar Mitzvahs, Mickey's struggles and triumphs along the road to adulthood are honestly detailed to show how one family learned to grow and thrive with autism.
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Reviews
“It's rare for someone to be able to write about life with a special needs child and make it an enjoyable read, but Liane's prose is so good-so smart and funny and lucid and elegant-that even when she's exploring the fears and anxieties a parent faces, she makes it all somehow entertaining. There's real information in these pages for parents going through similar journeys, but it's accompanied by so much empathy and warmth that even those whose lives are untouched by this kind of thing will enjoy reading this. I would recommend it to every parent I know.” —Claire LaZebnik, author of Overcoming Autism
“I will always remember the day that Liane Carter first emailed me an essay for the New York Times blog, Motherlode. I knew from the first few paragraphs that I was in the company of a special writer. Her words shine a bright but embracing light on life with a grown son with autism. Never treacly, often funny, always direct and honest, she speaks to parents who have and will walk her specific road. That companionship is a gift to families who are navigating autism. But she's also a gift to parents of all children in every variety. This parenting stuff is joyous and hard, whatever the particulars. Liane captures the whole of that, and gives us all permission to struggle and celebrate at the same time.” —Lisa Belkin, Senior National Correspondent at Yahoo, former reporter and columnist at the New York Times
“Liane Carter's lovingly written memoir should be required reading for every parent raising a child with autism, particularly those who have been told "your child will never...", because, Wow! does her son Mickey ever! Liane's journey, for better AND for worse, brings hope to our entire community.” —Alison Singer, President of the Autism Science Foundation
“Liane Kupferberg Carter's Ketchup is My Favorite Vegetable is both moving and instructive. It will serve as a helpful and inspirational guide for all parents of special needs children as they transition to the adult world.” —Priscilla Gilman, author of The Anti-Romantic Child: A Memoir of Unexpected Joy
“Liane Kupferberg Carter's book is a touching, compelling and ultimately uplifting account of parenting an autistic son. It is breathtakingly honest about the emotional upheaval and about the many practical and legal difficulties, but also warm and funny. The observations are constantly astute and the book importantly demolishes some of the myths surrounding autism.” —Adam Feinstein, Editor, Looking Up (The International Autism Magazine) and author of A History of Autism: Conversations with the Pioneers