by James Robinson
Documentary filmmaker, James Robinson tells his story of growing up with misaligned eyes and his quest to have people understand him and his condition. He starts the book trying to help readers understand what he sees and the struggles that caused growing up in sports and school. He guides the reader through his life of attempted fixes, solutions, and many frustrations. Documentary filmmaking became a way to visually share with audiences (& potential future employers) how to get past the awkward moments of staring at someone whose eyes don’t track the way we’re used to them doing. He coined the term “whale eyes” because we generally have a positive response to the giants of the deep who see like he does out of one side separately from the other. His 12 minute film can be found at whaleeyes.org/watch. I loved the way Robinson gently guides the reader to see like he sees. To reframe the way we look at people who view the world in a different way from the majority. The book is full of simple illustrations. Pairs of pages occasionally turn to be read in a flip book manner. Chapters are short. It was an informative and very readable book.
Because of the success of Robinson’s film, many other folks connected with his ideas – those with strabismus (misaligned eyes), prosopagnosia (face blindness), stuttering, and more. People who shared his struggles to communicate all wanted his help with films about their conditions so they could be better understood. Because of that, I think many readers will be able to connect with his book. And the format is perfect for middle grade readers who can sometimes still need concrete examples to understand concepts. A lovely, readable memoir.
