The Boy with the Butterfly Mind

Elin wants her life back to the way it was before her father left, married some woman, and had another daughter, and before her mum’s boyfriend, Paul, moved in. She must be perfect, absolutely perfect, in every way, to make that happen. Jamie wishes his dad hadn’t moved away to Scotland. He misses him and Jamie doesn’t like his mum’s boyfriend Chris, who is going to take them to America. But Jamie thinks the doctors in America can fix his brain so he can focus and not have meltdowns. But everything changes for both these kids when Chris decides Jamie can’t go to America and must live with his father, Paul, and Elin’s mother. This creates a war between Elin who has OCD and Jamie who has ADHD.

Author Victoria Williamson has taken on a very difficult task to demonstrate these young people and their mental and social challenges. Having Elin and Jamie tell their stories in the first-person point of view in alternating chapters is quite powerful. American middle-graders might be put off by the Britishisms in this fine book, but it deserves the patience to get past that and a wider readership than middle grade.