Amelia, the main character, has pretty severe sound sensitivity. Yet all the adults around her act as if her noise canceling headphones and earmuffs are a choice and something bad that she has developed a reliance on. There is also the prevalence of the alarming mindset that one with such severe sound sensitivity can and should become desensitized. Shame on them for not having compassion for her sensory pain. Headphones are not bad! If they do not keep a child from learning, there is no reason to take them away.

This would have been a better book if Amelia’s condition had been named rather than just “sound sensitivity,” and if there was more emphasis on the fact that headphones and earbuds are necessary aides to navigate the world in a tolerable way. It felt like every character brushed it off and treated her like a spoiled child who wanted her headphones as an accessory, not an important accommodation. Also, why did Madge never apologize for being loud in the library? Yes, she’s loud, as some people are, but it’s completely reasonable to expect someone to keep their voice down to respect other patrons and library staff. It feels like that issue was treated as “Amelia couldn’t accept Madge!” when it was really “Amelia got upset with Madge for being disruptive in an established quiet environment.”

I think the author is suffering from ignorance around this subject, and the author’s note supports that theory. (She talks about “highly sensitive people,” and recommends PsychologyToday.com. Yikes.) Amelia read as autistic to me, yet the only time autism is even mentioned in this book is when a stranger incorrectly assumes Amelia is autistic and her mom gets really defensive, thinking autism to be an insult. Let’s do better in crafting neurodiverse characters.