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Kay Kerr's Gorgeous Novel, Please Don't Hug Me, Deserves the World

"Sometimes I think it would be easier if everyone knew that some things are really easy for me but others are really hard. But then I think, it's no one else's business and I don't owe anyone an apology or an explanation." 

Please Don't Hug Me by Kay Kerr is a collection of letters from Erin, a teenage girl with ASD, to her brother, Rudy. The letters bring to light Erin's everyday struggles, as well as her journey in accepting the past and figuring out her place in the world.
The way that Kay Kerr writes lets the story and characters shine while also acknowledging the fact that everyone is different, and that we don't need to pretend to be someone we are not just to fit in. Erin feels like a friend of mine now and she inspired me to be braver and to care less about opinions that don't matter. Please Don't Hug Me made me laugh out loud one page and sob the next, and I loved reading the raw and vulnerable parts of Erin's letters while also hearing about all of her funny, day-to-day mishaps. 
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