Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom

Happy New Years Eve!

I can’t believe I’ve been doing this blog for over a year now. Here’s hoping for another year of book reviews!

High School

Don’t deceive me. Ever. Especially using my blindness. Especially in public.

Don’t help me unless I ask. Otherwise you’re just getting in my way or bothering me.

Don’t be weird. Seriously, other than having my eyes closed all the time, I’m just like you only smarter.

Parker Grant doesn’t need 20/20 vision to see right though you. That’s why she created the Rules: Don’t treat her any differently just because she’s blind, and never take advantage. There will be no second chances. Just ask Scott Kilpatrick, the boy who broke her heart.

When Scott suddenly reappears in her life after being gone for years, Parker know there’s only one way to react – shun him so hard it hurts. She has enough on her mind already, like trying out for the track team (that’s right, her eyes don’t work but her legs still do), doling out tough-love advice to her painfully naïve classmates, and giving herself gold stars for every day she hasn’t cried since her dad’s death 3 months ago. But avoiding her past quickly proves impossible, and the more Parker learns about what really happened – both with Scott, and her dad – the more she starts to question if things are always as they seem. Maybe some Rules are meant to be broken.

After the first few pages, I immediately like this girl. She’s pretty much a badass. She comes off sort of mean but in a world that preys on the weak you have to be able to defend yourself and Parker does that by getting in your face. She reminds me of Max Black from the TV show ‘2 Broke Girls’. If you’re under the age of 14, don’t watch this show yet.

This story is mostly about Parker’s blindness and how she deals with it. This is kind of a bad and good thing. It’s kind of off putting that her being blind is the main focus of the story where as in ‘She Is Not Invisible’, Laureth being blind was more of a side thing and the mystery was the main focus. In Parker’s case she’s been blind since she was 7 and has had time to get a handle on it, unlike Emma in ‘Blind’. Parker has been blind long enough to learn tricks on how to get around on her own.

Another thing I love about Parker is that she’s training to run track. You’re probably thinking that’s dangerous but the worse thing that could happen is she trips and falls. She could be doing something a lot more dangerous like driving a car. A blind person driving a car is actually possible. Check out MythBusters for proof.

If you love Parker’s attitude towards her blindness as much as I do, check out the show ‘Growing Up Fisher’. It’s about an 11-year-old and his lawyer and blind father, Mel. This show was hilarious and unfortunately only had one season.