Show Us Who You Are by Elle McNicoll

Abstract

Reviewed by: Show Us Who You Are by Elle McNicoll Amanda Toledo Mcnicoll, Elle Show Us Who You Are. Crown, 2022 [304p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780593562994 $16.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780593563014 $9.99 Reviewed from digital galleys Ad Gr. 5-7 In a futuristic London, Cora, an autistic tween with a passion for investigative journalism, navigates discrimination at her school while forming a new friendship with Adrien, the son of her brother’s tech CEO boss at the Pomegranate Institute. She’s excited by the work Adrien’s dad is doing making Grams (holograms) of real humans to “let people live forever.” When a car accident leaves Adrien in critical condition, a bereft Cora seizes a unique opportunity: let the Pomegranate Institute interview her to better understand autistic minds in exchange for visits with Adrien’s Gram. After uncovering insidious plans to remove neurodivergence, disabilities, and other traits deemed unlikeable from people’s Grams, Cora sets off on a truth-telling mission. By turns thrilling and sedate, this novel struggles with verisimilitude: at twelve years old Cora has somehow never heard of a coma, yet she unblinkingly accuses someone of “digital eugenics,” and there seems to be little innovation in this supposedly futuristic world beyond the Grams. Readers with a keen sense of justice will be troubled by the plot to simply destroy the holograms, who are implied to be sentient AI (a fantastically chilling interaction Cora has with her own Gram appears to confirm this), and while the novel highlights the immorality of erasing people’s differences, it shows complete disinterest in the morality of whether these Grams deserve to choose to live. Evocative passages and tender moments of self-acceptance do mitigate some of the story’s shortcomings, making this light sci-fi read a serviceable addition to neurodivergent representation in YA. Copyright © 2022 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois