Review – What Can I Say? by Catherine Newman

A Kid’s Guide to Super-Useful Social Skills to Help You Get Along and Express Yourself; Speak Up, Speak Out, Talk about Hard Things, and Be a Good Friend

Really liked this book. The accessible way that pertinent issues were discussed make it ideal for research, self help or guidance.

I would say that it’s suitable for all ages, abilities and confidence levels. Offering tips, scenarios and scripts is ideal for neurotypical and neurodiverse. Even if you’re the most clued up person socially or struggle 1:1 or in groups, you will gain something from reading a chapter or two.

Helpfully themes/issues are set out clearly in chapters, meaning you don’t have to read the whole book or take notes to have a decent summary on a topic. Not all the scenarios met the mark, but that’s to be expected, nor am I the target audience. But that said it tackles well the fundamentals of new situations, what to say, when to say it and how to be comfortable being you.

Forgot to say that I got this via NetGalley and the formatting was pants even in the NetGalley app. That was probably the most annoying part of reading this book. That said my thanks to NetGalley and publishers for a copy of this book.