The Extraordinary by Brad Schaeffer

Release: August 31st 2021
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Post Hill Press
Source: Suzyapproved Book Tours
Find it at: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Kobo

Wesley Scott is a teenage boy with autism. He lives within his own intimate realm of sensory overload, dysfunction, sometimes violence, and fear of the outside world.

Wes is unable to connect with anyone other than his father, a captain in the Marine Corps. He in turn adores his extraordinary son, his “Ex-man,” as he fondly calls him. When Captain Scott ships off to fight in the Middle East, Wes is confused and senses foreboding in what it all means, although he cannot express it to his family, friends, or teachers.

With his father overseas, Wes finds himself further isolated in a world of ordinaries, and a stranger in his own family. His mother is distant and cold, his high school brother resents the inordinate attention his autistic brother constantly steals from him, and his twenty-something sister has chosen to move away from it all to Manhattan. The burden on the family gets exponentially worse when Captain Scott returns home wounded. The family tries to cope as best they can, but when his father succumbs to PTSD, Wes must somehow make sense of all that has happened—which is difficult for a teenager under normal conditions, let alone one on the autism spectrum who’s suddenly lost the only family member who ever really bothered to know him.

The Scotts seem on the verge of unraveling and Wes finds himself in a bewildering land of family turmoil. How will Wes come to understand this tragedy? And how will the family ever come to fill the void left by a father who understood what the rest have yet to discover…that Wes is an extraordinary young man indeed.

About the Author:

Brad Schaffer was born in Baltimore, MD but grew up in a suburb of Chicago. After attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he lived in Chicago where he embarked on his dual career as both a commodities trader and author/novelist. He currently resides in New Jersey.

His prolific and eclectic writing can be found in the pages of the Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News, National Review, Daily Wire, and other well-read publications. His interests as reflected in his articles encompass a wide swath from business, to science, education, the arts, history, politics, social issues, and general day-to-day living. He is also an accomplished guitarist and pianist and can be found playing in local New Jersey clubs with one of several rock bands in which he has played over the years.

He is the author of two novels “Of Another Time And Place” (2018) takes place in World War II Europe. It is a study of the conflicts that good men confront when compelled through national loyalty and indoctrination to fight for morally reprehensible causes. “The Extraordinary” (2021), deftly tackles two sensitive subject matters, autism and PTSD, and the impacts they have on not just those who have these conditions but also the families who support those they love while trying to cope with the stresses they induce.

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The Extraordinary Review:

“The Extraordinary” is a heart wrenching story of family, loss, and moving on that will get you teary-eyed.

The first thing that grabbed my interest was how the author beautifully depicted the perception of autism. It was charming to view the contrasting perceptions to events that Wesley experiences, being autistic, versus how his family looks at it. Moreover, the author adds layers, such as how the family deals with the father leaving for the Marines.

I honestly loved how the author told the tale. The story is simple to read, and the chapters are small. Yet, there are powerful moments in each chapter where you feel for Wesley and his family. Many moments stood out in the tale, like when they fear for the father’s life being away or how Wesley notices his parents argue. The author portrays the family realistically, where you see how the parent’s arguments harm Wes. Similarly, I also liked Wes’s interactions with Becca. One of the memorable scenes with Wes and Thomas is when they talk with Mister O.

As the story progresses, my heart goes out to Wes for all the grief he endured. There are moments where I got teary-eyed because of what he witnessed of his father. Another aspect that I liked of the tale was Wes’s relationship with Thomas. Thomas also has a violent streak in him, and some of the scenes where he lashes out on Wes were heartbreaking.

However, the only aspect I would have liked to see was events from Thomas and their mother’s perspective. The author primarily tells the story from Wes’s standpoint, and while I enjoyed it, I was curious to know what the other family members were thinking.

Overall, “The Extraordinary” is a moving, emotional story about a family worth reading!