No Ordinary Joe

Dan’s family is anything but normal. His parents have funny hobbies and habits, his sister Kit is super exam-stressed and cranky, Dan himself is a budding musician who’s dreading secondary school, and then there’s his brother, Joe. 

Joe is a very special kid. Other people might think he’s a bit odd, or weird, or even that there’s something wrong with him, but Dan and his family just see Joe. 

Case in point: one rainy morning, Dan is chasing Joe through the neighbour’s field, dodging cows and cow poo all the way. Joe doesn’t really mean to run away, per se, he just loves to run! When Dan finally gets Joe back home, it’s straight into the regular chaos: make breakfast, keep the sugar away from Joe. Get dressed, keep an eye on Joe. Head off to school, never let Joe out of your sight. As his week progresses, Dan reflects on how other people perceive his brother, and how Joe really doesn’t care what others think. 

With the rest of the family going to Italy for a wedding, Dan is getting ready to spend the weekend with Granny, while Joe will be staying over at his school. While the family is away, Dan has a mission to complete: he’s going to try and break up Kit and her boyfriend, a bully named Tommy K who Dan has seen belittling Joe. No one else believes him, but Dan is sure he doesn’t like TK. 

During the weekend, Dan works on his music—which isn’t quite the same without Joe strumming along next to him—and keeps an eye on Kit’s phone (which she accidentally left behind before the trip) for opportunities to get rid of her awful boyfriend. Biking down to the river with his friend Lucas, the pair run into TK himself—drinking beer with his bully friends, the older boy mocks Lucas and the pair end up sneakily stealing the cans of beer from the rude boys.

The next day, Dan and Granny go to collect Joe from school. Unfortunately, Joe is in excellent form and, after a series of messes and incidents, Joe runs away again…but this time he’s nowhere to be found. Granny, Dan, his neighbour Nadia, and a few other neighbours and townsfolk all band together to search for Joe, but to no avail.

Just when Dan is about to give up, Joe is found in town at his favourite fish and chip shop. With the opportune arrival of the family back from Italy, and TK finally revealing his true, awful self to Kit, everyone enjoys a happy, contented meal. A week later, when everything has calmed down (as much as it ever does, in their household), Dan and Kit reunite and are closer than they have been since before her exams, and Dan comes to appreciate that, while he is worried about the future, everything will turn out okay in the end, just like everything always does for Joe.

This is a beautiful story about family in its many forms. The way Joe is depicted is a wonderfully realistic interpretation of special needs kids, and it’s lovely to see how his family accepts him for who he is through the tough times and the fun. Dan is a funny and relatable narrator for younger readers, and his journey in understanding Joe and his view of Kit and TK’s relationship is well developed. The end of the book also includes links to recorded versions of the songs Dan ‘sings’ throughout the story, which adds even more realism.

Ireland, music, school, family, special needs, neurodiversity

1. A major plot point of the story is Dan’s dislike for his sister Kit’s new boyfriend, Tommy K. He sees them kissing a couple of times (p. 58, 76) 2. Mild inference that two of Kit’s female friends might be in a relationship but its never made clear. 3. Tommy K and the other older boys are sitting by the river drinking beer (p. 87, 90, 92, and 132). They are also seen smoking cigarettes (p. 42). 3. Language: ‘effing’ (p. 52), ‘shitting’ (p. 149). 4. On one occasion, Lucas is mocked for being Muslim (p. 87),