The Unique Lou Fox by Jodi Carmichael is a heartwarming adventure about strong-willed, neurodiverse protagonist Louisa Elizabeth Fitzhenry-O’Shaughnessy (or Lou Fox, as she hopes to one day be called). Readers follow 10-year-old Lou as she manages her day-today life living with both dyslexia and ADHD. The novel creates an excellent view for readers to look directly into the life of someone who is living with a learning disability, acknowledging the difficulties while promoting the ideas that disabilities are not something to be defined by and that we all have strengths.

As the story unfolds, we learn that Lou has dreams of one day becoming an award-winning playwright and director. We follow along as she works to create a masterpiece play with her friends for the school talent show. Our empathy is evoked as Lou deals with a teacher who just doesn’t understand her efforts. At one point we find Lou trying to act and think like one of her supportive “academically successful” friends, instead of being true to herself, which causes her significantly more stress each day.

Award-winning author Carmichael, who has ADHD, affirms and celebrates those who struggle with their uniqueness and triumphantly discover its gifts. Carmichael’s story is a touching account of the journey of students with learning challenges and growth toward self-acceptance. As an educator reading this story, you can see the importance of how we accommodate and create classroom supports for all students to feel successful.

The story aligns with the Ontario Health curriculum promoting social-emotional connections, self-worth, acceptance and how to create and maintain healthy friendships. The creative use of diction throughout the book lends itself well to the Ontario Literacy curriculum.

The Unique Lou Fox is an enjoyable, moving read, excellent for independent reading or literature circles in Junior grades. I would recommend this to any teacher or parent to help normalize that we are all different and can all be successful.

Lindsay Boyle is a member of the Hamilton- Wentworth Teacher Local.