Beverley Brenna

Waiting for No One Beverley Brenna

Taylor Jane Simon is an eighteen-year-old girl with Asperger?s Syndrome who has a refreshingly different view of the people she encounters and the life she wants to have. Young adult readers will identify with Taylor?s struggle for independence and self-control, and empathize as she outlines the ways?both positive and negative-- that her Asperger?s Syndrome affects her daily life. Connecting with a play by Samuel Beckett, Taylor explores a fear of solitary existence while reaching out to a world at times perplexing. Most important, Taylor wants to be seen as an individual, not as a stereotypical ?person with special needs,? or a rare wild flower?images that haunt her from the past. A cameo performance by Taylor?s new gerbil -- Harold Pinter-- adds further emphasis to themes of existentialism and humour.