I just to let you know how impressive an achievement The Mind Tree is. Coming on the heels of Mark Haddon’s novel [The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-Time], this one-of-a-kind memoir is bound for big sales. The story of the boy and his heroic and fascinating mother inspires rare wonder. I read every autism book and this one trumps the lot with Tito’s earnest voice and determination to be understood.

This is an incredible book written by an amazing, young autistic boy. Through his mother’s tireless efforts, Tito learned to write and to tell the world about his trapped inner self. This book will change the study of autism.

He defies the assumptions we have about autism.

Tito is a window into autism such as the world has never seen.

The book is indeed amazing, shocking too, for it has usually been assumed that deeply autistic people are scarcely capable of introspection or deep thought, let alone of poetic or metaphoric leaps of the imagination—or, if they are, that they are incapable of communicating these thoughts to us. Tito gives the lie to all these assumptions, and forces us to reconsider the condition of the deeply autistic.

The Mind Tree is remarkable in a number of ways. First there's the fact that the author wrote the first two narratives . . . at the ages of eight and eleven respectively. Then there's the fact that he's autistic. . . . One can only look forward to this young man's next efforts.

Tito, rare among low-functioning autistics, can describe with powerful clarity what the condition feels like from the inside. . . . His vivid autobiographical reflections reveal a sensibility and intelligence greater than his years.