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1[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/anythingbuttypical.jpg]]
2''Anything but Typical'' is a 2009 middle grade novel by Nora Raleigh Baskin.
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4Jason Blake is a 12-year-old boy with [[UsefulNotes/{{Autism}} PDD-NOS]]. He struggles to navigate an overwhelming, confusing world, surrounded by people who don't understand him. It's only through writing that he can make himself understood. When a girl who goes by [=PhoenixBird=] leaves a positive review for a story he posted online, he hopes she can be his friend. But he worries that if they meet in person, she'll be put off by his differences.
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6!!''Anything but Typical'' contains examples of:
7* CharacterTics: Jason blinks his eyes, sometimes one at a time and sometimes together, and flaps his hands. His younger brother Jeremy bites his nails whenever their parents aren't looking.
8* EyesAlwaysAverted: People assume that when Jason doesn't look at them, he isn't paying attention, but the truth is that he finds paying attention much easier when he isn't being distracted by people's faces.
9* MeaningfulName: Jason names the protagonist of his new story Bennu, after the Egyptian equivalent of the phoenix. He hopes [=PhoenixBird=] will notice.
10* PottyFailure: On the day he was diagnosed with autism, Jason wet his pants while playing video games.
11* TheScapegoat: The other kids in art class throw clay around the room and blame it on Jason.
12* SensoryOverload: Jason gets this almost every time he goes out in public.
13* SpeechImpediment: The bully Eric Doyle can't pronounce his R's.
14* WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent: Jason's mother wants to "fix" him and blames his autism on everything from brain damage to peanut butter.

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