★★★☆☆ Pseudoscience vs neurodivergence

The Girl with the Silver Eyes

Willo Davis Roberts

There is a thing about Willo Davis Roberts' The Girl with the Silver Eyes that I liked a lot. There is another thing about it that I disliked a lot.

Putting the positive first: Katie Welker, our point-of-view character, is wonderful. At ten years old she's intelligent, has great taste in books, and is a clear and independent thinker. What's more, she's neurodivergent. That word was not in use in 1980, but neurodivergent readers will recognize and like Katie.

The thing I disliked about The Girl with the Silver Eyes is that it promotes pseudoscience. Specifically it presents the view that paranormal abilities are a real thing. At one point Katie thinks, "Lots of people had ESP; she knew that, she’d read about it often." That "Lots of people have ESP" is dangerous nonsense. There is no credible evidence for ESP. It is true that you will read this in many places, and that many people believe it. That is why it's dangerous.

Fantasy is not a problem -- stories of vampires and fairies are fine, because almost everyone realizes that those things are made up. Many, many people believe that astrology, mind-reading, precognition, etc, are real, and The Girl with the Silver Eyes supports such nonsense.

Despite its excellent sympathetic portrait of neurodivergence, I cannot recommend The Girl with the Silver Eyes. We can do better.

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