WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH TYRONE JR.?

In Grant’s novel, a Virginia couple struggles to raise their only child, a full-grown adult with special needs.

Retired Army colonel Tyrone Washington and his wife Krystal have loved and cared for their autistic son for 25 years. Tyrone Jr. was much easier to look after when he was younger and smaller; now, he’s six feet tall and weighs 180 pounds, and his tantrums can sometimes turn unruly and violent. When a formal complaint is lodged against Tyrone Jr., a judge puts the Washingtons’ son on an 18-month probation. This piles more stress onto Tyrone and Krystal—they can only hope Tyrone Jr. doesn’t stir up trouble in that time. The couple struggles to resist buckling under the pressure; monitoring their son feels like a 24-hour job. They turn to the Autism Cure Life Training Academy, which, they’re convinced, will help the whole family, providing a chance for Tyrone Jr. to live on his own. Grant pulls no punches in this depiction of autism. There’s no question that Tyrone and Krystal adore Tyrone Jr. and still see him as their baby, but his hard-to-control tantrums can leave behind bruises, bite marks, and damaged property. Tyrone’s largely unadorned narration reveals his occasional doubts (is he too old to keep up with Tyrone Jr.?), though Krystal wavers the most, contemplating a solo vacation to allow her to “decompress.” The story’s focus on Tyrone leads to surprisingly engrossing subplots, from the father being “involuntarily recalled to active duty” to some startling news his own parents drop on him. (Vague nods to his past involving a classmate and his personal mental-health issues are primarily callbacks to the author’s preceding novel, The Other Side of Friendship (2020). Despite hardships aplenty, the story has some brighter moments, mostly provided by a number of patient, sympathetic characters who Tyrone encounters.

A refreshingly honest portrayal of parenting an adult on the autism spectrum.