Review by Suzzete -- That Place of Knowledge

Suzzete · Post by **Suzzete** » 13 Oct 2017, 04:40

[Following is a volunteer review of "That Place of Knowledge" by Philip Alan Shalka.]

4 out of 4 stars

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This is a fictional book written by a fifteen year old autistic boy. The story is told through Sabre who is Philip’s dog. Talks of knowing yourself in order to be happy “The more you know what makes you different the happier you’ll be”, Sabre tells us how his life as an autism assistance dog has been with his partner Philip. Sometimes people don’t understand Philip because he is autistic. The adventures that his partner takes him to like the secret passage have made him want to discover more about life “For me life is always an adventure”. The world on the other side of the secret trap door was different world altogether. Philip and Sabre visit it whenever they are curious about something or want to be inspired. A place where they meet with Aristotle; the Greek philosopher who tells them how to improve their thinking.

The idea of bringing in Aristotle and his different world was just brilliant. I was surprised at first but it brings to show that this author is very intelligent and inspiring as well. He made me feel as if I was also watching the conversation between him and Aristotle just like his dog Sabre. Inspiring me to grow my knowledge and explore. Just like Sabre I was also looking forward to the next visit of the world on the other side of the trap door.

The book encourages people to inspire others to continue thinking differently which I have now discovered is a great thing because this way if I disagree with someone then I have to research more about the topic in question and so will the other person and eventually one of us or both of so will discover things we never knew because knowledge will require collaboration of different minds. It also talks of discovering yourself to be truly happy and understanding that we all have different perspectives which are equally important.

I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars, because it has pushed me into wanting to learn more about the world, discover myself and has also changed my opinion about autism. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to be inspired and explore life to the fullest. I would also recommend it to people who don’t know much about autism but have family members with it. It will enlighten then and help them look at these people with a different perspective. Plus it is a very short book with simple understandable English even for young teenagers.

I did not find any errors in this book, I loved it. It was mind opener, an inspiration to me and very educative. I hope you enjoy it as well.

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That Place of Knowledge
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Manang Muyang · Post by **Manang Muyang** » 15 Oct 2017, 07:46

I am awed that Philip could write a book when I couldn't.

Thanks, Suzzete, for sharing your learnings from the book. Truly, we learn lessons from the most unexpected places of knowledge.