Review of Ordinary Stories in an Ordinary World

Christmas Staff Picks: Ordinary Stories in an Ordinary World by Aqilah Teo

recommended by Brian

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There is no other author like Aqilah Teo. Feisty, witty and forward-looking in equal measure, it was a ride with countless unexpected twists and turns. The book’s cover and synopsis told me what it is about, but the writer had made it new, refreshing, and hopeful despite the grim stare of the subject matter.

Ordinary Stories in an Extraordinary World is an account about an autistic boy, written by his sister. Such a title had betrayed none of its contents, as its content is anything but ordinary. Expect action and adventure without gunfights and crooks; expect drama without bathtubs of tears and blood; expect your world to be turned upside down—you’ll never look at anything in Singapore the same way again.

A quintessential real-life modern fairy tale even if Aqilah wrote otherwise—it is down-to-earth, weighty and dark—yet the silver lining is ever brighter.

Born to a military man and an artist, Brian Lee has always lived in multiple worlds and in between. Realising in the middle of Biomedical Science studies that he had always loved to read and write, he made a jump from a world of Eukaryotes and Krebs Cycles to a world of words and metaphors. Since then, he has been collecting skills like badges—from logistics to long distance running to business and filmmaking. 

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