"What Color is Monday?” by Carrie Cariello

God’s last name and other questions

How often have you heard the question, “What is God’s last name?” My guess, never.

It is a question that comes from someone who views life through a different lens than most of us do. It is someone who sees the days as colors; someone who asks everyone when their birthday is — and remembers it.

It comes from Jack, a young boy with autism who has a mind his mother describes as intricate, complicated, extraordinary. “He will surprise you every single day,” says Carrie Cariello.

In the book she wrote about her (and her family’s) experiences with Jack —“What Color is Monday?” [Riddle Brook Publishing, $16] — Carrie reveals “the blue-eyed boy under the diagnosis” in a such a moving way you don’t want to stop reading. You understand why she says capturing autism is like capturing a snowflake; you think you’ve got it and then it changes into something different.

While the subject of the book is Jack’s autism, it’s really about so much more — a family’s courage, determination, endurance, love, unity and incredible patience. As Carrie, mother of five, says, “Every day you have to show up, stand up and stretch without breaking.”

When I’m tempted to complain about life’s challenges, I’ll remember this beautifully written book and the lessons it taught. Read it and see if you don’t feel the same.

[A second book, “Someone I’m With Has Autism,” is due out soon.]