http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jul/04/autism-asperger-s-education-society
This is a feature from The Guardian and made their 10 most popular list for a number of days in a row (who knows if this a good indicator of great journalism or just an indicator of popular culture).
I was drawn in by a interesting lead and the title
When Alex Goodenough was 13, his English teacher asked his class to write the first chapter of a novel. Alex began writing his, and after chapter one he thought he might as well carry on. He kept writing and writing - about space-faring aliens killing each other - and when the day came to submit his work, he handed in 97,000 words. An entire novel.
What also keeps you interested is simply the subject. Alex is a genius and that in itself is a very appealing topic. Then there is the politics of how the schooling system and society rejects him. But despite this the article is full of triumph: mother's love, undeniable academic achievement and then finally a place at Cambridge.
My take away from the article is that fantastic subject matter always triumphs. Another example of a fantastic subject matter is the recent article in CNN.com "Survivor still haunted by 1971 air crash". Just as the 14 year old girl was rescued from the recent French air crash, CNN finds this 1971 survivor and tells the story we all want to hear. What's it like to survive a plane crash? Good piece of detective work and a gripping account.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/07/02/germany.aircrash.survivor/index.html
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