The Chicken Who Saved Us: The Remarkable Story of Andrew and Frightful

The award-winning, laugh-out-loud, reach-for-the-tissues story of an autistic boy’s desperate struggle to survive a deadly illness and the backyard chicken who transforms his life into a tale of improbable hope and miraculous healing.

“Heartbreakingly beautiful - the gift of the human animal bond.” —Temple Grandin

Eight-year-old Andrew is autistic and bilingual. He speaks English–and Chicken.

With words limited by autism, Andrew lives in a fantastic world where chickens talk and superheroes come alive. But when he tells his pet chicken Frightful that his body is trying to kill him, it launches Andrew’s family and an entire medical community into a decade-long quest for answers.

This beautiful, fierce, and refreshingly honest memoir takes readers on a mother’s journey through the complex landscape of modern medicine to discover the healing bond between a boy and Frightful, the chicken who saves them all.

Praise for The Chicken Who Saved Us:
“This book is proof that the transcendent human-animal bond can offer a very real kind of salvation." —Julie Barton, New York Times Bestselling author of Dog Medicine, How My Dog Saved Me from Myself

“A lovely tale that shows us how human thoughts and words are not always necessary to form great friendships and unbreakable bonds.” —John Elder Robison, New York Times Bestselling author of Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s