Lynn Plourde: The Bionic Boy (limb difference, mental health)

10/21/2025, Nancy Paulson Books

A warm welcome to A NOVEL MIND, Lynn! Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I am a Mainer through and through, born, raised, still live in Maine, and can’t imagine ever living anywhere else. I currently live in Winthrop, Maine, on top of a ridge where wild turkeys roost and deer and fox visit our yard. I’m Franco-American with family roots tracing back to Canada and then to northern Maine. My husband and I are the parents of three grown children—our daughter and my “boys” (stepsons). We are grandparents to two grandboys, a ten-year-old and a four-month-old. My grandma name is Mem. Besides writing, I enjoy going for walks, gardening, playing card games and pickleball, plus reading (realistic fiction middle

grade novels, memoirs, inspirational stories).

Can you tell us a little bit about being a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP)?

I fell into my twenty-plus-year career as a speech-language therapist through a lucky back door. I loved school as a kid and always imagined myself growing up to be a teacher. But I wasn’t sure I wanted to work with a whole class of children. So, when I heard that SLPs worked with kids one-on-one or in small groups, I thought that might be a better career match for me. I didn’t know anyone who was a SLP. I wasn’t sure what the job would be, but I thought I would give it a try.

I went to the University of Maine at Orono (of course, in Maine) and got my bachelors and masters degrees in speech therapy. I loved that career, helping kids to learn to communicate better. It was like I was a “big kid” and still a part of public schools. Being a speech therapist also helped me with my writing career. I wrote books for teachers first on how to develop oral language skills in the classroom. Plus, as a speech therapist I was extra aware of sounds. I think that’s why my picture books have so much word play in them and my middle grade novels have characters with special needs/challenges.

Can you describe this story, and how it came to be? 

The Bionic Boy is eleven-year-old Benji’s story. He was born without hands, on the other side of the world, and gets adopted into a Maine family, along with his adopted sister Becka who has Down syndrome. Watching superhero cartoons helped him to learn English, and he started to dream that maybe someday he could be a hero.

But Benji lacks confidence and tries hard not to stand out, putting his arms behind his back so no one sees his limb difference. Benji’s sister even does something heroic at the Special Olympics. Benji is happy for his sister and proud of her, but his own dream to do something a little bit heroic seems to be fading. But when something goes wrong that Benji blames himself for, he has no choice—he has to take action and try to fix things.

Was there a particular child or children you knew who inspired your main character Benji?

I got the idea for The Bionic Boy ten years ago when I saw a magazine story about a boy who was adopted and he was missing four limbs. I decided right then that I wanted to write a story about a boy with limb differences. That idea simmered for a long time and went through many, many revisions. And, at last, Benji, the bionic boy is out in the world with his story.

But personality-wise, our daughter was very shy growing up so I kept her personality in mind as I was writing. And as for Benji’s sister Becka, who has Down syndrome, I worked with many children with Down syndrome during my 20+ year career as a speech therapist so I felt like I already “knew” Becka. I just had to decide which personality traits to amplify like her silliness and stubbornness and her speech patterns.

Tell us more about Benji -- what he longs for, what he cares about.

Benji is shy and unsure of himself. Starting at the orphanage because he didn’t have hands to reach for a turn with the toys that the other children were playing with, he became the “watcher.” Being a watcher continues to be a part of who he is in the whole story. One of the ways Benji learned English when he came to the United States was by watching superhero cartoons. Not only did those cartoons boost his English skills, but they started him on a dream—to be a hero himself, somehow, someway, even if in a small way.

Benji is very close to his family and his best friend Sam. Since he is unsure of himself in new and bigger settings, he counts on his tight-knit circle to boost his confidence. He can count of them and he hopes they can count on him.

Benji finds a mentor in Sergeant Snyder. What qualities does the Sergeant model for Benji?

Benji’s dream of being a hero seems more possible than ever when he meets Staff Sergeant Dirk Snyder. The staff sergeant is a quadruple amputee and a war hero. Benji gets to see what a real hero is like, nor just fictional superheroes. At first, he is in awe of the staff sergeant and his strong personality and confidence. But what really makes a difference for Benji is when he has a quiet conversation with the war hero and learns that the staff sergeant shares some of his same fears. Maybe he has more in common with the staff sergeant than he realized. Maybe that dream of doing something heroic doesn’t have to only be a dream.

Why is disability representation so important in children's fiction?

It is so, so important for kids with disabilities to see themselves in stories. Having worked in special education for many years, I adored the kids I worked with—how they met the challenges in their lives, how they worked so hard to fit in and be accepted, how they were so much more than their disabilities. They inspired me. And so, representation in fiction is just as important for children without disabilities to better understand, become friends with, and find similarities with their peers who do have disabilities (such as a love of pizza, a fascination with superheroes, a sense of humor).

If children without disabilities can become “friends” with Benji and his sister Becka in the book The Bionic Boy, the door is open to them understanding and becoming friends with children who have disabilities and are part of their real world.

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Lynn Plourde (LynnPlourde.com) is the author of more than forty children’s books, including Maxi's Secrets, Pigs in the Mud in the Middle of the Rud, Wild Child, Moose, of Course!, At One in a Place Called Maine, How to Talk Monster, Best Buddies, and many more. A former speech-language therapist, she worked in public schools for twenty-one years. She grew up in Maine, where she currently lives with her husband, and she loves spending time outdoors snowshoeing, walking, kayaking, and gardening.