Continuing the push to winter break, I read…

ROLL WITH IT by Jamie Sumner

This is the story of Ellie (Lily, actually), the girl with cerebral palsy who won’t let her wheelchair slow her down. She’s got some attitude and mad baking skills for her age, and wants everything in her family to be okay, even though they need her now more than ever. Mom is overworked and has taken a leave of absence to travel to Oklahoma and take care of her ailing dad (Grandpa has dementia), without telling her mother she’s coming to stay for more than a visit. When grandma finds out, she’s upset (of course), but wants to make the best of things — she DOES get to see her granddaughter more.

Grandma’s neighbor, a girl Ellie’s age, is happy to have a new friend, but Ellie isn’t too sure about the friendship at first. Ellie’s motives change when she finds out about the baking competition in town and she just knows she can make it as a professional baker IF things go just right. She’s doing better with her medical needs (she even got to throw away the seizure medicine!) and with her new life in Oklahoma. New friends make all the hardships at school and home a little easier to handle, but Ellie’s got to keep it together to meet her goals.

This story is full of heart — a struggling family with characters as real as my own family. “Rolling with it” comes with the territory, literally and figuratively. Read this one as soon as possible; you might even be left hungry for more.

 

More Bruce books! We love Ryan T. Higgins and Bruce, the grumpy bear.

 

 

 

It’s Monday! What are YOU reading?

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It’s also a great chance to see what others are reading right now…you just might discover your next “must-read” book!

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Kathryn decided to give “It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?” a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit – join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.