Quinn McAvoy knows that people have problems. Her brother Julius is on the autism spectrum so she knows he has bigger problems than she does. When her family moves from Colorado to Massachusetts so he can attend a special school, she knows that is what's best. She knows Nick, a boy at her new school, who lost both his legs in a snowmobile accident, has bigger problems than she does.
But, here's the thing, Quinn has some equally big problems. She just doesn't want to bother her parents or get unnecessary sympathy, or rejection, from her friends. When Quinn was about to start eighth grade, she lost all her hair. It was discovered that she had an autoimmune condition known as Alopecia areata.When everyone at her old Colorado school found out, she became the butt of jokes and felt uncomfortable even with her best friends. Now she's about to enter a new school, and the only outlet she has for complaining is a message board called alopeciasucks.com.
Dealing with wigs, her parents' total focus on her brother's autism, making new friends, and an unexpected attraction to the kid in the wheelchair, makes for a roller coaster of emotions for Quinn. Will she make new friends she can trust? Will she make the basketball team? Will she ever get over what she still calls that One Stupid Night?
Author Natasha Friend has been a favorite of mine and many of my students. PERFECT, LUSH, and BOUNCE have "spoken" to a lot of the teens in my classroom over the years. HOW WE ROLL focuses on the struggles of several teens and their desires to fit in and be normal in a world that doesn't always welcome differences. HOW WE ROLL is a definite winner!
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