Sunday, November 24, 2019

ROLL WITH IT by Jamie Sumner

Ellie was born with cerebral palsy. She uses a wheelchair. She loves to bake and has every available cooking app on the iPad her father gave her.

Ellie lives with her mother who teaches high school. Ellie's father left soon after she was born. He keeps in touch, but barely.

Just before the second term of Ellie's sixth grade year, her mother announces that they are moving. Ellie's grandfather has been diagnosed with dementia, and after an accident while he was driving, Ellie's mom thinks they need to help grandma take care of him.

Ellie has always loved visiting her grandparents, but living in their tiny trailer in a retirement village trailer park isn't where she wants to be. It means starting a new school, sharing a room with her mother, being lifted in and out of the miniature shower, as well as trying to make new friends. It is not an ideal situation, but Ellie knows she needs to make the best of it.

Ellie isn't the only young person in the trailer park. She quickly meets Coralee and Bert. They will be hitching a ride to school with Ellie's mother who will be substituting in the high school. They seem a bit strange at first, but soon Ellie finds they are helpful and loyal. With them on her side, she just might be able to handle all the sudden changes and maybe even win the community's annual pie baking contest.

ROLL WITH IT by author Jamie Sumner shows just what can happen with a little grit and determination. It is a must-have for libraries and classrooms middle grade and up.

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