By: Wendelin Van Draanen
Libby audiobook 7 hours
Read by: Laura Flanagan
Published: 2011
Genre: YA realistic fiction
Louie and I recently watched Flipped up at the lake. I remembered how much I loved that story and decided to "read" other books by this author.
Initially, I found the protagonist Jessica to be a bit of a pill. But then I thought, if I were passionate about running and my foot was crushed in an accident and had to be amputated at age 16, wouldn't I have been a bit of a pill? Yes. The story was written realistically and as a story of transformation. As Jessica starts to move forward with her life, she begins to hope that she might be able to run again.
One thing that jumped out at me was that Jessica was inspired by Oscar Pistorius, who ran on "blades." This book was published in 2011. He was an amazing athlete, but murdered his girlfriend in 2013. There's no way the author could have foreseen what a villain he would become and his role in this story is simply inspirational for a young woman who needs to learn how to walk again after being a very fast runner.
Somewhere in my mess of papers, I have notes about this book. Once I find it, I'll go back and add to this. I loved Rosa, a girl two years younger than Jessica who has cerebral palsy but is also a math genius.
No comments:
Post a Comment