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213 pp.
| Candlewick
| May, 2014
|
TradeISBN 978-0-7636-6267-7$16.99
|
EbookISBN 978-0-7636-7018-4
(2)
YA
After graduation, "Speddies" (short for special ed) Biddy and Quincy are assigned to live together, helping to cook and clean for well-meaning Miss Lizzy. Quincy also gets a job at a grocery store where, on her first day, she's accosted by a coworker who later rapes her. The teens' slow-to-develop friendship, with small moments and poignant encounters, is believably volatile yet ultimately rewarding.
(4)
4-6
Fred Bowen Sports Story series.
Isaac is focused on pitching a perfect game--so much so that he loses focus on everything else. Then he's encouraged to help with the Special Olympics. Previously using words like "retarded" and "weird," he has a lot to learn, but soon gets a new perspective on what perfect means. The character development is predictable, but the book's lesson is laudable.
(3)
4-6
Fifth grader Anna and her best friend, Katy, suddenly encounter lots of changes. Most dramatically, Katy's family has to put her severely mentally disabled brother in an institution, causing Anna to feel hurt when Katy shuts her out. Conway describes, with sensitivity, Anna's anxiety about growing up. The story is sad but not overly so.
104 pp.
| Lucent
| July, 2007
|
LibraryISBN 978-1-59018-412-7$32.45
(4)
YA
Diseases & Disorders series.
A short introduction leads to several chapters defining the disease/disorder and explaining diagnosis, treatment, current research, and challenges patients face. The writing is straightforward, though Growth repeats a quote twice. Photos of mainly Caucasians (except Malnutrition) are generic, some are misleading (a treatment for skin cancer in Papillomavirus). Most sources are secondary. All but Retardation list websites. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Diseases & Disorders titles: Mental Retardation, Human Papillomavirus (HPV), Malnutrition, and Growth Disorders.
(2)
4-6
In this story set in 1937 Brooklyn, Lester, a fourteen-year-old with cerebral palsy, befriends Alfred, who has physical and mental disabilities. They team up with Myron and Claire, two misfits in their own way, to work on an escape plan--building a rowboat called The Getaway. This touching story features solid characters and a strong sense of place.
Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
August, 1980
215 pp.
| Farrar
| April, 1999
|
TradeISBN 0-374-37748-0$$17.00
(2)
YA
Grady is headed to Seattle for a tribute concert for his mom, a heavy metal idol who died three years ago from a life of excess. Grady's looking forward to spending time with his mildly retarded half-brother, whose staunch Christian, relentless supermom clashes with Grady on every subject. The smoothly written novel depicts a real teen with unusual parentage and eloquently portrays the complexities and affections of family life.
Reviewer: Lauren Adams
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
May, 1999
6 reviews
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