The only other book I’ve read about a child with CP is Sharon Draper’s Out of My Mind. I’d be remiss not to mention how big a win this book is for people with disabilities - children with disabilities. Baking is so inextricably linked to Ellie’s character - I loved it. A few chapters throughout the book begin with letters to her culinary heroes after she’s recreated their recipes. And speaking of delicious, Ellie can bake!(!!!). I was transported to the setting, whether it was near-frigid winter or a deliciously warm summer day. I could easily imagine them being people I’d meet next door.Īs soon as I cracked open this book, Ellie had me wrapped around her finger. Ellie’s voice never sounds contrived, neither do any of the other characters’. Many have excellent plots and characterization, but Roll with It just has a warmth. As someone who appreciates both plot and language, it’s rare to find a middle-grade book that nails both. ![]() Thankfully, as she deals with the changes in her family and finding a place in Oklahoma, she has a couple of new friends and in typical Ellie fashion, keeps rolling with life’s punches. There, Ellie is once again a new kid navigating the struggles than many people with disabilities have to face. When Ellie’s grandfather’s Alzheimer’s takes a turn for the worse, Ellie and her mom move into her grandparents trailer in Oklahoma to help out for six months. Her dad couldn’t deal with her being ill at birth (and for months after), so he pretty much skipped out on her and her mom who’s been her number one advocate. It just so happens that she also has cerebral palsy and has to use a wheelchair. He is not whole, but this is his happy ending.Īnd Rachel is beside him, and Rachel is smiling.Twelve-year-old Ellie is a sassy, determined baker. Kian was one of those bugs anyways, and Rolan had died long before. Kian and Rolan might not be here anymore, but that’s okay. Rand cannot help but curl his fists in empty air, trying to grasp someone who is real, that he just can’t reach. Rand cannot help but continue to smile as tears pour down his cheeks, mixing with his own blood. He is happy as the water around him turns red. As he lays in the water, hugging water, he is happy. The water is getting colder, and his body is getting number. How long had Rand felt the insect soul underneath his skin? He wonders how long those bodies in the water had been waiting for Kian, to take him in and turn him into one of them. Rand wonders when the Elder Brain arrived. ![]() He coughs up blood because his heart was melted and he is not whole. He had made up for his mistakes and she was speaking to him. For once, he had done something good with his life. “You’ve changed,” she says, looking up into his eyes. He’s holding water in his hands and it’s foul and it’s his sister and she’s enveloping him. He had stopped Rolan, he’d made sure that the traitor hadn’t been able to stop them. The Elder Brain was real, but Rand had destroyed it. Timothy is hugging Rachel, and they are children again. When he moves to hug her back, his arms slosh through more water than it should. ![]() The Mind Flares, the Elder Brain… it was all so real.Īnd so is his sister. Everything had been exactly as he thought. Dust particles are floating down, but he doesn’t bother shielding his eyes. ![]() Which is silly, because she’s right next to him. He remembers trying to swim through it but never moving, and he had been simply trying to reach his sister. The water had engulfed him so long ago, he isn’t sure if there is anything beyond it. Maybe those hand grenades blew his head off. Maybe it’s his arms or legs, perhaps a giant chunk of his torso, or maybe it’s his brain. No, he cannot feel the pain entirely, because there is something missing. But he can feel the smile pushing through it all, surfacing. Rand can hardly feel his body, hardly feel the pain thrumming deep in his bones, in the giant wound on his back. He cannot open his eyes because he is too tired to do so. He believes that she is there, clutching his arm. All he knows is that beside him, there is his sister. The sun is drying the skin of his face, muddy water is sloshing his tattered shirt, and his head is bumping against dry land. TWs: Bleeding out, unreality, and implied/referenced character death.
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