Laughing at my Nightmare by Shane Burca

Unable to use his limbs, Shane Burcaw has spent the better part of his lifetime making friends, jokes, and sly observations from his wheelchair.  Burcaw decided to put his refreshing humor to good use in this memoir chronicling his challenges and triumphs from the first twenty years of his life.  Readers will empathize and laugh with Shane as he gets through school and navigates the social waters of college with lots of cursing and jokes along the way.  Highly recommended to anyone wishing to walk (or roll) a mile in someone else’s shoes.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Burcaw, Shane.  Laughing at My Nightmare.  New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2014.  Print.

Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman

Shawn McDaniel is fourteen years old and has a great sense of humor about his life in Seattle, Washington. He appreciates his older brother and sister and his special ability to remember everything he has ever heard since he was three or four years old.  Especially since he can’t talk, or walk, or move much at all.  Reluctant readers may not immediately be able to relate to the narrator, but will be hooked when they learn of his plight and that his father might actually be trying to kill him.  Literally.  A post-novel FAQ and followed by an author Q & A reveals Trueman’s personal connection to the protagonist of this suspenseful short novel which, among other things, can go a long way in helping readers develop empathy.  A great selection for a mixed-age book club.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Trueman, Terry.  Stuck in Neutral.  New York: HarperCollins, 2000.  Print.

Click here for some discussion questions for Stuck in Neutral put together by the Arrowhead Library System in Wisconsin.

Girls Like Us by Gail Giles

Biddy’s grandmother does not want to take care of her now that the state will no longer send support checks.  Quincy’s last foster family has moved away.  The two classmates are now legally able to live independently and they have graduated from high school.  Where will they live?  How will they navigate life?  And can they get along?  Written in a vernacular much like Sapphire’s Push, and alternating between Biddy’s and Quincy’s first person perspectives, Girls Like Us offers readers two engaging voices and two different viewpoints of intellectually disabled characters. I recommend this title for more sophisticated readers who have enjoyed Push, and for girls’ book clubs.  This volume is likely to engender compassion for differently-abled peers while it explores themes of victimhood, survival, friendship, cooperation, and self-acceptance. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Unleashing Readers offers some discussion questions on their blog here.

Giles, Gail.  Girls Like Us.  Berryville: Candlewick Press, 2014.

Pinned by Sharon Flake

Autumn is the only girl on her high school wrestling team, and she’s good.   A younger boy, Roland, would like to get to know her better, but Autumn only has eyes for Adonis.  In fact, Autumn is in love with Adonis, a fellow student who manages her wrestling team when he’s not teaching her math class, volunteering to tutor and mentor other students, taking visiting dignitaries on tours of his school, and speaking at school assemblies.  Adonis, however, disdains “regular” people who are not differently-abled (as he is in his wheelchair), and he cannot stand the way Autumn flails in academics,  nor her relentless pursual of him.  Will Autumn graduate on time, succeed in the face of mean wrestling opponents, and win Adonis’ heart?  This novel in two voices (chapters alternate between Adonis and Autumn’s different perspectives and voices) explore differences in abilities and becomes heavy-handed, at times, but will still appeal to fans of Flake and developing middle school readers looking for a bit of a love story.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Flake, Sharon.  Pinned.  New York: Scholastic Press, 2012.  Print.