Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I’ve been second guessing my review of Stella by Starlight ever since I posted it, wondering if I should have noted the details that didn’t quite ring true.  It’s not that it wasn’t a good story, because it was; it’s that I read Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus right afterwards, and the contrast was marked.  Stella was a pretty good story; Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus is an amazing book.  Like Wonder, it immerses you in a life that few can imagine and makes it so real that you’re living it, too.  Aven Green, born without arms, has just moved from Kansas to Arizona, where she starts 8th grade–late–in a school where no one is accustomed to her armlessness.  It’s there that she meets Connor, a schoolmate with Tourette syndrome, who understands what it’s like to be seen for your disability instead of yourself.  Their friendship shifts their relationships with the world, just as Aven’s discoveries in her new home shift her perspective on her past, and together they find the courage to reach out to the world around them just a little bit more.

Okay, that sounds a little bit generic.  And maybe a little bit cheesy?  I promise, that’s totally on me.  This is the kind of book that will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you think, sometimes at the same time.  Aven is a fabulous heroine, and her story will grab you from the very beginning.  There are no buts about it, folks–you should absolutely, positively read this book.