MMGM: Roll With It

 

When I read the premise for Roll With It, I knew had to read it. A girl with cerebral palsy wants to be a baker! I love baking, and I’m always excited to see a book about a kid with a disability where the story is not just about the disability.

This book has a lot of plots and subplots, and they all come together for a heartwarming story about finding your tribe.

Synopsis from Amazon:

Ellie’s a girl who tells it like it is. That surprises some people, who see a kid in a wheelchair and think she’s going to be all sunshine and cuddles. The thing is, Ellie has big dreams: She might be eating Stouffer’s for dinner, but one day she’s going to be a professional baker. If she’s not writing fan letters to her favorite celebrity chefs, she’s practicing recipes on her well-meaning, if overworked, mother.

But when Ellie and her mom move so they can help take care of her ailing grandpa, Ellie has to start all over again in a new town at a new school. Except she’s not just the new kid—she’s the new kid in the wheelchair who lives in the trailer park on the wrong side of town. It all feels like one challenge too many, until Ellie starts to make her first-ever friends. Now she just has to convince her mom that this town might just be the best thing that ever happened to them!

What I loved:

1. A relatable main character: Ellie is a different kind of character with a disability. She treats her limitations in a practical way without letting them totally flatten her. While sometimes her sarcasm grated on me a bit, she showed a welcome range of emotion, and the story didn’t pivot on her teaching other people a lesson, but having her learn one herself.

2. Memaw! I’m not sure if I’ve enjoyed a MG grandma I loved as much as Ellie’s Memaw. Her faith was real and not saccharine. She wasn’t afraid to tell Ellie’s Mom the truth, and she always had Ellie’s back. Loved her!

3. Fun sidekick characters: I really enjoyed how Ellie found her people with Coralee, a pageant contestant and aspiring singer, who tells it like it is (not unlike Memaw) and Bert, who has autism. The scenes with the three of them together were so much fun, especially the miniature golf scene. Coralee wasn’t afraid to tell Ellie the truth, even risking their friendship, which is the sign of a good friend.

4. Letters to famous chefs/bakers! The only downfall with this book in my opinion was the lack of recipes. I wanted to try Ellie’s creations. But I really enjoyed how each chapter started off with a letter to a baker or a chef. Even one of my favorites, Mary Berry, was included.

5. An author who writes from the heart. In the afterword, the author states her story was inspired by her child, who also uses a wheelchair. I have found that some of the most authentic reads about people with disabilities are written by parents. In this way, it reminded me of Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper, another wonderful read by a parent of a child with a disability.

 

Have you read any good character-driven middle grades lately? 

 

For more Monday Middle Grade reads or to join in on the fun, please visit Greg Pattridge's Always in the Middle blog.