juvenile fiction / social issues / special needs

Aiko Cassidy, a fourteen-year-old with cerebral palsy, tired of posing for the sculptures that have made her mother famous, dreams of going to Japan to meet her father and become a great manga artist, but takes a life-changing trip to Paris, instead.

"After a fight at school leaves Marcus facing suspension, Marcus's mother takes him and his younger brother, who has Down syndrome, to Puerto Rico to visit relatives they do not remember or have never met, and while there Marcus starts searching for his father, who left their family ten years ago and is somewhere on the island"--Provided by publisher.

"After a fight at school leaves Marcus facing suspension, Marcus's mother takes him and his younger brother, who has Down syndrome, to Puerto Rico to visit relatives they do not remember or have never met, and while there Marcus starts searching for his father, who left their family ten years ago and is somewhere on the island"--Provided by publisher.

Raven, a girl who is deaf, adopts a blind and deaf puppy and together they encourage others to judge not by what they see, but rather by what is within.

Sixth-grader Ally excels at covering the fact that she cannot read, but at her seventh school in as many years she is challenged to admit she needs help.

"Considered by many to be mentally retarded, a brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time"--Provided by publisher.

"Janine is good at a lot of things like singing, cheering, and spelling big words. But she is not very good at sports--her body just doesn't work like the other kids'. On field day at school, Janine tries her best to finish each challenge"--Provided by publisher.

"Olivia, eleven, has a knack for finding lost things but when she promises her brother, Jacob, that she will find his ostrich, she hopes its return will cure his autism"--Provided by publisher.

"A blind child asks each he encounters--a dog, wolf, elephant, mountain, bird, stream, tree--about the color of the wind. Each responds differently, with a shape, color, smell, texture, or idea. Each page displays a visual and tactile palette of cut-outs, textures, colors. It is a sensory experience that makes the invisible experiential, ending with the wind, as the pages fly"-- Provided by publisher.

"A student who uses a wheelchair finds a way to see her dog each day in school"--Provided by publisher.