Gr 4–7—Seventh grader Emmie doesn't need help, as most people assume when they see her wheelchair. She
needs them to realize she is capable of so much when systems aren't actively in her way. Set in contemporary
South Carolina, this realistic novel deftly balances the sport of wheelchair motocross, disability rights, friendship,
grief, poverty, and independence.

Recommended Ages: Gr. 4-7

Plot Summary: Emmie loves to feel the air underneath her and she loves the adrenaline rush as she wheels on ramps doing tricks. Best friend Ale supports her love for air and helps her carry her wheelchair up to the top again and again and again. With the experience to do wheelies and so much more, Emmie is super mad and annoyed when her dad agrees with the school that she may need an aide after Emmie wiped out because a classmate "helped" her on the ramp. Her mom, who died last year, never would have let that happen. Now she has a constant adult companion and she wants to get rid of her. How can she make it happen? Will her friends help her? What will happen when her principal offers to hold a fundraiser to purchase a new trick wheelchair for her, even though she's been working hard to raise money to buy it on her own?

Setting: Lakeville, South Carolina, small town

Characters:
Emelyn Ethrige - 12 yo, collects and sells pinecones online with Ale, sews wheelchair bags online to make money
Dad - car mechanic and has 2 other jobs, in night school,
Mom - died 2 years ago in a freak accident
Alejandra Che - AKA Ale, 12 yo, Emmie's best friend, dad owns a concrete company so they paved a path between their homes, super into bees
Logan Whitten - 12 yo, tries to help Emmie but doesn't ask first
Tina - Emmie's friend
Zeke - Emmie's friend
Devontae - classmate, Emmie's partner on a project as a result of a random draw, award-winning rodeo star, lives in a newer house in the area that Emmie notices is nicer
Dana Wanamaker - Emmie's school aide
Nonny - AKA Lulu, Emmie's maternal grandparents, have dinner weekly but can be very fast (in and out in 45 min when they got into an argument), constantly expressing the Emmie and her dad are not doing enough in a cranky but not abusive way
Pop-Pop - AKA Alan, can be calm and collected for Emmie when Nonny gets into a heated debate with Dad
Dr. Grayling - AKA Fish, new this year, wants
other teachers too
AKSalmonGranny - person in Alaska who ordered a wheelchair bag from Emmie, has some spunk to her and ends up chatting with Emmie a few times

Recurring Themes: friendship, loss, family, independence, money, fundraiser, crush, determination, uneasiness, work

Controversial Issues:
pg 48, 198 crap
pg 196 "it's all gone to hell"

Personal Thoughts: I liked a lot of things about this book. The characters were real and authentic, readers can learn the appropriate way to help someone in a wheelchair, and it brings awareness to accessibility issues.

Genre: realistic fiction

Pacing: medium-fast
Characters: well-developed
Frame:
Storyline:

Activity: ( )

Emmie loves doing tricks in her wheelchair. She wants to do WCMX sports and is saving up for the appropriate chair by selling hand-crafted bags for wheelchair users. It's just been her and her dad since her mother's death in an accident. He's not the fierce advocate that her mother was and Emmie is disappointed when he goes along with a school plan to provide her with an aide. Emmie feels that Dawn, the aide, is too much in her space and Emmie starts doing all she can to ditch Dawn whenever she can. But it's from Dawn that school staff learn of Emmie's wheelchair goal. The school decides to host a fundraiser for Emmie. It's a well-intentioned idea but Emmie begins to feel uncomfortable that no one asked her and that they see her as a special cause. This book centers what Emmie is able to do and not what she can't, an eye-opening perspective for young readers who may also be fascinated by Emmie's descriptions of doing tricks and WCMX. Emmie is a fierce and forthright character in an engaging story. ( )