Mustaches for Maddie

Mustaches for Maddie
by Chad Morris &
Shelly Brown

From the publisher:
"Maddie is a normal twelve-year-old girl. Well, except for the fake mustaches she carries in her pocket. She likes to make people laugh and slapping on a mustache, especially a fuzzy pink or neon green one, always gets a smile. Maddie hopes that the class queen, Cassie, will find her mustaches as funny as she does and want to play with her at recess. She's been self-conscious lately because her right arm only feels normal when it's curled against her chest and she's constantly tripping over her feet. But that's probably just part of growing up and not something weird, right?

When Maddie's arm continues to bother her, her parents take her to a doctor who gives them a shocking diagnosis: the cause of the abnormal behavior of her limbs is a brain tumor and she must have surgery to remove it. She's understandably afraid as he describes the procedure, but knows she must find a way to be brave and must face her fears--all of them--at the hospital, at home and at school.

She will need all of her courage not only to face her illness, but also to face Cassie at school. Both Cassie and Maddie are auditioning for the same role in the school play, but when Cassie accuses Maddie of lying about her tumor in order to get attention, Cassie's bossiness turns into bullying.

And as Maddie's surgery approaches, she begins to worry more and more about the outcome. What if something goes wrong? What if the doctors don't get all the tumor out of her brain? What will happen to her family? What will happen to her?

It will take all of Maddie's vibrant imagination, a lot of kindness-both given and received-and of course, the perfect mustache to overcome the tough stuff ahead of her."

I read so many amazing reviews about this book that I think I was expecting too much..... the new Wonder or something. It definitely was not that. It was a sweet, relatively cheesy story about a young girl with a brain tumor. Some parts felt very, very young, so I'm not sure how middle schoolers will feel about it. There is the requisite "mean girl", who is really so horribly mean that I'm not sure why we should care about what happens to her. There is the whole mustache thing that would be mocked mercilessly in middle school. So even though this book is based on the authors' daughter and her experiences, it didn't feel real at all. However, it may transfer to all of our students who love realistic fiction about medical issues. We'll see. It's a very safe, tame read.

Areas of concern:
*A viciously mean girl.
*Serious medical issues for a young girl.
*If religious references concern you, there is talk of a family praying for their daughter. No prayers are stated, just that prayers are being said.

Suggested Ages:

Publisher's Weekly - Ages 8-11

School Library Journal - Grades 4-6

The Running Dream

The Running Dream
by Wendelin Van Draanen

From the publisher:
"An award-winning and inspiring novel.  When Jessica's dreams are shattered, she puts herself back together—and learns to dream bigger than ever before. 

Jessica thinks her life is over when she loses a leg in a car accident. She's not comforted by the news that she'll be able to walk with the help of a prosthetic leg. Who cares about walking when you live to run?

As she struggles to cope with crutches and a first cyborg-like prosthetic, Jessica feels oddly both in the spotlight and invisible. People who don't know what to say, act like she's not there. Which she could handle better if she weren't now keenly aware that she'd done the same thing herself to a girl with CP named Rosa. A girl who is going to tutor her through all the math she's missed. A girl who sees right into the heart of her.

With the support of family, friends, a coach, and her track teammates, Jessica may actually be able to run again. But that's not enough for her now. She doesn't just want to cross finish lines herself—she wants to take Rosa with her

Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award"

Another nearly perfect book by Wendelin Van Draanen. I loved this book! My only disappointment lay in the fact that it ended. I wanted to hear more about Jessica's future and how her parents coped. Once you begin reading this book you will be sucked in like Jessica's suction sock and it will never let go. I appreciate the massive research the author obviously did on the loss of a limb - not just the medical treatments, but the emotional and mental aspects of it. I thought the different stages Jessica went through were very realistically portrayed - the loss, the anger, the self-pity, the loss of self-worth, and on and on. And I loved that those stages didn't just end and another begin, but she had to keep battling all of them for a long time. At one point she says, 

It's disturbing how fast weeds take root in my garden of worthiness.
They're so hard to pull.
And grow back so easily. 

I was happy that Jessica had such strong support:
*From her family..... how her parents coped with nearly losing their daughter, then having to help her through the recovery, having to worry about money and medical bills - they were wonderful.
*Her best friend, Fiona...... what an amazing friend! She was ALWAYS there for Jessica. I loved this character!
*Her coach...... he didn't coddle her, he pushed her and helped her to get back to her running.
*Her teammates........ even though she tried to push them away, and succeeded pretty well, they were there for her when she was ready for them to be, and were so happy and excited to help her.
*Jessica would be upset if I didn't mention Rosa. Rosa helped her in so many ways, even though before the accident Jessica had never really "seen" Rosa. 

Another thing I love about this book is that it teaches us important truths. Here's one:

That's all anybody with a disability wants. Don't sum up the person based on what you see, or what you don't understand; get to know THEM." 

Having just seen the movie Wonder (I read the book several years ago) and now reading this, I hope it has made me more cognizant of how to treat people who might be different than I am. 

Please read this book....... by yourself, with a friend, as a family, or in a classroom. You will not regret it.

Areas of concern:
*Loss of a limb
*Death of a teenager
*A very brief period of prescription drug dependency, but it was quickly squashed by her parents
*One brief kiss

Suggested Ages:

Kirkus Reviews - Ages 12+

School Library Journal - Grades 7+
**EVERYONE should read this book!**