What would you do if you knew you were going blind?

Accept it?  Deny it?  Learn to deal with it?  Any of these reactions would and DO make sense in Blindsided by Priscilla Cummings.  Natalie is 14, and she has a disease that is slowly robbing her of her sight.  Her parents enroll her in a boarding school for the blind so that she can be taught strategies to cope. She doesn't want to be there - she's sure she's different from "them" - and she fights against learning Braille or how to use a white cane.  But as she slowly makes friends, she develops both skills and an inner strength that she'll need when some scary events take place, with one event ending in a sad and unexpected way.  Not only does the story seem very real (the author spent time studying blindness; her detailed knowledge is evident in her writing), but the way the teenagers react and speak is authentic.  The book will appeal to many middle school (and possibly high school) readers; I'd especially recommend it to fans of Shark Girl or The Running Dream.

"Words have always swirled around me like snowflakes"

I have to admit I was a little nervous to read Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper, because I knew it was about a girl with cerebral palsy and I was afraid the book would be too sad.  Yes, it has some sad parts, but what an incredible book!  Melody is in fifth grade and tells the story of what it's like to have a body that is severely limited and a mind that is brilliant.  For most of her life, she's had no way to communicate; nobody knows how smart she is, and she's had to spend the school day in a special ed classroom, watching mind-numbing cartoons and listening to nursery rhymes.  She eventually gets a computer-based communication board that she can operate with her thumbs.  Her world opens up - to an extent - and she makes her school's Quiz Bowl team, only to be ostracized and bullied by some of the other team members.  Despite the tension, can the team make it to the national competition in Washington, D.C.?  This would be great for a book club discussion or for anyone affected by or interested in kids with disabilities.

Don't mess with Rachel's brother

Despite the title, Rachel Spinelli Punched Me in the Face by Paul Acampora is a funny, gentle book.  After Zachary's mom leaves him and his dad, they move and start life over in the little town of Falls, Connecticut.  He immediately makes friends with his neighbor Rachel.  She has a knack for getting frequent detentions - usually from defending her brother Teddy, who has some type of disability (maybe autism?) and who the reader will view as a lovable trumpet-playing prodigy.  The book's small-town feel is often demonstrated from scenes at the local ice cream shop, owned by an amusing Polish-American couple; the diner, owned by Rachel and Teddy's dad (their mom died long ago); and the park, which the kids are helping to clean up.  By the end, Rachel's not quite as angry and over-protective, and Zachary is coping better with his mother's desertion. Some serious issues, but with a nice, light touch.

Overcoming the odds

Imagine your favorite thing to do. What if you had an accident, and you probably couldn't to that favorite thing any more? How hard would you work at it? For an inspiring story, read One-Handed Catch by M. J. Auch. Norm is in sixth grade and he just lost his hand in a freak accident at his father's butcher shop. How is he ever going to figure out how to do the simple things in life, like tie his shoes, let alone get back to playing baseball? Pushed by his no-nonsense mom, inspired by real-life major league (and one-armed) player Pete Gray, and helped by his friend Leon, Norm does an amazing job of adapting to his new situation. Based on a real-life incident in the life of the author's husband, this is about a clever kid who perseveres and even shows some humor after life throws him a screwball.

What's in your danger box?

Blue Balliett is known for writing mysteries, and her latest is The Danger Box. Zoomy Chamberlain is an interesting 12-year-old: he's almost legally blind, he's compulsive about making lists, and he's being raised by his grandparents. When his alcoholic father shows up and drops off a box, a battered notebook inside quickly catches Zoomy's attention. After identifying the word "Galapagos," he starts doing some research, and soon Zoomy in convinced the notebook has something to do with Charles Darwin. Teaming up with Lorrol, a girl he meets at the library, the two try to learn more about the notebook and how it might be connected to the newly-arrived (and somewhat creepy) stranger in their small town. Chapters are interspersed with "a free newspaper about a mysterious soul," written by Zoomy and Lorrol; it seemed pretty obvious they were referring to Darwin, and I thought the articles didn't add a lot to the story. Mixed feeling about the book - I was disappointed that there wasn't more of a mystery to solve, but I really liked the characters of Zoomy and Lorrol.

Can Armpit make the right choices?

I listened to this book, and it was great: Small Steps, written by Louis Sachar and narrated by Curtis McClarin.  In a follow-up to Sachar's well-known Holes, Armpit is home from Camp Green Lake and taking small steps to get his act together.  He's going to summer school classes, working hard at a landscaping company, and maintaining a really cool relationship with Jenny, the little girl next door who has cerebral palsy.  But then his buddy X-Ray tempts him with a money-making scheme - scalping tickets for a concert by teen rock star Kaira DeLeon - and Armpit's life takes a few steps back.  Sachar smoothly blends such unrelated topics as race issues (Armpit is black, Jenny is white), a behind-the-scenes look at the rock world, and making choices; McClarin's narration adds a beautiful depth to the story.

From the mountains of North Carolina

Twelve-year-old Dovey is the likable, plain-spoken narrator in Dovey Coe by Frances O'Roark Dowell. This fast-paced story takes place in the 1920s in small and poor Indian Creek, North Carolina. Dovey's beautiful older sister Caroline dreams of going away to a teacher's college, but that idea doesn't sit well with Parnell Caraway, son of the richest man in town. Parnell want to marry Caroline, but Dovey lets us know he's "the meanest, vainest, greediest man who ever lived. Seventeen years old and rotten to the core." After being publicly rejected by Caroline, Parnell gets revenge by locking up one of the dogs of Amos, Dovey and Caroline's brother who is deaf. When Dovey goes to retrieve the dog, things go wrong - Dovey gets knocked out, Parnell has been killed, and Dovey is falsely accused of his murder. The mountain dialect used in this book is authentic (although some readers may struggle with it a bit), the setting is described in a wonderful way, and ending is definitely a satisfying one.