Subscribe to blog via Email

Raisie Bay

disabilities

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus – Book Review

by 2 Comments

Choosing books for older children or teenagers can be a problem. When Star was little she’d be happy with any new book, now she’s a little more fussy and likes to choose her own reading. Sometimes, though, I come across something that would make a great addition to her library.
Insignificant Events in the life of a Cactus is a book that should amaze and delight any young reader.
Hardcover: 272 pages
Age Range: 8 – 12 years
Publisher: Sterling (7 Oct. 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1454923458
ISBN-13: 978-1454923459
Product Dimensions: 13.7 x 2.3 x 20.1 cm

The Blurb

Aven Green didn’t lose her arms in an alligator wrestling match or a wildfire in Tanzania. That’s just what she tells people when she gets the “looks.”  The truth is Aven was born without arms, but, at age 13, that hasn’t’ stopped her from doing almost anything. Then her parents take a job running Stagecoach Pass, a rundown Western theme park in Arizona, and Aven has to leave everything she knows behind. 

Aven struggles to make friends at her new school, where the kids can’t seem to see past her missing arms. But her life takes another unexpected turn when she meets Connor, a Classmate who also feels isolated because of this own disability. Together, they discover an old storage shed at the park that holds bigger secrets than Aven ever could have imagined. It’s hard to solve a mystery, help a friend, and face your fears. But Aven’s about to find out what she’s capable of….and how far from insignificant she is.

First Impressions 

The book is hardback with a cover which takes you straight into the wild west of Arizona. I love the cactus chapter numbers It’s a nice touch. Each chapter is only around six pages long so it’s very easy to read in short bursts which can be attractive to young readers. Watch out for the surprise picture in the back.

The Verdict

I couldn’t put this book down. Aven is like no character I’ve ever met in a book before and it’s not because she has no arms. She is charming, clever, inspirational, brave and very humorous. The story is in first person so we get to see all of Aven. She is human, she has feelings that can be hurt, she also notices other people that often get ignored. She’s sees the good in everyone and helps them to see it in themselves. She is far from insignificant.
The story revolves around Aven’s new life in a run down theme park in Arizona. Her adoptive parents are the ones that have taught Aven everything, but is there also some part of her birth mother in her too? 
I’d recommend this book to any young reader, whether they have a disability or not. It really makes you think about how other people are feeling. It’s also very inspiring to read how other people manage to do things that you could not imagine doing.

Star is now reading this book and she said she’s enjoying it a lot.

I received my review copy of Insignificant events in the life of a Cactus from The GMC Group
It will be available for purchase from 7th October 2017

Being Human

by 11 Comments

What is normal?

I often think that why can’t my life be normal, where did things go wrong?

I don’t talk much about my older children but they had a fairly normal younger childhood, their older years where a little different with me splitting from their dad and lots of other horrible stuff going on. They grew up with my friends two children who are almost exactly the same age as them. When my friends lad’s hit the teenage years they went off the rails a bit, drinking, joining gangs, getting into trouble. I was so grateful that my kids were not like that, I felt lucky. Now, those boys are settled with babies and living a fairly normal life. It’s not the same for my kids, My daughter has a really good job and works longs hours, I guess it’s okay these days to not be settled with kids by the time you reach thirty so I’m not so bothered. My son however, is very different. He’s different anyway and he can’t help that but I do worry that his life is not normal. I talked to others that were like him and the biggest advice they gave me was to leave him alone. He’s dealing with life the way he knows how and if I interfere I could make him really unhappy. So his normal is his happy. If he doesn’t seem happy I will step in, but otherwise I have to accept it.

Life is not normal for my younger children who are having to grow up with a disabled mum. I went into school just before Christmas for a workshop with my Little Man, he introduced me to his class  “This is my mum, she’s disabled.”
Why can’t I be normal, why can’t I be like the other mums?

I know it’s tough for them, they are no strangers to hospitals, they have to deal with me being in a wheelchair, they know I can’t do the things I used to do. They do not have a normal life.

Or do they? I can still play with them, read with them, make things with them and we still all bake together. I can still do normal things and I try to do them as often as I can. We still go out to places, eat out, go to the park. It may take a little more planning but we still do it.

Then there is Star! She also has disabilities and we have to deal with them as a family. Again, no strangers to hospitals! The school she goes to is fantastic, they have ways of dealing with the anxieties of children like Star without singling them out as different. They try to make school normal for them. And most of the time it works, Star is happy at school. Not all the time, but mostly, which is like most kids anyway isn’t it? It’s normal.

We live in house where we have to keep the noise down, unless there is a tantrum going off. We have arguments, we have things that are really not nice to deal with, but we get on with it. Sometimes we feel like we are living under a time bomb and when it goes off everything goes crazy. Sometimes we feel normal like any other family. We learn to adapt and cope with the idiosyncrasies of our family. Sometimes it feels like there are too many people in our house, sometimes it feels good to be a big family.

Are we normal? We have a lot to deal with, it can be really difficult but we do it. No two families are the same, everyone is different, it doesn’t make one family more normal than any other. We are all human.

we may not be normal but we are human

Debs Random Writings