70 pages • 2 hours read
Dusti BowlingA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
“I suppose if they had always done everything for me, I would be helpless without them. But they didn’t, and I’m not.”
From the opening pages, Aven expresses her self-sufficiency and credits her parents with teaching her to be independent. Aven is confident in her ability to do anything. This quote highlights Aven’s can-do personality and the theme of the importance of family support.
“By the time we arrived, Dad’s eyes looked like Atomic Fireballs and Mom’s hair looked like she’d taken a spin in a hairspray cyclone.”
Aven frequently peppers her colorful descriptions with comical similes, revealing both her creative imagination and her sense of humor.
“Before I’d walked five steps, I got my first look.”
Aven is sensitive to the different types of stares she gets from other people that make her feel self-conscious and excluded. Looks are an important symbol, representing the challenge that Aven and others with disabilities face in getting others to accept their differences.
By Dusti Bowling
Disability
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Family
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Friendship
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Juvenile Literature
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Laugh-out-Loud Books
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Realistic Fiction (Middle Grade)
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YA & Middle-Grade Books on Bullying
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