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joana_stormblessed's review against another edition
4.0
So this is a rare occasion, but it I really enjoyed this book even though it was written in verse. My main complaint with poetry books is that they I cannot connect to the characters, but this was not the case with this story.
We follow young Josie who has cerebral palsy, and her life with her mom and grandma. She meets a young boy named Jordan, and both become best friends, as he doesn't judge her for her disease (unlike all other kids at school).
This book was so sweet and heartwarming. I couldn't put it down, and really enjoyed reading it.
A definite recommend when it comes to poetry books.
We follow young Josie who has cerebral palsy, and her life with her mom and grandma. She meets a young boy named Jordan, and both become best friends, as he doesn't judge her for her disease (unlike all other kids at school).
This book was so sweet and heartwarming. I couldn't put it down, and really enjoyed reading it.
A definite recommend when it comes to poetry books.
kismazsola's review against another edition
3.0
This book wanted to do good. ...This is a thing I have never said before, but this story might have been better as a movie.
yu01101111's review against another edition
4.0
Nostalgic reread, I think it's not the best book of poems ever but it has a heart and you can feel it, beating. Sweet and evocative. Love the image of the heater underneath your feet in the school bus as the kid who always sat in that row, personally.
jujuly72006's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I prefer something a little more abstract, but the story was good, just geared towards a younger audience
scribesprite's review against another edition
5.0
I usually hesitate with books in verse though the few that I have read I liked. After being told how great Reaching for Sun was I decided to give it a try.
I read it in one day and it was effortless. In the few words that are used I understood what was trying to be said. Cerebral Palsy makes others around Josie think she is retarded but she knows full well about the things going on around her. Josie is realistic in her views of the world but not really self pitying. She is more frustrated than anything I think.
13-year-old Josie has lived with her mother and grandmother for all her life and has never had a friend until a new neighbor comes in. From there a friendship blossoms as they spend time together. But it all isn't sweet and sugary just because of her new friend. Josie sees her mother's efforts as being told that her mother think she needs to be fixed. Classmates treat her as if she were stupid still.
A simple book full of feeling. I might've liked it better as a novel but for what it is it deserves a lot of credit.
I read it in one day and it was effortless. In the few words that are used I understood what was trying to be said. Cerebral Palsy makes others around Josie think she is retarded but she knows full well about the things going on around her. Josie is realistic in her views of the world but not really self pitying. She is more frustrated than anything I think.
13-year-old Josie has lived with her mother and grandmother for all her life and has never had a friend until a new neighbor comes in. From there a friendship blossoms as they spend time together. But it all isn't sweet and sugary just because of her new friend. Josie sees her mother's efforts as being told that her mother think she needs to be fixed. Classmates treat her as if she were stupid still.
A simple book full of feeling. I might've liked it better as a novel but for what it is it deserves a lot of credit.
lumos_libros's review against another edition
5.0
I had always thought I wasn't into books in prose, but I know I'm wrong now. It takes talent to tell a story without too many words, but with enough imagery to capture the readers interest.
Josie is a girl with cerebral palsy and feels very much on the outskirts of life. Until one day she meets a fellow outsider, Jordan, does she begin to feel a sense of normalcy. Though the book is short we go through a year of Josie's life and quite a year it is. On the lower right hand corner of the page there is a picture of a flower emerging and once you reach the end that flower is in full bloom, much like the journey of Josie's year of growing up.
I would have liked to have seen a novel based on these characters but I do understand that the author's strength is prose so I won't lament too much about that. My favorite line, "For the first time I feel as broken inside as everyone must see on the outside." Though that is the line that touched me the most my favorite part would have to be on page 158.
I think I really could appreciate this story even more because I know someone who has to live like Josie, and it made me smile to know that Josie saw a way to live her life and be happy.
Josie is a girl with cerebral palsy and feels very much on the outskirts of life. Until one day she meets a fellow outsider, Jordan, does she begin to feel a sense of normalcy. Though the book is short we go through a year of Josie's life and quite a year it is. On the lower right hand corner of the page there is a picture of a flower emerging and once you reach the end that flower is in full bloom, much like the journey of Josie's year of growing up.
I would have liked to have seen a novel based on these characters but I do understand that the author's strength is prose so I won't lament too much about that. My favorite line, "For the first time I feel as broken inside as everyone must see on the outside." Though that is the line that touched me the most my favorite part would have to be on page 158.
I think I really could appreciate this story even more because I know someone who has to live like Josie, and it made me smile to know that Josie saw a way to live her life and be happy.
sophiebhk's review against another edition
3.0
I thought this book was good, but really sad. It was a little confusing because it was all poems, but it was very touching.
kellyjcm's review against another edition
4.0
A friend of mine recommended this to me last December, promising me I would be glad I read it. She was right. One of the best verse novels I have read.
September 2016
Reading out loud to one of my classes. Students hooked very quickly.
September 2016
Reading out loud to one of my classes. Students hooked very quickly.
lacywolfe's review against another edition
4.0
Free-verse poetry makes up this short novel. Reminds me of Heartbeat by Sharon Creech. Touching. Sad, but uplifting. A girl with cerebral palsy, her grandmother and too busy mother, and a new friend.