A review by chicafrom3
Abby the Bad Sport by Ann M. Martin

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Abby joins a Special Olympics Unified Soccer team, which mixes players with intellectual disabilities with players without, and promptly struggles with the idea that she's not automatically the team superstar. Meanwhile, her mom and sister plan a trip to visit her dad's grave, which stirs up unresolved feelings. In the b-plot (c-plot?) the BSC organizes the kids they sit for into a booster club for Abby's team and hosts a car wash to raise money to get the team matching shirts. Like all BSC books dealing with disabilities, this has not aged well; the language used is seriously outdated, which is only to be expected, but more importantly Abby's attitude towards the disabled players on the team is appalling. There's a throwaway line at the end where she acknowledges that she needs to see them as fellow athletes and not expect less from them because of their disabilities, but all the characters are consistently described throughout as childish, stupid, etc. There is a pretty okay arc with Abby's feud with Erin - I do like that Erin gets to give as good as she gets, and that Coach Wu treats them both equally in their poor behavior - but even if the ableism is somehow set aside, the book never manages to rise above "okay".