Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus - Dusti Bowling

⭐ 9.0/10

(Originally written by Magdalene)

I've noticed that suddenly I'm reading a lot of middle grade books about kids with disabilities, which is a weird trend. I mean, I am trying to read more books with disabled characters (and by disabled authors, but those are harder to find), and middle grade books are less likely to be horribly sad, so I guess that's why?

Like all MG books, this one is sweet and heartfelt - which is why I like them! It centers on Aven, a girl born with no arms, who goes to a new school and befriends the other "freak" in school, a boy with Tourette's. It's mostly them navigating middle school and making peace with who they are, with a tiny bit about them trying to figure out the weird stuff that's happening at Aven's family's theme park.

Aven is generally a really spunky, optimistic girl, whereas her friend Connor hates going out in public and is super hard on himself for not being able to control his tics. It really shows how attitude and parenting and the messages you hear growing up affect how you see yourself. I learned a lot about both disabilities, which was really valuable, plus several scenes were laugh-out-loud funny. This would be great for helping kids (and adults) to learn how to treat people with disabilities, and to think about what life is like for them.