Book Musings with Cattau

Written by Marieke Nijkamp Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2018 ISBN: 978-0374306502 Plot Summary: This anthology tells the stories of 13 different people who are in some way either physically or mentally disabled. The stories all blend together and weave a tale that shows that things are not always what they seem. From the first story called The Long Road where a mentally disabled girl goes in search of cure to The Leap and the Fall which tells a story of carnival strangeness and a love story of a girl in a wheelchair who is falling for her best friend, there is sure to be something that will bring a mix of emotions to anyone who reads this book. My favorite story was Mother Nature's Youngest Daughter by Keah Brown as I am a big fan of fantasy that involves super powers. I enjoyed the fact that the whole family had the ability to control a different part of the weather/nature and that the main character who has cerebral palsy was able to use her power to get back at the

Written By Joy McCullough Published by Dutton Books for Young Readers in 2018 ISBN 978-0735232112 Plot Summary: This book is set in the 1600's with a girl named Artemisia who lives with her father Orazio. She is a wonderful painter but her father takes credit for all the work that she does. Her father decides that she is needs some help with her art so he enlists a man named Agostino to tutor her. She isn't comfortable with him but decides to follow her father's wishes.  Tino takes advantage of the relationship and assaults Artemisia. He leaves but then shows up like nothing happened and when she tells Tino that she is done with their teacher student relationship Tino rapes her. She doesn't tell her father because she knows that she will be blamed and then possibly forced to marry him. She tells her father but he says nothing can be done so she becomes an advocate for herself and those who have also suffered like she has.  Critical Analysis: This book being written in v

Written by Svetlana Chmakova Published by Turtleback Books in 2015 ISBN: 978-0606382182 Plot Analysis: Peppi is a girl in middle school that is trying to fit in. She starts her school year out on a bad note as she accidentally drops her book and then shoves a kid named Jaime out of the way and runs away in embarrassment. Peppi is a really good artist so she finds a home in the art club. The art club is not looked upon highly in the school and it has issues proving that it is worth being a club according to the principal. Peppi struggles with academics and especially science so when the science teacher suggests that she get extra help from a student in the form of tutoring she goes to find that it is Jaime the kid who was just trying to help her before. When Peppi finds a friend in Maribella in the art club and they work together on trying to create comics and displays for a showcase for the school, she goes home and is almost hit by a car while on her bike. Jaime and his mother happen

Written by Laura Ruby Published by Balzer + Bray in 2015 ISBN: 9780062317605 Plot Summary: Finn is a kid in the town of Bone Gap Illinois who suffers from a condition called face blindness where he can't tell the difference between people's faces. Finn witnesses an abduction but can't remember any details of the kidnapper because of his disability. People don't believe him that she was kidnapped and just think that she ran away. Petey is the only one who believes him and they strike up a relationship. Finn is hospitalized after getting into an accident while riding his horse and the kidnapper visits him asking how to make Roza love him. Roza tries to escape but fails so the kidnapper takes her to a castle. The kidnapper has the ability to make people see what he wants in a special place called the Fields where Finn is able to rescue Roza after a series of challenges from the kidnapper known as the scarecrow. Finn is hailed as a hero and a brave person for rescuing her. 

  Written by Shannon Draper Published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers in 2006 ISBN: 978-0689806988 Plot Summary: This story starts out with a very sad beginning with a boy dying in a car accident from his friend who was drunk driving. Andy was the driver and he starts therapy sessions with Dr. Carrothers to help process through what has happened. Andy starts a slow descent into grief and not being in the best place as he begins to disassociate from his life and not find interest in anything. He becomes more engrossed with death and wishing that he would have died in the car crash rather than Robbie. He writes a letter to Robbie's family and they do meet with him to help him know that he is forgiven. Andy reaches out to people in his life but no one is available. Andy commits suicide as he saw no way out and the high school is shocked. His brother visits his grave and wishes him peace.  Critical Analysis: This book is not an easy read for anyone who has dealt with the pain of lo

  Written by Daniel Nayeri Published by Levine Querido in 2020 ISBN: 978-1646140008 Summary: The book starts with Khosrou Nayeri and a memory of him spending time in Iran with his grandpa. He tells the reader to call him Daniel in order to not have to worry about pronouncing his first name. His mom, sister, and he all live in Oklahoma while his dad is still back in Iran. Daniel tells several stories and interweaves them throughout the book. Daniel is bullied at school so he avoids it as much as possible. His mom was a doctor in Iran but the degree doesn't transfer over to the US so she must take whatever job she can find. Her mom marries a man in the USA who is abusive but it allows the family to survive. They go back to Iran but his mom joins a secret church where she is found out. This causes them to become refugees which is kind of a flashback of how they made their way to the US. Ray is abusive towards his mom again and they leave for good. The story ends with him going back to