Andrea reviews ROLL WITH IT by Jamie Sumner, Simon & Schuster, 2019, 246 pages.
Ellie is a middle schooler who gets around in her customized wheelchair, thanks to being born with cerebral palsy. She doesn’t let it affect her too much. She still sasses her mom, dreams of being a world famous baker, and loves her grandparents wholeheartedly. When Ellie and her mom, Alice, decide to move from Nashville to Oklahoma to help Mema with Grandpa, who has Alzheimer’s, Ellie realizes once again she will be the new girl at school. The new girl at school who is in a wheelchair. Making friends is tough enough at this age without the fancy equipment. Realizing Grandpa is worse than either Alice or Ellie expected, Ellie is able to look past her own issues and truly help Mema. Well, mostly, look past her issues which can be kind of hard for a middle schooler with CP.
This book is written by Jamie Sumner, a Nashville native and a mother to a son with cerebral palsy. She could truly identify with Southern geography and the struggles and triumphs of someone with CP.