People+with+Disabilities

=People with Disabilities=

Choldenko, Gennifer. **//Al Capone Does My Shirts//**. Putnam's, 2004. When his father gets a job as an electrician at Alcatraz, Moose's family moves to the famous prison island. Against this vividly evoked setting, Moose butts heads with the warden's scheming daughter and gets help from a surprising source for his older sister, who exhibits the symptoms of autism (the book is set in 1935, before the disease was identified). The solid novel concludes with a historical note. 600L Recommended by Morgan.

Lowry, Lois. //**The Silent Boy**//. Houghton, 2003. Katy, a retired doctor, looks back on her childhood in the early 1900's and her relationship with a boy named Jacob who is "touched in the head." When the unwanted baby of Jacob's sister is found dead, Jacob is blamed and arrested, and Katy is struggling for answers. 870L Recommended by Colleen.

Mikaelsen, Ben. **//Petey//.** Hyperion, 2000. In 1922 Petey, who was born with a severe case of cerebral palsy, is misdiagnosed as mentally retarded and institutionalized by his parents. Over the course of his life, Petey makes friends with different people at the Institution but they all eventually end up leaving him. Sixty years later, when Petey is living in a nursing home, he befriends a boy named Trevor and shares with him some very powerful life lessons. 740L Recommended by Christie.

Miller, Sarah. //**Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller**//. Anteneum, 2007. Annie Sullivan was little more than a half-blind orphan with a fiery tongue when she arrived at Ivy Green in 1887. Desperate for work, she'd taken on a seemingly impossible job -- teaching a child who was deaf, blind, and as ferocious as any wild animal. But Helen Keller needed more than a teacher. She needed someone daring enough to work a miracle. And if anyone was a match for Helen, it was the girl they used to call Miss Spitfire. 860L Recommended by Lori.

Nuzum, K. A. //**A Small White Scar**//. HarperCollins, 2006. Since his mom died, fifteen-year-old Will has had to look after his twin brother, Denny, who has Downs Syndrome. Set in Colorado in the 1940's, Will dreams of running away and being a cowboy until his plans change when his brother follows him. 790L Recommended by Colleen.

Weeks, Sarah. **//So B. It.//** HarperCollins Publishers, 2004. You would never know that there was something wrong with Heidi's mom, who insists her name is So B. It, just by looking at her. It was her Mama's high pitched, little girl voice and her 23 word vocabulary that made it clear that there was just something wrong with her mentally. Heidi lives in Reno with her mother, and their neighbor Bernadette helps take care of both of them. When a strange word in Mama's vocabulary begins to eat at Heidi, she embarks on a cross country trip to uncover the secrets of her past. 860L Recommended by Caryn.