I guess I'm just a sucker for happy endings.  Another novel that I enjoyed all the way to the end -- The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen.  Sixteen-year-old Jessica Carlisle lives to run.  At a high school track meet, she set a new record.  On the way home, their school bus was hit by another vehicle.  One girl was killed and Jessica's right leg was mangled.  The leg was amputated below the knee, effectively ending her running career.  Jessica experienced a great range of feelings and emotions, all the way from wishing she had died right after the accident, to seeing hope for a terrific future.

Along her journey of recovery, Jessica discovered so many things she had never taken the time to appreciate before.  She viewed herself in a different way, less whole and worthy, and assumed others did also.  During this time, Rosa entered Jessica's life. by   Rosa was in Jessica's math class, although Jessica had never really noticed her before.  Rosa was confined to a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy.  She was very philosophical about Jessica's injury and about her love of running.  With Rosa's help and encouragement, and with much help from her track team, Jessica managed to rise above her disability and find that she could still do anything she was able to do with two good legs.  Jessica finds a way to help Rosa and, in doing so, helps herself more than she ever imagined.

My school has several life skills classes made up of children with varying disabilities, some of whom are able to attend class at least part of the day in a general education classroom.  I have noticed how students tend to either stare at them, or pretend not to notice them in the hallways.  Rosa described how much it upset her that people didn't "see" her, but only saw her disability.  This book would go a long way to assist students in learning about disabled students.  It would help them learn that they are still normal people who have the same feelings as they do.  I have read several books during this semester that deal with the same basic subject matter.  Other books are Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper, Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan, and Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine.  All have made a huge impact on me and solidified beliefs I already had.

These books, and many others, could be used to help students come to an understanding of people who happen to be disabled.  There are activities associated with each of the novels that can help students become more aware of what they can do to help.  Empathy can be hard to develop in young people, but teachers can go a long way to help do this.