Except she’s not just the new kid - she’s the new kid in the wheelchair who lives in the trailer park on the wrong side of town. If she’s not writing fan letters to her favorite celebrity chefs, she’s practicing recipes on her well-meaning, if overworked, mother.īut when Ellie and her mom move so they can help take care of her ailing grandpa, Ellie has to start all over again in a new town at a new school.
#Roll with it by jamie sumner professional
The thing is, Ellie has big dreams: She might be eating Stouffer’s for dinner, but one day she’s going to be a professional baker. That surprises some people, who see a kid in a wheelchair and think she’s going to be all sunshine and cuddles.
Search for Library Items Search for Lists Search for Contacts Search for a Library. The thing is, Ellie has big dreams: She might be. That surprises some people, who see a kid in a wheelchair and think shes going to be all sunshine and cuddles. In the end, part of the story seemed to be missing.In the tradition of Wonder and Out of My Mind, this big-hearted middle grade debut tells the story of an irrepressible girl with cerebral palsy whose life takes an unexpected turn when she moves to a new town.Įllie’s a girl who tells it like it is. Jamie Sumner Candace Thaxton - Ellies a girl who tells it like it is. Still, I wish the book had lasted a little longer, so that readers could learn more about life in her new hometown. Roll with It is a solid contemporary middle-grade read, one that I enjoyed primarily because of Ellie and her confident attitude. But how did the rest of the school year progress? And what about the school mean girls? Did Ellie win them over with her baking? And how are her friends faring? Are they pursuing their dreams? Finding their place? The story was too short to really answer all these questions, even if the answers are that, in life, sometimes there are no easy answers or happy endings with school mean girls. For instance, readers learn she had a rocky first day and that only her PE teacher seems prepared to do an IEP for her. The book ended quickly, and I felt like I wanted to know more. The structure somehow seems a little unfinished. The characters are perhaps the book’s greatest strength. Meanwhile, her friends are middle school social outcasts just like her, but ones that, if imperfect, always have her back. Part of Ellie’s story is trying to be there for her grandfather as he declines, and trying to accept that he is losing memories that she cherishes. This big-hearted middle grade debut tells the story of an irrepressible girl with cerebral palsy whose life takes an unexpected turn when she moves to a new. And her grandfather is a sweetheart, a man who clearly “gets” Ellie and her need to take risks and to be herself. Her mom, for instance, does not get everything right, but she tries very hard to take care of Ellie and, when necessary, to fight for her. Fortunately, however, she is surrounded by a loving family and some new friends who are ready to support her as she follows her dreams.Įllie’s relationships with her family and friends are truly heartwarming, and one of the great strengths of the novel.
Ellie, of course, has very specific, individualized fears: she worries that other people only see her wheelchair, and that they do not appreciate her talents, her strength, her smarts. She is twelve years old and transitioning into that period where adolescents typically like to explore their identities and figure out who they are and how they fit into the world. Roll with It will have readers rooting for Ellie to win the first place ribbon and make her mark on her new town.Įllie is an independent spirit who, I think, is very relatable in her desire to do things by herself, in her own way, without her mom “babying” her. However, as she starts to make friends, Ellie sees the pie competition as more than a way to jump start career it is also a way to prove to her mom that they belong in their new town. She does not want the kids staring at her and she is worried because the teachers have never had to make an individualized education plan before.
At first, Ellie is unsure she likes their new home. Ellie and her mom have recently moved towns to help her grandmother take care of her grandfather, who has Alzheimer’s. Roll with It is a fun middle-grade novel about one girl’s dream of becoming a professional baker, step one being her entry in a local pie competition.
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