published: 2017
pages: 262
read: 10/3-4/2019
book: 57 in 2019
Aven Green loves to tell people that she lost her arms in an alligator wrestling match, or a wildfire in Tanzania, but the truth is she was born without them. And when her parents take a job running Stagecoach Pass, a rundown western theme park in Arizona, Aven moves with them across the country knowing that she’ll have to answer the question over and over again.
Her new life takes an unexpected turn when she bonds with Connor, a classmate who also feels isolated because of his own disability, and they discover a room at Stagecoach Pass that holds bigger secrets than Aven ever could have imagined. It’s hard to solve a mystery, help a friend, and face your worst fears. But Aven’s about to discover she can do it all . . . even without arms.
Her new life takes an unexpected turn when she bonds with Connor, a classmate who also feels isolated because of his own disability, and they discover a room at Stagecoach Pass that holds bigger secrets than Aven ever could have imagined. It’s hard to solve a mystery, help a friend, and face your worst fears. But Aven’s about to discover she can do it all . . . even without arms.
MY THOUGHTS
SHORT VERSION
another one from Dusti Bowling FTW! <3
LONG VERSION
another good one for 2019.
after reading her first book, i went into this one a little hesitant because i was all "how am i going to be able to love another gang of friends when i already loved the first ones so much!?" well, turns out, there was more a lot more space because i ABSOLUTELY loved this book and everyone in it!
man, kids books are really made out of something.
(this book is recommended for 5th-8th graders.)
just like all the other kids books i have read this year, this is another good one to read for yourself or with your kids if you have any.
i love the way DB talks about Aven and her disability and how she feels about it when people judge her but also how she knows she's more than her disability. it might take her longer to do things but she can do them just as good, if not better.
another thing i loved were Aven's parents.
they did not baby her at all.
she might not have arms but she can still do what she needs to do when she wants to get it done. and it is all in thanks to her parents showing her that she can do just basically everything everyone else can. since day one, they showed her that she is just as capable. but you know they are doing it for her own good to so she can take care of herself when she grows older.
what an amazing message.
and i love that the book is covered in this funny style of writing. there are little gems, such as this one, "...mom always came to all my games. she was like one of those embarrassing crazy people you hear about who take kids' sports way too seriously. she would constantly yell at my coach and my coach would threaten to ban her from the games. the coach was my dad." i just find little passages like that so endearing.
i also loved the friendships Aven creates when she moves to Arizona.
I love Connor and Zion. <3
and i love how all 3 of them compliment each other.
i believe this book would have been fine just ending as it did.....buuuuut there is a second one so im off to read that one!
ill be back.
jump on over for spoilers!
thanks for reading!
Aven and her parents move from Kansas to Arizona because her parents got a job running Stagecoach Pass.
her father had lost his job a few months back so when they reached out to him for this position, he decided to apply and ended up getting the position.
they arrive to AZ, give Aven a few days to settle and then she's off to school.
she now has to get used to a bunch of new people seeing her for the first time.
so on her first day, she eats in the bathroom.
eventually, she makes it to the library. she's sitting minding her own business when Connor starts barking at her.
she goes up to him and asks him if he is making fun of her to which he tells her he isn't. he lets her know that he has tourettes.
little by little, they form a friendship.
meanwhile back at stagecoach, her parents have their work cut out trying to get it back to top shape.
there is a man there that has been working since it opened named Henry.
Henry is an older man who works at the ice cream shop who suffers from Alzheimer's. He keeps confusing Aven, for Aven....except not like, as her.
(he even freaks out about the fact that she's missing her arms.)
he also keeps asking her about the tarantulas.
when Aven first moved in, she found the barn in the back with 7 keep out signs. she has since then told Connor and they go explore the barn.
...they find all sorts of things that kinda make it seem like Aven was a part of it all. and a lot of drawings and what not in regards to tarantulas.
eventually, Aven also makes friends with Zion and so now they're a trio.
once again they're in the barn looking for more things when Zion finds a picture and it looks exactly like Aven.
she goes home to confront her parents and they kinda blow it off but i mean can you really?
(it is known that Aven is adopted at the beginning of the story.) she can even tell that they're a little shaken about it.
life is still happening....her dad gives her a key that belongs to the desk so they go and explore and they find the picture that was missing along the wall that showed who the Cavanaughs are.
she goes home and tells her mom and so she knows what she has to do.
i kinda gave like a super skimpy version of the story so far cause i just wanna get it over it so here is the jist of it all:
Henry keeps confusing Aven with....Aven because Aven's mother was Aven.
Jo Cavanaugh that no one ever sees anymore and own the place is actually Jo from the steak house.
Big Aven had little Aven years ago but little Aven was eventually placed for adoption because her mother passed away in a horse accident.
Jo is actually Aven's grandmother so it was Jo that placed her for adoption.
she placed her for adoption because she was already 50/60 y/o and she wasn't going to be able to care for Aven like she'd need to be cared for.
the reason that they end up in SCP is because like i said Aven's dad has lost his job. what Aven didn't know was that they were basically on the verge of losing their home.
Jo had hired an investigator to follow up on Aven from a far to make sure that she was okay.
that's how Jo found out about her dad losing his job and almost the house.
so she made him the offer to run the park without him obviously knowing that she was actually Aven's gma.
and so yea....there's a lot more i left out but that's the basic of it.
its a quick read so read it!
eventually, Aven also makes friends with Zion and so now they're a trio.
once again they're in the barn looking for more things when Zion finds a picture and it looks exactly like Aven.
she goes home to confront her parents and they kinda blow it off but i mean can you really?
(it is known that Aven is adopted at the beginning of the story.) she can even tell that they're a little shaken about it.
life is still happening....her dad gives her a key that belongs to the desk so they go and explore and they find the picture that was missing along the wall that showed who the Cavanaughs are.
she goes home and tells her mom and so she knows what she has to do.
i kinda gave like a super skimpy version of the story so far cause i just wanna get it over it so here is the jist of it all:
Henry keeps confusing Aven with....Aven because Aven's mother was Aven.
Jo Cavanaugh that no one ever sees anymore and own the place is actually Jo from the steak house.
Big Aven had little Aven years ago but little Aven was eventually placed for adoption because her mother passed away in a horse accident.
Jo is actually Aven's grandmother so it was Jo that placed her for adoption.
she placed her for adoption because she was already 50/60 y/o and she wasn't going to be able to care for Aven like she'd need to be cared for.
the reason that they end up in SCP is because like i said Aven's dad has lost his job. what Aven didn't know was that they were basically on the verge of losing their home.
Jo had hired an investigator to follow up on Aven from a far to make sure that she was okay.
that's how Jo found out about her dad losing his job and almost the house.
so she made him the offer to run the park without him obviously knowing that she was actually Aven's gma.
and so yea....there's a lot more i left out but that's the basic of it.
its a quick read so read it!
Post a Comment
thanks for taking the time to read my blog. (: