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. 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. Ellie was a well-rounded, interesting character, and I look forward to reading more about her should the author decide to expand upon some of the issues going on with Bert and Coralee.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. This book was very realistic, and will open reader’s eyes to better understand fellow students who may have CP or similar disabilities.

With school, CP, her grandfather’s memory issues and her own worries coming to a head, Ellie keeps herself grounded in baking and writing to make sense of the brewing storms. That makes Ellie wonder if she’ll be forced to go to one too if her mother decides she’s a burden. As his behavior changes, her mother begins to ponder the need for a nursing home. While her friendship with Bert and Coralee grows stronger, Ellie’s grandfather’s mind grows weaker. Since her school is so small Ellie convinces her mom not to get her an aide, and begins to enjoy a bigger sense of independence than she’s ever had in the past. Her grandparents live in a trailer park, where she becomes good friends with fellow trailer mates Bert and Coralee. Ellie is very independent, and hates having an aide, so is excited when her mom announces they’re leaving Tennessee to help her grandmother in Oklahoma take care of her grandfather who has Alzheimer’s. One of her biggest annoyances about having CP is her mother’s over protectiveness and having an aide at school.

Though having CP limits her from doing many things her peers do, it doesn’t keep her from baking because she hopes to become a famous baker.

Her father left her and her mother behind to start a new family when she was just a little girl, so it’s always been her and her mom against the world. Twelve-year-old Ellie has cerebral palsy and gets around in a wheelchair.

Roll with it jamie sumner