[CALIBK12] MIDDLE: All-school book

[Elizabeth Hart]

One of the projects our administration would like to do this year is
have the whole school read (or listen to) one book. For the first book,
they would like to have one of the main characters be blind or visually
impaired.

All of our students are blind or visually impaired, and range in age
from 10 to 22. Most have additional disabilities, including cognitive
disabilities, so anything beyond a middle school comprehension level is
probably going to be too difficult.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a chapter book, no higher than a
middle school comprehension level, that might work? Or any suggestions
for an all-school book, even if the characters aren't visually impaired?
I know I have seen this type of discussion on LM_NET, but I checked the
archives and I am obviously not coming up with the right search terms.

The titles in our library I have come up with so far are--

Granny Torrelli makes soup by Sharon Creech
With the help of her wise old grandmother, twelve-year-old Rosie manages
to work out some problems in her relationship with her best friend,
Bailey, the boy next door.

What would Joey do by Jack Gantos
Joey tries to keep his life from degenerating into total chaos when his
mother sends him to be home-schooled with a hostile blind girl, his
divorced parents cannot stop fighting, and his grandmother is dying of
emphysema.

Things not seen by Andrew Clements
When fifteen-year-old Bobby wakes up and finds himself invisible, he and
his parents and his new blind friend Alicia try to find out what caused
his condition and how to reverse it.

Sees Behind Trees by Michael Dorris
A Native American boy with a special gift to "see" beyond his poor
eyesight journeys with an old warrior to a land of mystery and beauty.

We also have the book "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor (Twelve-year-old Paul,
who lives in the shadow of his football hero brother Erik, fights for
the right to play soccer despite his near blindness and slowly begins to
remember the incident that damaged his eyesight.) but it is probably not
appropriate for all of our students.

Thanks for your help.

Elizabeth Hart
Library Technical Assistant
California School for the Blind
Fremont, CA 94536
ehart at csb-cde.ca.gov