"That's all anybody with a disability wants. Don't sum up the person based on what you see, or what you don't understand; get to know them."

Mother's Day... a few weeks ago. I picked up a book that had been laying around for a few weeks. I'm not even sure why I checked it out of the library to begin with, but I'm so glad I did and I'm so glad I went ahead and read it.

The basics of this story by Wendelin Van Draanen? Jessica is a runner with a great future - until on the way home from a track meet, the school bus transporting the team is hit by an out of control vehicle. One gal dies. Jessica loses her leg due to the physical trauma she sustains. And her life massively changes. She's at first bitter and angry - but she has a supportive family, a great best friend, a couple of amazing new friends, her trusty old jogging partner... and she is determined.

What happens next is a lovely story of possibilities and potential - of persistent friends pushing and encouraging, of new perspectives and growing, of hard work, sore muscles grim determination and lots of perspiration, of perceiving beyond and deeper than how things simply look to understanding what really is... 

And (as you can read from the quote I used to title this post), it addresses profoundly, IMHO, issues of disability and handicap - about which I feel deeply.

In many ways, it is another better-than-normal-but-typical-teen-coming-of-age story - but when is one of those not beautiful and moving, especially since I've got so many of those "becoming" in my own house, at this very moment!