Overview
Charlie's life isn't much different from the lives of other boys turning twelve. He wants to pitch a perfect Little League game. He wants to join a gang called the Bombers and wear a leather flight jacket. And he wants to ask Misty to the school dance. What is different about Charlie's life is his thirteen-year-old sister Annie who has Down's syndrome. This thoughtful story with a light touch explores one boy's growing pains and his struggle to accept a sister who is "different."
Dealing with an older sister who has Down's syndrome is the toughest challenge that eleven-year-old Charlie has to face.
Synopsis
Twelve-year-old Charlie comes to terms with his sister Annie who has Downs Syndrome in this thoughtful novel about one boy's growing pains and struggle to accept a sister who is "different".
Publishers Weekly
In Charlie's family, ``not normal is normal.'' Embarrassed by his older sister, Annie, who suffers from Down's syndrome, and his younger twin sisters, 11-year-old Charlie struggles to balance the demands of his particular family with his own preoccupations--an attractive classmate named Misty and the chance to join a popular but unruly club. Charlie's ambivalence and his resentment of Annie are realistically if simplistically depicted. The one-note theme holds back the development of the characters, so that Charlie's immediate response to advice offered by a supportive coach (who describes having a blind brother) and a new support group seems too easy. Dodds, who is the father of a learning-disabled child, is much more convincing when he conveys Charlie's discomfiture in the presence of peers who stare at or mock Annie; his discussion of difficult family dynamics generates not only interest but sympathy. Ages 8-12. (Feb.)