This is a funny and inspirational young adult story about Aven and her life as a young teen who doesn't have arms, her move to Arizona, dealing with a new school and the reactions of people who haven't known her all of her life, making unusual friends, having some interesting adventures, and solving the mystery of her birth.

I heard about this book from Cubby's Reading Challenge and looked up the Amazon description before reading it, so I'll paste it here for your convenience:
"...bestselling middle grade novel about a spunky girl born without arms and a boy with Tourette syndrome navigating the challenges of middle school, disability, and friendship—all while solving a mystery in a western theme park.

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.

Autumn 2017 Kids’ Indie Next Pick
Junior Library Guild Selection
Library of Congress's 52 Great Reads List 2018"

I was intrigued by the description and impressed with the awards and the book was all that was promised. I enjoyed it and definitely recommend it.

People who like books with teenage / middle school main characters, quirky characters, empowered people with disabilities, unusual settings, mild mystery, mild relationship drama and a lot of humor.

Aren. I just loved Aren! She's brave, fun, lovable, smart, and caring and stands up for what's right. And I loved her parents! They're the best parents. They reminded me of Nick Santonastasso's parents (Nick is a real-life guy who was born without any major limbs, yet lives life on his terms and gives amazing inspirational talks. They didn't baby him excessively but trained him to be as self sufficient as possible and to have a positive mindset. I guess I'm trying to say that I especially loved the empowered aspects of the book.

I loved Aren's embracing of life is it is, her positive mindset, yet her realness in face of discrimination. I love that she embraced others with challenges and they became great friends.

The unusual theme park added a lot of interesting elements too.

I guessed the family secret too early into the book for it to feel like much of a mystery but the book was still fun because I did want to see how Aren would figure it out.

Go to sleep lol but it was my bedtime so it worked out just perfectly.

Like I was Aren's confidant. Her blog posts were a nice touch in the book.

I'm guessing she uses a pseudonym... here's what Amazon says: "
DUSTI BOWLING is the award-winning, bestselling author of Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus, Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus, 24 Hours in Nowhere, The Canyon's Edge, and the forthcoming Across the Desert and Aven Green chapter book series.

Dusti's books have won the Reading the West Award, the Sakura Medal, a Golden Kite Honor, the Silver Nautilus Award, and have been nominated for a Cybil and over twenty-five state awards. Her books are Junior Library Guild Selections and have been named best books of the year by the Chicago Public Library, Kirkus, Bank Street College of Education, A Mighty Girl, Shelf Awareness, and many more.

Dusti currently lives in New River, Arizona with her husband, three daughters, a dozen tarantulas, a gopher snake named Burrito, a king snake name Death Noodle, and a cockatiel named Gandalf the Grey."

It's a fun, funny, uplifting read.

I borrowed a copy of this book from my local library. I already have the next installment in the series on my wish list.

Interested in buying this? Support Writing.Com by making your purchase of Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus (Volume 1)   from Amazon.Com!

Created May 16, 2021 at 6:53pm • Submit your own review...