Laughing at my Nightmare by Shane Burcaw

M for Mature

This is the true story of Shane Burcaw, a twenty-one-year-old with spinal muscular atrophy. His story includes everything from awkward handshakes to having a girlfriend. Shane handles his situation with humor and a ‘you-only-live-once’ perspective on life.

This is one of the most amazing and funniest books I’ve ever read. Shane Burcaw is just hilarious. This guy lives a difficult life but you sort of forget that when you are laughing at how he explains the funny things that have happened to him. Even through his many horrible surgeries and physical stretches, he somehow makes you smile.

He even has his own blog and YouTube channel with some pretty funny and inspiring videos. I highly recommend looking at his videos and reading this book.

Paperboy by Vince Vawter

11 and up

This book is about an eleven-year-old boy who lives in Memphis in 1959. He can throw the meanest fastball in town but he can barely say a word without stuttering – not even his own name. So when he takes over his friend’s paper route, he knows he’ll be forced to communicate with the customers, including a house-wife who drinks too much and a retired merchant marine who seems to know everything.

The paper route poses challenges, but it’s a run in with the neighborhood junkman, a bully and a thief, that stirs up trouble.

I had to look some things up to really understand this story. I watched a video of kids who stutter so I could understand how they sound. The thing I was more curious about is what causes stuttering.

While I was talking about this book, I realized just how difficult it is must be for this boy. We can talk so easily but he has to think about every single movement his mouth makes and the sound that comes out. When you talk, you don’t think about that stuff, you just do it.

It’s interesting all the tricks he uses to speak. And the situations where he doesn’t have too much trouble speaking. I don’t know why but I had a hard time wrapping my mind around this particular ‘difference’.

Ordinary People Change the World by Brad Meltzer

Anyone who wants to learn about true heroes

Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean by herself. She knew no bounds.

Abraham Lincoln lost four elections before being elected president. He believed all people were created equal.

Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize in physics. He never stopped being curious.

Rosa Parks didn’t give up her seat on the bus and inspired the Montgomery Bus Boycott. She stood up for what’s right.

Jackie Robinson played his first official baseball game for the Montreal Royals on April 18, 1946. He led the way by setting an example.

Lucille Ball, the star of I Love Lucy, won four Emmy awards in her lifetime. She was always true to who she was.

Helen Keller was the first deaf and blind person to earn a college degree. She never let anything stop her.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s methods of nonviolence were so powerful, he was invited to meet with the president at the White house. He believed that if we stand together, nothing could stop our dream.

Every one of them was an ordinary person. But ordinary people can change the world.

These books are absolutely adorable. These are the kinds of books I wish were around when I was a kid. I would have collected every single one of them. I want them all now and I’m an adult. Well…kind of.

It’s such a fun way to learn history. Each one has an amazing story to tell. The stories show these amazing people as children and are still shown as children throughout the entire book. That confused me a bit but I realized it’s like that so children can relate to it. Show them that these heroes were kids just like them.