Auch, Mary Jane.
ONE-HANDED CATCH
New York : Holt, 2006
IL 5-8, RL 5.3
ISBN 0805079009
(2 booktalks)

Sixth grader Norm tragically looses his hand in a meat grinder helping his father at the family store. Told with humor and a sense of reality, Norm struggles with wanting to succeed and wanting to take the easy way out.  Norm’s father feels guilty regarding the accident and has a hard time coming to terms with the loss but Norm’s mother refuses to allow her son’s disability make him a cripple.  As Norm struggles to come to terms with the reactions of those around him, he discovers music and his drive to play baseball increases. Will he learn to play with one hand? Will he ever be given a chance?   (New Hampshire Great Stone Face nominee, 2007-2008)

Booktalk #2

It was an accident. One careless moment and 11 year old Norm Schmidt’s life changed forever. Little everyday things like brushing your teeth, buttoning a shirt, tying your shoes seemed impossible. Would he have to give up his dream of someday being a baseball pitcher and an artist? There had to be a way of overcoming this problem, but Norm would have to figure that out for himself. (Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award nominee, 2011)