Bowling, Dusti.
INSIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF A CACTUS
New York :  Sterling, 2017.
IL 5-8, RL 6.5
ISBN: 978-1454923459

4 booktalks

Booktalk #1

Aven Green is pretty much your average soccer-playing , blog-writing 13-year-old, with one major exception. Aven was born without arms. When her family moves from Kansas to Arizona, Aven’s once infallible confidence begins to falter. Making friends is tough, until she meets Connor and Zion, boys who also know what it’s like to be an outsider. Together, the trio works to solve a mystery about the quirky amusement park Aven’s family calls home.   (Vermont DCF Award nominee, 2018-2019)

Booktalk #2

 “Aven Green didn’t lose her arms in an alligator wrestling match or a wildfire in Tanzania” but she’s always been able to do anything her classmates can. She may be the only one she knows in her situation, but her classmates are used to her doing her best to be independent. Her father gets a job running a Western theme park called Stagecoach Pass in Arizona, and Aven has to get used to being in a school where her classmates are not used to seeing someone like her. She’s struggling to make friends at her new school where people can’t see past her lack of arms. But as she attempts to avoid the stares, she meets Connor who feels alone because of his Tourette’s Syndrome. Together, they realize that Stagecoach Pass has a secret! Can they help each other and unearth the secret? (Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award 2019-2020)

Booktalk #3

Aven considers herself a “problem solving ninja” because her adoptive parents have never allowed the fact that she was born without arms get in the way of her figuring out how to do things. When Aven’s family moves to Arizona to manage a run-down Western theme park, she starts 8th grade with the stares and curious questions of her new classmates. In trying to avoid that, she meets up with Connor and Zion, who have their own reasons to avoid their classmates’ stares and comments. Together, the three follow Aven’s confident lead to discover the secrets of the park’s mysterious owner, disappearing tarantulas, a photograph, and a necklace. Aven shows us that a sense of humor, a positive spirit, and a couple of friends can take us a long way! (Elizabeth Metcalf, Redmond Middle School https://evergreenbookaward.org/)

Booktalk #4

“Whoa! What happened to your arms?” This is a question Aven Green has to answer all the time. From a wrestling match with an alligator to wildfires in Tanzania, she has a fantastic story for anyone curious or insensitive enough to ask. This quick-read story tackles two disabilities which are often overlooked head-on. Aven's attitude and witty sense of humor entertains, engages, and educates. If you don't have a physical, mental, or intellectual challenge, it is often difficult to see the world through another person's eyes. This book helps us step into the lives of Aven and her friend Connor and catch a glimpse of the world as they see it. Do you really see the classmates around you? Is there someone you should look past their differences and get to know? You may be surprised by who you find and, who knows? You may become a better person for it! ( Prepared by: Kristi Benson, Lake Carolina Elementary Upper Campus, kbenson@richland2.org for South Carolina Book Award)