Rebound

Anne Hutchings, a former elementary-school teacher-librarian with the
Durham Board of Education, is an educational consultant.

Eric Walters has another sure-fire hit in Rebound. This basketball story
with its themes of growing up, change, peer relationships, and living
with handicaps will appeal to even the most reluctant reader.

Sean is determined to turn over a new leaf as he begins Grade 8. He has
promised himself and his parents that he will work harder, stay out of
trouble, and, with luck, make the basketball team. His New Year’s
resolution seems doomed to failure when, on the first day of school, he
narrowly escapes being suspended for fighting with David, a kid in a
wheelchair. Instead, Sean is assigned to be a “student host” or
guide for David.

Sean discovers that he isn’t the only one starting all over. Confined
to his wheelchair as the result of a terrible accident, David too has to
make a fresh start. Forced to spend time together, the boys slowly gain
respect and then a liking for one another. Their growing friendship
gives them the confidence to confront, if not overcome, their demons.

By the end of this book, the reader, like Sean, has a much better
understanding of what it would be like to be a person in a wheelchair,
the difficulties in getting around, and, perhaps most important, how
society reacts to people with disabilities. Highly recommended.