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    Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus
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    Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus
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    Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus
    Ebook215 pages3 hours

    Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

    By Dusti Bowling

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    “Aven is a perky, hilarious, and inspiring protagonist whose attitude and humor will linger even after the last page has turned.” —School Library Journal (Starred review)

    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
     
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherUnion Square Kids
    Release dateSep 5, 2017
    ISBN9781454923466

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    Reviews for Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

    4/5

    139 ratings10 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Aven was adopted by a wonderful family when she was two years old. Is is a normal kid in every way...except one. She was born without arms. After moving to Arizona for her fathers job opportunity, Aven befriends a boy with Tourette's in her new middle school. Together they help each other in ways they never would have imagined.I feel in love with Aven's personality right away. I wish I could be like Aven. She is an inspiring character any parent would want their child to look up to. A must have for your home, classroom, or school library. Recommended for grades four and up.
    • 5/5
      What a pleasant surprise! I bought this to give to our daughter for her 4th grade classroom library, but wanted to read it first. Aven, born without arms and adopted at age two, is gutsy, likable and very human. She's learned to do most of the things any kid would do by using her feet. Even so, moving from Kansas, where everyone is used to her lack of arms, to Arizona where her dad got a new job, creates a new set of fears and anxieties. How she deals with them, helps her parents turn a decrepit theme park around, solve a mystery and make new friends makes for a very satisfying read. It's going to be a great addition to my daughter's classroom library and deserves a place in many, many others.
    • 3/5
      A cute, fun kids' book with an engaging narrator and a breezy plot that deftly handles some important issues without becoming heavy or pedantic. Aven is a great character, an adopted girl who was born without arms but talks about her differences with humor and matter-of-factness that bring home the point that she is very much a typical young girl. When her parents move to a withering theme park/ghost town in Arizona, she faces the challenges of her new life, makes new friends, and helps solve a mystery. The setting is well-realized (and recognizable to anyone who lives in the area). Probably the book would be most appealing to kids who are slightly younger than its middle-school protagonists.
    • 4/5
      Aven's family moves to Arizona when her parents get jobs managing an amusement park and restaurant. Aven was born without arms but her parents have encouraged her to figure it out and do things for herself. It's hard to start a new school where people don't know her and stare. She becomes friends with Zion and Connor, who decide to help her figure out a mystery maybe murder. And they do turn up some unexpected truths. A touching novel with a super spunky lead character.
    • 3/5
      I loved the character of Aven in this book. She was born without arms, but is so capable and talented and kind. She is in middle school, but the story skewed a bit younger for me, and I think I will recommend it to a lot of my 4th and 5th grade students.
    • 3/5
      It’s a sweet, touching, funny book (with a totally fairy-tale ending), that felt a little lightweight ultimately. I’m also cautious to recommend it to kids without knowing what the author’s research process was about living with no arms or with Tourette’s, and whether she employed sensitivity readers. She mentions nothing in her acknowledgments.
    • 4/5
      A great middle-grade empathy builder on the topics of physical differences, adoption, Tourette syndrome, single parenting, dementia, and moving at a critical time in friendships. Informative but doesn’t stray into didacticism. This story would make a great lead in for a discussion on perspective taking.
    • 4/5
      I really like this book because it is telling the story from a girl without arms point of view. It has a mystery which makes it even more interesting to read!
    • 3/5
      great book! lovely voice and character-focused narrative. i'm picky about the theme of adoption but she's a disabled, ginger, adopted baby so basically me, wow.

      v. easy to read. 3 stars!
    • 5/5
      Everything about it is amazing and breath catching I definitely recommend this book