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A Blind Guide to Stinkville

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
Before Stinkville, Alice didn't think albinism—or the blindness that goes with it—was a big deal. Sure, she uses a magnifier to read books. And a cane keeps her from bruising her hips on tables. Putting on sunscreen and always wearing a hat are just part of life. But life has always been like this for Alice. Until Stinkville.
For the first time in her life, Alice feels different—like she's at a disadvantage. Back in her old neighborhood in Seattle, everyone knew Alice, and Alice knew her way around. In Stinkville, Alice finds herself floundering—she can't even get to the library on her own. But when her parents start looking into schools for the blind, Alice takes a stand. She's going to show them—and herself—that blindness is just a part of who she is, not all that she can be. To prove it, Alice enters the Stinkville Success Stories essay contest. No one, not even her new friend Kerica, believes she can scout out her new town's stories and write the essay by herself. The funny thing is, as Alice confronts her own blindness, everyone else seems to see her for the first time.
This is a stirring small-town story that explores many different issues—albinism, blindness, depression, dyslexia, growing old, and more—with a light touch and lots of heart. Beth Vrabel's characters are complicated and messy, but they come together in a story about the strength of community and friendship.
Sky Pony Press, with our Good Books, Racehorse and Arcade imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of books for young readers—picture books for small children, chapter books, books for middle grade readers, and novels for young adults. Our list includes bestsellers for children who love to play Minecraft; stories told with LEGO bricks; books that teach lessons about tolerance, patience, and the environment, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
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  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      July 20, 2015
      Despite a visual impairment caused by albinism, 12-year-old Alice has gotten along fine with help from her mother and her best friend. But she feels lost now that her family has moved from Seattle to Sinkville, S.C., nicknamed Stinkville due to its rotten-egg stench. Alice’s family members are too depressed, busy, and preoccupied to act as her guide, and she can’t rely on her beloved shih tzu to show her around town. Alice can go to the library, though, and it is there that she learns about an essay-writing contest. While researching her topic, “Sinkville Success Stories,” Alice is drawn into the community, making new friends (and an enemy) and learning that the town has more to offer than a bad smell. Using a lively first-person narrative, Vrabel (Pack of Dorks) presents a rare glimpse of what it is like to navigate new territory while legally blind. Alice’s road isn’t always an easy one, but her journey will be inspiring to readers, especially those who have struggled with a disability. Ages 8–12. Agent: Nicole Resciniti, Seymour Agency.

    • Kirkus

      August 1, 2015
      When Alice and her family move to Sinkville, South Carolina, the town's nickname of Stinkville feels particularly apt. In Seattle, everyone accepted 12-year-old Alice's albinism and blindness. Her best friend guided her through school, and her mother told her stories. In Stinkville, she doesn't know anyone, her brother won't guide her, and her mother's depression worsens. As if that weren't enough, her parents want her to attend the Addison School for the Blind. With trepidation and humor, Alice decides to "advocate for [herself]" and enter the Sinkville Success Stories essay contest. Her research leads her, white cane and (decidedly nonservice) dog in tow, to make friends with the townsfolk and peace with her visual impairment and family upheaval. Some subplots feel contrived, and some characters are stock-the kindly waitress who knows everyone's orders, the whittling old man, the bully who hides her own vulnerability-but their effect is cozy. Most commendable is Vrabel's focus on compromise and culture shock. Disorientation encompasses not only place and attitude, but also the rarely explored ambivalence of being disabled on a spectrum. Alice's insistence that she's "not that blind" rings true with both stubbornness and confusion as she avails herself of some tools while not needing others, in contrast to typically unambiguous portrayals. Readers who worry about fitting in-wherever that may be-will relate to Alice's journey toward compromise and independence. (Fiction. 9-12)

      COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • School Library Journal

      August 1, 2015

      Gr 4-7-Born with albinism, Alice has only 20/200 vision with glasses. Before moving to Sinkville, aka Stinkville, her near blindness wasn't a problem. Having grown up in Seattle all her life, she knew everyone and knew her way around. With no baseline knowledge of Stinkville, no friends, and her family too busy coping with their own problems to help her, Alice must find her own way. When a writing contest offers her a chance to prove she can do anything, Alice and her dog, Tooter, set out to find their own place in their new home. Will they succeed? Will they win the contest? Will she make new friends? Alice is a realistic and easy-to-relate-to character. The dynamics that develop between her and the townsfolk easily draws readers into Alice's new world. The author does a great job of mixing humor with more serious topics like depression, disability, and old age. Readers who enjoy realistic fiction and humor will find much to appreciate. VERDICT An engaging middle grade read for most library collections.-Kira Moody, Whitmore Public Library, Salt Lake City, UT

      Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      September 1, 2015
      Grades 4-6 Twelve-year-old Alice has albinism and, though partially sighted, is effectively blind. This makes navigating her new hometown of Sinkvillewhich everyone calls Stinkville because it houses a smelly paper millnext to impossible. Fortunately, her grumbling older brother is there to take her to the public library, which becomes a home away from home and is where she makes a new friend in Kerica. Meanwhile, Alice's mom is suffering from a recurring bout of depression, and her brother is desperately unhappy, wanting to return to Seattle. Anxious to fit in, Alice decides to enter an essay contest called Sinkville Success Stories. But what to write about when she can't even find her way around town? And what is wrong with her little dog, Tooter? And will her parents send her to a school for the blind? Yes, there's a lot going on in Vrabel's gentle story of a determined girl's efforts to overcome the long odds challenging her. But the author handles her material well and crafts a story that is both informative and gripping.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

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Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:4.5
  • Interest Level:4-8(MG)
  • Text Difficulty:3

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