Title: A Blind Guide To Stinkville
Author: Beth Vrabel
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Publication Date: August 9, 2016
Genre/Format: Young Adult Fiction
Age Range: 8-12 (Grads 2-7)
A Blind Guide To Stinkville
Synopsis:
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.
About the Author – Beth Vrabel
Beth Vrabel grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania. She won a short-story contest in fourth grade and promptly decided writing was what she was going to do with her life. Although her other plans–becoming a wolf biologist, a Yellowstone National Park ranger, and a professional roller skater–didn’t come to fruition, she stuck with the writing. After graduating from Pennsylvania State University with a degree in journalism, she moved through the ranks of a local newspaper to become editor of two regional magazines and a lifestyle columnist. Beth now lives in Connecticut with her wonderful husband, two charming children, a spoiled rotten puppy, and two guinea pigs, Winn-Dixie and Pippin.
My Thoughts:
When we received this book, I read the first chapter and new immediately that this was a book that both my boys would enjoy. With that being said, we decided to conquer this book as a read aloud. Everyone was laughing by the time we finished the first chapter.
While this book isn’t a laugh out loud book through the entirety, it does have a lot of funny areas and is a story that kept my boys (5 & 9) attention. We read about a chapter a day, and on some of the longer chapters my youngest would wander off and play, but still listen.
In this book, twelve year old Alice was born with albinism and was uprooted from her home state of Washington and moved to Sinkville, SC. Alice’s father was made manager of the paper mill, and while the entire family was struggling with the move, they made it work. The book does show how they struggled with the move. Mom was dealing with depression, her brother James just simply wanted to be move back home, and well Alice (the main character) was having to learn to deal with the fact that everyone in the new town wasn’t aware of the condition in which she had been born.
This is simply a beautifully written book that my boys and I really enjoyed. It’s a realistic fiction book which my oldest loves to read, and while it does cover a lot of topics throughout the story, it’s one that I would recommend for all ages.
