When Petey Corbin is born in 1920, no one knows about cerebral palsy. After struggling to care for her frail infant who is often racked by seizures, Petey's mother reluctantly places him in an asylum. There, he is labeled an idiot and ignored. Few people look beyond his twisted body to see the intelligence in his eyes.
Then another young resident, Calvin Anders, arrives in Petey's ward. As he learns to understand Petey's garbled sounds, Calvin becomes his spokesman and best friend. Years later, however, they are separated when Petey is moved to a nursing home. Alone and withdrawn, Petey wonders if he will ever find another person who understands him.
Ben Mikaelsen, award-winning author of Rescue Josh McGuire, Stranded, and other popular books for young adults, has crafted a poignant tale of friendship and triumph over disabilities. Petey was chosen by the New York Public Library as one of its 100 Books for Reading and Sharing, and it won the Western Writers of America Award.
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"This book has a really cute plot, its about a boy who is born with cerebral palsy, and everyone told his parents that he was unable to think and that he would be and "idiot" his whole life. His mother at first refuses to give him up, so she and her husband attempt to take care of him, but they find it hard to because they have another child to care for as well, and petey requires around the clock care, so his parents leave him at a psych ward and petey lives there and starts to become friends with some of the residents. Petey then later befriends a boy named trevor, who is new to the town and Trevor notices some boys from his school throwing snowballs at him, Trevor reacts by telling them to stop and to leave him alone. Petey and Trevor soon develop a very strong bond with eachother, and Petey makes more of a difference in Trevor's life than anyone he's every known."
—
Megan (4 out of 5 stars)