Small Steps

Sachar, Louis. 2006. Small Steps. New York: Delacorte. ISBN 978-0385733144.

Fans of Sachar's Holes will be pleased to know that Stanley Yelnats isn't the only one to get a life for himself post-Camp-Greenlake. In Small Steps we see Armpit taking the eponymous steps - finishing high school, getting a landscaping job (he already knows how to dig holes), and becoming friends with his neighbor Ginny, a ten year old with cerebral palsy. Then Armpit and Ginny attend a concert by teen idol Kaira Deleon and end up on stage. A friendship with the friendless star, who's not used to taking small steps, threatens to upset Armpit's equilibrium in more ways than one. But Armpit triumphs and all three kids achieve a satisfying happy ending.

I was initially worried about Ginny's character because I was afraid she would end up being the stereotype of the Saintly Handicapped Child who teaches the main character to be a better person. But Sachar doesn't go there. For one thing, Armpit already is a better person - at least, a better person than most people realize. Ginny accepts him for who he is, just as he accepts her, and that's what makes the two of them friends.

Sachar's descriptions of the accomodations Armpit and Ginny make for her disability are matter-of-fact, as is the discussion of the insensitive questions people ask about Ginny. And in a twist that's unfortunately probably true-to-life, it's the difference in their color - Armpit is African-American and Ginny is Caucasian - that Sachar portrays as causing the most dismay to strangers. Although she isn't the protagonist of the story, Ginny is a well-rounded character with a fully developed personality who isn't defined by her disability.

Small Steps won the ALA Schneider Award for "artistic expression of the disability experience." The ALA said, "Armpit’s humorous adventures portray the unexpected friendship between a recently released juvenile delinquent and 10-year-old Ginny, who has cerebral palsy, as they help each other take incremental steps towards a brighter future. "Small Steps" shows that friendship comes in many shapes, sizes, ages, and abilities."

Ironically, in our library Newberry winners like Holes can be difficult to find because they're displayed in their own section rather than with juvenile or youth fiction. I would use this opportunity both to highlight Small Steps and get Holes out where people can see it, and display both books together in a high-traffic area!

ALA. "The Schneider Family Book Award Application/Nomination." http://www.ala.org/ala/awardsbucket/schneideraward/schneiderfamily.htm.