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Free as a Bird
Contributor(s): McMurchy-Barber, Gina (Author)
ISBN: 1554884470     ISBN-13: 9781554884476
Publisher: Dundurn Press
OUR PRICE:   $9.89  
Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats
Published: February 2010
Qty:
Temporarily out of stock - Will ship within 2 to 5 weeks
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Young Adult Fiction | Disabilities & Special Needs
- Young Adult Fiction | Social Themes - Self-esteem & Self-reliance
- Young Adult Fiction | Social Themes - Prejudice & Racism
Dewey: FIC
Lexile Measure: 850
Physical Information: 0.4" H x 5.2" W x 7.1" (0.40 lbs) 168 pages
Accelerated Reader Info
Quiz #: 141686
Reading Level: 4.7   Interest Level: Middle Grades   Point Value: 6.0
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:

Short-listed for the 2010 Governor General's Award for Children's Literature, the 2010 Snow Willow Award and the 2011 CLA Young Adult Book Award

Born with Down syndrome, Ruby Jean Sharp comes from a time when being a developmentally disabled person could mean growing up behind locked doors and barred windows and being called names like retard and moron. When Ruby Jean's caregiver and loving grandmother dies, her mother takes her to Woodlands School in New Westminster, British Columbia, and rarely visits.

As Ruby Jean herself says: Can't say why they called it a school - a school's a place you go for learnin an then after you get to go home. I never learnt much bout ledders and numbers, an I sure never got to go home.

It's here in an institution that opened in 1878 and was originally called the Provincial Lunatic Asylum that Ruby Jean learns to survive isolation, boredom, and every kind of abuse. Just when she can hardly remember if she's ever been happy, she learns a lesson about patience and perseverance from an old crow.

Contributor Bio(s): McMurchy-Barber, Gina: -

Gina McMurchy-Barber is the author of Free as a Bird, a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award, and the Peggy Henderson Adventure Series. She is a recipient of the Governor General's teaching award. Gina lives in Surrey, B.C.