BORN JUST RIGHT

Born missing her left arm above the elbow, Reeves relates how she came to design a glitter-shooting prosthesis and start a nonprofit.

In her upbeat account, the middle schooler chronicles growing up in Columbia, Missouri, with a family who encourages her to “figure it all out,” enabling her to do everything her peers do and more. With and without a “helper arm” and task-specific hands, she plays everything from basketball to piano and attends mentoring and sports camps for kids with limb differences. Readers with disabilities will appreciate her humorous, candid approach to stares and recognize the “magical” understanding she finds among other limb-different kids. At the Superhero Cyborgs camp, she devises Project Unicorn, a glitter-shooting prosthetic arm, earning widespread fame; to involve kids with disabilities in design, she starts the Born Just Right organization. Unfortunately, Reeves’ clichéd assertion that “[t]he only thing that can stop us is our attitudes” rings somewhat hollow against her acknowledgement of various privileges that help her to feel “limitless,” such as her family’s ability to travel across the country. However, her enthusiasm for building an inclusive world where limb-different people can succeed “and it doesn’t have to be big news” is infectious. In a separate typeface, Reeves’ mom occasionally interjects her encouraging thoughts on parenting a limb-different child. Black-and-white photos appear throughout. Reeves and her family present white.

An affirmation that, with support and resources, kids with disabilities can shine—or sparkle.