Lucky Broken Girl

Behah, R. (2017) Lucky Broken Girl. New York, NY: Nancy Paulsen Books.
A heartwarming young adult fiction book about an immigrant girl named Ruthie who has moved to New York from Cuba.  She begins the story explaining with a quote that she was in the "dumb class" simply because she did not know english.  But she was getting good at her new language and was about to be moved to the regular class. She played hopscotch with her neighborhood friends and dreamed of owning a pair of Gogo boots which she received later as a gift from her father.  Her father also bought a new car and the family went for ride and on the way home there was a tragic crash that killed the boys that were joy riding in the other car.  Ruthie was wounded with a broken leg and after surgery was put in a body cast for multiple months, and was not allowed to go to school.  The book proceeds to give details about her struggles, pain, healing, and learning to walk again.  She gained strength along the way from her loving family and friends who gave her encouragement to get better even when she did not think she could.  One friend who was always honest with her was her neighbor Ramu who was in the ESL class with her. Ramu's family was of Indian descent and he was not allowed to socialize with people that were not of his race, so he was not allowed to visit her after the accident. He sneak out of the house and visits her one time and the same evening his brother tragically dies from an accident after falling out of his window while playing.  After, his family moves back to India and she does not see him again.  Ruthie felt alone and sad but other family, neighbors, teachers and friends encourage her to get better.  An inspiring story of love, courage, diversity and disability.  I loved the references to the Gogo boots and the culture that was expressed throughout the story.  This book was a real tear jerker with pain, poverty, yet told through humor, hope, and celebration. A real coming of age type of story.  Another book of interest for young adults might be Ramie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo that deals with hope, family issues and friendships.