Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus (Volume 1) Hardcover – September 5, 2017

This book is great for 4th on up. I read it to see what it was about after someone recommended it to my family. Great story. We live in an area in USA that does mark twain books and they are always good picks. This is one of them.

When DIVERSITY is mentioned most people think of issues that deal with race. This book puts diversity in an entirely different light. Same issues and struggles from a younger generation perspective. This is a truly engaging book!

I can’t say enough about this book. It has won a boat-load of awards--too many to enumerate here.The Middle Grade novel stars Aven Green, whose family has just moved from Kansas to Arizona to manage a tired old theme park called Stagecoach Pass. She’s about to start eighth grade, though she’s starting late.Oh, and she was born without arms.Not that it’s an issue for her. She can do pretty much anything she wants to, despite being different. But at her old school, she’d known all her classmates since kindergarten, and she was comfortable with them. At her new school, not only is she new, but her new classmates haven’t had much experience with someone like her.And they’re mean. Or at least tactless.Aven is most nervous about her new classmates seeing her eat. With her feet.So she avoids their eyes by eating lunch in a stall in the bathroom. Or in the library.When she meets two other students, Connor and Zion, who are also avoiding their classmates, they have an instant bond and become friends.Aven has the run of Stagecoach Pass, and she notices some mysterious things. The old man who has worked at the ice cream parlor for sixty years acts as though he has known her forever. Also, there’s an old locked storage shed at the back of the property plastered with Keep Out signs. And Joe Cavanaugh, the owner of the park, is never on the premises.Bowling crafts compelling characters. Aven is smart, funny, capable, and caring. Connor and Zion have deep self-esteem issues, and Aven helps to break them out of their shells. Aven’s adoptive parents are loving and positive and have shaped her to be independent. She’s also a prankster, and they give her room to be a little naughty because they find her hilarious and inventive.Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus also gives readers strategies for how to interact with people who are different, rather than ignoring them or blurting out something insensitive.Aven has creative ideas about how to attract more people to the park. She helps her parents organize an art festival, and persuades some of the artisans to rent the vacant buildings on the park property and turn them into shops.Through persistent digging, Aven solves the park mysteries and discovers the truth about her own past.I am thrilled to say Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus has a sequel. I plan to read it soon.

This book was so much fun and very thought provoking. It’s a really great book for kids (or anyone) to read to help them understand others and be empathetic.

Aven is a 13-year-old adopted child without arms. She enjoys her life in Kansas, but her family moves to Arizona to manage Stagecoach Pass, a western-themed amusement park. Aven's friends at her old school in Kansas treat her like any other student, but going to a new school is a huge adjustment. Many of the kids at her new school stare at or ignore her. Aven befriends a boy named Conner who has Tourette Syndrome. He has many involuntary tics, but barking is most prevalent, especially when he's nervous or around other people. Conner and Aven become best friends. They have to tolerate ignorant students who sometimes ask her ridiculous questions or bark at Conner.Aven and her parents are likable, strong characters. Aven's parents are supportive, but they've taught her to be independent. She's learned to meet all her basic needs with her feet and much harder skills like playing the guitar. Conner's parents are divorced, and his dad thinks he should try harder to control his Tourette's.They also become friends with Zion, an overweight boy with poor self-esteem. They are all afraid of being made fun of by other students. Aven tries to help each boy by encouraging them to try and overcome their challenges. She accompanies Conner to a Tourette's support group without Conner's mom knowing about it.One aspect of the story that I especially liked was how Aven and her parents try to think of creative ways to help sustain Stagecoach Pass.Author Dusti Bowling captures the middle school years in such a realistic way. The characterization was superb. I enjoyed this read so much that I will be on the lookout for future books by this author.

I love books that show resilience, empathy and confidence. This book has them all plus a mystery to solve. Students get so caught up with the main character they feel like she’s there with them.

I absolutely loved this novel! Here are a few of the things that made my heart happy as I read:1) Aven is hilarious and a genuine middle grade voice that made me want to be her friend2) The friendships3) The involved, caring, supportive, and sensitive parents that taught Aven to be independent and always told her she could do whatever she wanted4) The setting--I love the desert and the flora and fauna there5) The mystery that intertwined with the plot and gave another fun layer to this book6) The representation of kids who have "disabilities" according to society, and have so much more to overcome than others because of how society has stereotyped themI already have the next book ready to read; Dusti Bowling is an auto-buy author for me.

My entire family loved this book, ages 8, 10, 13, 14, 40-something, and half a century. The teenage main character/1st person narrator is endearing, clever, and lovable. The plot is not cheesy or pretentious. Yes, it is slightly predictable, but so uplifting. What a great read!

My daughter has loved reading this book! Great for 12 year old girls!

When I read the description of this book I was a little put off by the unusual setup: a child with no arms, a deserted amusement park. But the story is lovely and clips right along. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it for ages 10 and up.

My niece (11) loved this book when I got it for her at Christmas. I bought her the second book for her birthday and she was so excited to read it! The author does a great job and she wants to read all her books!

My daughter said this is the best book she has read recently!

this book is a very good book recommended for kids 6 and over and parents good lesons in the book buy this for anyone