Thanks to Ellen, Eric, Connor, and Kate, for letting us crash in the Fairy Tower, crash your Zooms, and haunt your kitchen during revisions, pandemic parenting, and other mad sundries. Hope the ghost hunts, bladder serenades, and rainbow bread made it memorable. Thanks, Mom, for finding boxfuls of yard-sale books and never censoring what was in them. In those tight times when books were my escape, you made sure I had piles of them. Thanks, Dad, for afternoons in the woodshop that led to good talks.

Mr. Francisco Cal, thank you for shared lunches beside dozens of rivers and your passionate advocacy for inclusive education. To the activists, advocates, and allies—past and present—who’ve worked tirelessly to promote the social model of disability and educational access in communities around the world.

Sincere thanks to the kids, families, teachers, and support staff I’ve been honored to work with, learn from, and advocate for—and to the trailblazers of WCMX and other adaptive sports that push boundaries, upend expectations, and help kids dream big.

Lastly—most importantly—to David and Raven. We’re three stubborn peas who fight hard and love harder. Thanks for waking me with coffee in bed and slipping dinner onto my desk when I’m grumpily flailing through a draft. Wouldn’t want to share my pod with anyone else.

About the Author

Monica Roe is the author of Air, as well as Thaw, a Cybils Young Adult Fiction Finalist, and the short story “The Unhealthy Breakfast Club” in the anthology Rural Voices. She is a pediatric physical therapy provider for several remote Alaskan communities and a researcher/advocate for the social model of disability and inclusive rural health. Monica studies public health at the University of Alaska, focusing on disability-inclusive disaster preparedness. She and her family divide their time between Alaska and their apiary in South Carolina. For more about Monica’s research, Alaska, beekeeping, or other published works, pay her a visit at monicaroerambles.com, or sign up for email updates here.

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Contents

1. Title Page
2. Copyright Notice
3. Dedication
4. 1. Catching Air, Eating Sand
5. 2. Embroidered Cusswords?
6. 3. Emmie Surprise
7. 4. Princes and Clowns
8. 5. Room for Improvements
9. 6. Sucky Ramps and Stinky Stealth
10. 7. Meetings of the Mindless
11. 8. A Big Fat Grenade
12. 9. Traitors Don’t Get Sympathy
13. 10. We All Fall Down
14. 11. A Big Fat Train Wreck
15. 12. Double Down
16. 13. Glue Your Mouth Shut
17. 14. Look Around You!
18. 15. Shake It Off
19. 16. Evasive Action
20. 17. Sewing (and Preconceived) Notions
21. 18. Shuri Says …
22. 19. Tortoise to Jackrabbit
23. 20. A Lucky Thing
24. 21. Those Crafty Fighters
25. 22. An Even Better Idea
26. 23. Quite the Daredevil
27. 24. No Big Thing
28. 25. Rules Don’t Change
29. 26. Back in the Bag
30. 27. The Divine Right
31. 28. Ohh, Honey …
32. 29. How Not to Help
33. 30. Wouldn’t That Be Special?
34. 31. Just Ask
35. 32. Pinch the Moon
36. 33. Testudo Time
37. 34. Team Emmie
38. 35. Case Closed
39. 36. Worth the Wait
40. Author’s Note
41. Acknowledgments
42. About the Author
43. Copyright