Braced

About this book

The first contemporary novel about a disease that bends the lives of three percent of all teenagers: scoliosis.

Rachel Brooks is excited for the new school year. She’s finally earned a place as a forward on her soccer team. Her best friends make everything fun. And she really likes Tate, and she’s pretty sure he likes her back. After one last appointment with her scoliosis doctor, this will be her best year yet.

Then the doctor delivers some terrible news: The sideways curve in Rachel’s spine has gotten worse, and she needs to wear a back brace twenty-three hours a day. The brace wraps her in hard plastic from shoulder blades to hips. It changes how her clothes fit, how she kicks a ball, and how everyone sees her — even her friends and Tate. But as Rachel confronts all the challenges the brace presents, the biggest change of all may lie in how she sees herself.

Written by a debut author who wore a brace of her own, Braced is the inspiring, heartfelt story of a girl learning to manage the many curves life throws her way.

Reviews

"Rachel's story is about more than straightening a spine; it's about expanding the human heart. Braced earns its place on the shelf with other titles promoting empathy and compassion." -- Kirby Larson, Newbery Honor-winning author of Hattie Big Sky and Audacity Jones Steals the Show

"Alyson Gerber's Braced is a rare gem of a novel: intimate and engrossing at once. Rachel is the best kind of character -- vibrant and brave, struggling and strong, and most of all impossible not to root for and relate to. A lovely and deep book that will get readers right in the heart." -- Corey Ann Haydu, author of Rules for Stealing Stars

"Braced is an honest, inspirational story about perseverance in the face of adversity. Readers will come away wishing they could be best friends with Rachel and believing that they, too, are stronger than they ever expected." -- Alison Cherry, author of The Classy Crooks Club

"Rachel gives us an inspiring look into coping with the challenge of bracing and what many of us have trouble putting into words. Join Rachel as she discovers her voice in her brace! This book is an important read for all Curvy Girls and anyone who loves and supports one!" -- Leah Stoltz, founder and president, Curvy Girls Foundation

* "The author doesn't diminish Rachel's difficulties, but at heart her story is uplifting . . . Comparisons to Judy Blume's Deenie might be inevitable, but Rachel stands admirably on her own." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "A masterfully constructed and highly empathetic debut about a different kind of acceptance." -- Booklist, starred review