Cookie Cutters and Sled Runners, by Natalie Rompella, (Nov. 2017, Sky Pony Press), $15.99, ISBN: 9781510717718
Recommended for readers 9-13
Ana and Lily are best friends, getting ready to start middle school together. They’re also burgeoning chefs, creating their own recipes with the goal of writing and selling their own cookbook one day. Things go awry when Ana and Lily discover that they’re not in one single class together, though; you see, Lily is the only person who understands Ana. The only person Ana wants as a friend. Lily understands Ana’s need to wash her hands and keep her cooking surfaces and food flawlessly clean; she knows that Ana can’t handle red food. She is Ana’s shield against the world. Ana ends up with the meanest teacher in sixth grade, too: Mr. Creed has a list of rules a mile long (“never use contractions in my class”) and decides that the big Exploration Project – the project Ana and Lily planned working on together – will be done in partnership with another person from class. Ana’s assigned Dasher, the new girl from Alaska, who dresses weird and wants to do a project on her favorite sport and hobby: sled dog racing!
I adore this book! I love the characters, and I love that in Ana, we get a positive portrayal of a character struggling with OCD. Cookie Cutters & Sled Runners gives us a central character that lives with a disorder, and incorporates that challenge into her daily living. Yes, we see Ana washing her hands and spraying down her surfaces; we read her internal struggle when she has to choose between cleaning and a critical moment in the story, but we also see her meeting with a therapist, being supported by her parents and friends, and working through her challenge through daily exercises and taking on new, exciting challenges. She’s not cured by the end of the story, but that’s not the point of the story: she’s growing, and she makes major gains here. Dasher is great fun to read, and I loved learning a little bit more about snow dog racing. Finally, I appreciated a middle grade novel that turns the “new friends” dilemma on its head by having the “rival friends” befriend one another and form a supportive group together.
A positive, upbeat story that introduces readers to characters with obsessive-compulsive behaviors and provides some insight on the challenges of daily life for those characters. have Wesley King’s OCDaniel on hand for readers who want to read and learn more.
Mom Read It 