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My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Title: My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay
Author: Cari Best
Illustrator: Vanessa Brantley-Newton
Awards: N/A
Age Range: 5-8 Years Old

Summary: Zulay is legally blind, but she is able to attend class with her three best friends. They each help one another when necessary. Zulay knows her way around the classroom very well, but she is learning how to walk with a cane that way she can go anywhere. However, she does not like feeling called out or seen with her cane. While the rest of the class goes to PE, Zulay works with Ms. Turner who is teaching her how to walk with the cane. Zulay's general classroom teacher, Ms. Seeger, tells the students to think about what event they want to participate in during Field Day. When Ms. Seeger asks Zulay, she says she would like to run a race. Ms. Turner and Zulay practice walking on the track with her cane, then practice running together. On Field Day, Zulay ran the ran and won first place. 

Evaluation: I loved this book because it focuses on the inclusion of Zulay in her classroom along with her peers. I think it is a great story of persistence and that you can do anything as long as you work hard at it. I would use this book in my classroom to teach those things to students. In addition, it can teach the students about what life may be like for those that are legally blind and I would pass the book around so each student can have a turn feeling the braille alphabet on the back of the book. I think this book would be best for students that are in kindergarten through the 2nd grade. 
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