Bring in the Spring

Bel begins a community project at Willowbank School for handicapped children. She's initially reluctant, embarrassed and patronising: her reactions clearly mirror those of the able-bodied population. This is one of the real strengths of the book - its refusal to skirt round painful issues and its ability to ensure that readers face their own prejudices head-on. Bel becomes determined to secure better treatment for Sarah, who's assumed to understand little and to require no teaching. She encounters opposition from Mrs Hinksey, Sarah's class teacher, and Bel finds she must carefully analyse her own motives. Sarah is helped, reunited with her mother and returns to live at home. The reader, however, is never allowed to be complacent; there's always direct involvement with characters and prejudices, and stereotypes are constantly challenged. This would be an excellent class reader for Year 8.