A Little Bit of Mischief

One would think that a trip to Techniquest, a terrific hands-on science centre in Cardiff, would be a reason for excitement. Not for Cari. She uses a wheelchair and is quite sure that the school outing will be a disaster for her. She wakes up grumpy and remains convinced that she will be bossed around by everyone else and unable to do her own thing. When the class gets to Techniquest, she has various offers of help which she refuses, and even her special helper, Elin, doesn’t get a look in. It is only when Cari discovers by herself that there is plenty for her to enjoy that she begins to perk up and the black thundercloud lifts. When she manages to hide from Elin and the others, her joy is complete, and she spends a happy time going up and down in the glass lift. Class bad boy, Darren, finds her, and they share lots of fun among the amazing things to do in the centre. When they finally join their classmates, they are ticked off for having disappeared, and Cari is terribly pleased when the teacher says, ‘I didn’t think you’d be naughty!’ It’s good to see a wheelchair-bound child being grumpy and mischievous and feisty and altogether ‘real’, and the geometric, flat, and rather spiky pictures reflect Cari’s moods well. Cari is not the only heroine of the book: Techniquest is the other centre of attention and its attractions are clear.