My Friend Isabelle

My Friend Isabelle
Author: Eliza Woloson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2003
Genre: Down syndrome
ISBN: 9781890627508

Isabelle and Charlie are friends. They both like to draw, dance, read, and play at the park. They both like to eat Cheerios. They both cry if their feelings are hurt. And like most friends, they are also different from each other. Isabelle has Down syndrome. Charlie doesn't. Written by Isabelle's mother, this charming tale encourages readers to think about what makes a friendship special. My Friend Isabelle also opens the door for young children to ask about differences and the world around them. It's a wonderful story to read at bedtime or to share at school. Lively full colour illustrations dovetail beautifully with the text to bring the simple story to life.

Isabelle of the Moon and Stars

Isabelle of the Moon and Stars
Author: S. A. Jones
Publisher: Apollo Books
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2014
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781742586038

Ever since 'the incident' two years ago, Isabelle has been stuck in a dead-end job and has struggled to find her feet. It takes all of her determination to ward off 'The Black Place' that always threatens to devour her. Her best friend Evan is her safe place. They laugh at each other's jokes, share the same interests and take the piss out of each other with the ruthless efficiency of long acquaintance. Sex isn't an issue because Evan has made a bargain with God to keep it in his pants and Isabelle is still recovering from being deserted by her fiance Karl. Then just as Evan reconsiders his vow, Isabelle contrives a bizarre passion for her boss, Jack. Everything implodes one suffocatingly hot Australia Day. Escaping the resulting chaos, Isabelle flees to Prague where she must finally confront her fears.

Amy & Isabelle

Amy & Isabelle
Author: Elizabeth Strout
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 424
Release: 2013-04-12
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1471128679

From the Man Booker Prize longlisted author of My Name is Lucy Barton ? Isabelle Goodrow has been living in self-imposed exile with her daughter Amy for fifteen years. Shamed by her past and her affair with Amy's father, she has submerged herself in the routine of her dead-end job and her unrequited love for her boss. But when Amy, frustrated by her quiet and unemotional mother, embarks on an illicit affair with her maths teacher, the disgrace intensifies the shame Isabelle feels about her own past. Throughout one long, sweltering summer, as the events of the small town ebb and flow around them, Amy and Isabelle exist in silent conflict until a final act leads ultimately to the understanding they both crave.

Perfect

Perfect
Author: Natasha Friend
Publisher: Milkweed Editions
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2010-01-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1571318011

In the world of thirteen-year-old girls, everything’s fine—at least on the surface. Isabelle Lee is a typical, wisecracking, middle-of-the-pack girl who just happens to be dealing with some big issues. Her father has died and no one—especially her mother—wants to talk about it. Meanwhile, Isabelle’s sister, who “used to be nine and charming,” has messed everything up by ratting Isabelle out to their mom about her eating disorder. At school, there’s Mr. Minx, the self-important (but really not bad) English teacher; Ashley Barnum, the prettiest girl around; and the lunchroom, where tables are turf in an all-eyes-open battle for social status. Isabelle has measured the distance to being cool and she thinks it’s long shiny hair, a toothpaste smile, and perfectly broken-in size-zero jeans. Perfect is the story of one girl’s attempt to cope with loss, define true friendship, and figure out the difference between appearances and reality.

My Friend Has Down Syndrome

My Friend Has Down Syndrome
Author: Jennifer Moore-Mallinos
Publisher: B.E.S. Publishing
Total Pages: 40
Release: 2008
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN:

Told from a child's point of view, explains the causes of Down syndrome and describes the things people with the condition can do, and the ways in which they, just like other people, may need help.

A Balloon for Isabel

A Balloon for Isabel
Author: Deborah K. Underwood
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 38
Release: 2011-06-14
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 006206715X

Balloons are bright and floaty and shiny and perfect. More than anything else in the whole wide world, Isabel wants a balloon. Everyone will get one on Graduation Day—everyone except the porcupines, because Porcupines + Balloons = Trouble But Isabel isn't going to settle for another boring bookmark. She has a plan. . . .

My Heart Can't Even Believe It

My Heart Can't Even Believe It
Author: Amy Silverman
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2016-03-01
Genre: Child rearing
ISBN: 9781606132753

All parent stories about raising a child with Down syndrome are special and unique, but in the hands of a good writer, they can have the power to reach, change, and resonate far beyond family and friends. And that is the case with My Heart Can't Even Believe It, by journalist, blogger, and NPR contributor Amy Silverman. Amy bravely looks at her life, before and after her daughter Sophie was born, and reflects on her transformation from "a spoiled, self-centered brat," who used words like retard and switched lines at the Safeway to avoid a bagger with special needs, into the mother of a kid with Down syndrome and all that her new identity entails. She describes her evolution as gradual, one built by processing her fears and facing questions both big and small about Sophie, Down syndrome, and her place in the world. Funny, touching, and honest, this wonderful book looks at a daughter and her power to change minds and fill hearts with love so deep.

Untwine

Untwine
Author: Edwidge Danticat
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2015-09-29
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0545843316

“A genuinely moving exploration of the pain of separation” from the New York Times-bestselling author and National Book Award finalist (The New York Times Book Review). NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Literary Work 2015 VOYA Magazine Perfect Ten CCBC Choices List Selection Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books of the Year, 2016 New York Public Library Best Books for Teens Selection Giselle Boyer and her identical twin, Isabelle, are as close as sisters can be, even as their family seems to be unraveling. Then the Boyers have a tragic encounter that will shatter everyone’s world forever. Giselle wakes up in the hospital, injured and unable to speak or move. Trapped in the prison of her own body, Giselle must revisit her past in order to understand how the people closest to her—her friends, her parents, and above all, Isabelle, her twin—have shaped and defined her. Will she allow her love for her family and friends to lead her to recovery? Or will she remain lost in a spiral of longing and regret? Untwine is a spellbinding tale, lyrical and filled with love, mystery, humor, and heartbreak. Award-winning author Edwidge Danticat brings her extraordinary talent to this graceful and unflinching examination of the bonds of friendship, romance, family, the horrors of loss, and the strength we must discover in ourselves when all seems hopeless. “While Danticat fully grounds Giselle in her identity as a Haitian-American teen in Miami, this gentle young artist could speak to any teen anywhere coping with a major loss.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer

Isabelle's Boyfriend

Isabelle's Boyfriend
Author: Caroline Hickey
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2008-09-02
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1429952733

WHAT DO YOU DO IF THE GUY OF YOUR DREAMS IS SOMEBODY ELSE'S BOYFRIEND? Taryn has found the perfect guy. Epp is tall, athletic, handsome, and best of all, she is sure he likes her, too. There's only one problem: He's dating someone else. But when Taryn becomes friends with Epp's beautiful girlfriend, Isabelle, her life begins to change. New friends, movie dates, and a first kiss—life couldn't get any better, could it? Except that Epp is still Isabelle's boyfriend. Girls will relate to Taryn's sincerity and humor as she tries to balance family, friendship, and, of course, romance.