Extraordinary

Last spring, Pansy chickened out right before going to spring break camp, even though she’d promised her best friend, Anna, they’d go together. It was just like when they went to get their hair cut for Locks of Love, and only one of them walked out with a new hairstyle.

But Pansy never got the chance to make it up to Anna. At camp Anna contracted meningitis and a dangerously high fever, and she hasn’t been the same since. Now all Pansy wants is her daring best friend back?not the silent girl in the wheelchair who has to go to a special school.

When Pansy discovers that Anna is getting a surgery that might cure her, she realizes this could be her chance?she’ll become the friend Anna always deserved?even if it means taking risks, and trying new things (like those scary roller skates).

Pansy’s chasing extraordinary, hoping she reaches it in time for her friend’s triumphant return. But what lies at the end of her journey might not be exactly what she had expected?or wanted.

Miriam Spitzer Franklin is a former elementary and middle school teacher who currently teaches homeschooled students and is a writer in residence with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Extraordinary was inspired by a niece who suffered a brain injury after a high fever led to a stroke. Miriam lives with her husband, two daughters, and two cats in North Carolina.