Melanie and the Wheelie Friends Save the Day

The Scooter Twins are back! And this time, Melanie rallies the Wheelie Friends to band together to make their brand-new local bakery accessible.

The day that Bevington's Bakery opens just down the street, Melanie and Melvin are first in line! But there's one big problem -- a small step in the doorway means that their mobility scooters can't get in. When Mr. Bevington claims he can't afford a ramp, Melanie decides his answer isn't good enough. She wants to choose her own cookies. She deserves to come and go like anyone else.

Melanie reaches out to other kids who use mobility devices -- the Wheelie Friends! All summer long, they sit outside the bakery, working together to raise funds for a ramp. Will they get the respect they deserve? And will they finally get their cookies?

This follow-up to The Scooter Twins is written by disability advocate and mobility scooter user Dorothy Ellen Palmer and illustrated by Maria Sweeney. Melanie and the Wheelie Friends Save the Day emphasizes the importance of self-advocacy, and offers many kids who use mobility devices the opportunity to find themselves in the pages of a book.

Key Text Features

illustrations

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.1

With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3

With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7

With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1

Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2

Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3

Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7

Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

DOROTHY ELLEN PALMER is a mother of two, an award-winning disabled senior writer, accessibility advocate and retired teacher. She served on the Accessibility Advisory Board of the Festival of Literary Diversity and regularly appears at literary festivals. She won the Helen Henderson Award for disability journalism, and has published three novels, the memoir Falling for Myself, and her first picture book, The Scooter Twins. She lives in Burlington, Ontario, with her mobility scooter, Rosie.

MARIA SWEENEY is a Moldovan-born, United States-based freelance illustrator and comic artist. She graduated magna cum laude from Moore College of Art and Design with a BFA in Illustration. Her educational mini-comic, The Straw Ban, won an Outstanding Submission for the 2019 Locher Memorial Awards. She writes and self-publishes comics relating to her experience of navigating the world with a rare disability.