Plastic Back [Paperback]

Anna Rakes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 17, 2006

If I did end up with a brace, how would I ever have any more amazing assists? Who would get Becca the ball and how would the team win without their captain?

For basketball superstar Anna Beth, life as a seventh grader is just as cool as she thought it would be. She’s finally in junior high and the excitement of sports, school dances, and friends consumes her every thought.

But when Anna Beth is diagnosed with scoliosis and made to wear a back brace, her life quickly becomes much more complicated. With her plastic shell, dances are awkward, sports are hard to play, and good friends are difficult to find.

Though the brace forces her to change some aspects of her life, she soon realizes that certain things—her family’s love for her and the friendship of true friends—will never change. Plastic Back shares the story of Anna Beth’s struggle to survive junior high and discover a full life despite her new plastic “accessory”.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Anna Rakes earned a BA in history and a MT in elementary education from the University of Virginia. Plastic Back, her first novel, is based on Anna’s experience with scoliosis. Anna grew up in Roanoke, Virginia and currently resides and teaches in San Marcos, Texas.

Product Details

• Paperback: 94 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (March 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595385435
• ISBN-13: 978-0595385430
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #420,239 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, May 16, 2006

By 

E. Lee "scoli-girl" (Auckland, NZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Plastic Back (Paperback)

Received book to all the way to New Zealand in under a week so great delivery!
Book was great! As a girl who's got scoliosis, it captured the scoli-essence well and was written very goodly:)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Been there..., May 13, 2006

By 

BraceWearer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Plastic Back (Paperback)

I read this book very recently, and absolutely loved it! :) I wore a Milwaukee brace 23/7 from 4th grade through 7th grade, and now I have a Providence bending brace. Even though I never wore (yet) a Boston Brace, I could totally relate to this book! She wrote this book with such accuracy that only a true scoli kid could write with, and this book is so great for us (meaning scoli kids) to have our friends read. I'm extremely appreciative to finally have a book about scoliosis that isn't just informative, and actually comes from a former brace wearer! Thanks for writing it... and to those who haven't read it- you should!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for teens with scoliosis, August 29, 2006

By 

David K. Wolpert "Author and Publisher" (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Plastic Back (Paperback)

This is a wonderful book - engaging, humorous, inspiring, and dramatically realistic. I'm now 34, but I wore a brace for two years as a teenager and vividly recall confronting many of the same challenging emotions that the character of Anna Beth experiences in the book. While the narrative revolves around scoliosis issues, this is really a book about overcoming formidable obstacles at a young age. As such, it should be appealing to all young readers, regardless of whether they have scoliosis. And, while the book addresses some issues that are perhaps more pertinent to girls, I agree with another reviewer that most boys will enjoy it, too.