SOLVED. Children's book with character who had polio and maybe fell off a fence, possibly 1990s. [s]

[Jessica]

This was a book read in the 1990s that included a kid who in a wheelchair who had had polio. There was something in the book about falling off a fence. The book was sad and serious, like a TV drama. The cover was blue and had a fence with two kids, a girl and a boy; the girl maybe was sitting on the fence.

[bookel]

http://www.librarything.com/list/547/...#
Not on this list yet?

[bookel]

https://www.librarything.com/work/254...
Reminds me of the cover for I Can Jump Puddles but that's an autobiography. You want fiction?

[Jessica]

The book was fiction. I'm not sure it was *about* polio, just that there was a main character who was in a wheelchair from having had polio.

[bookel]

http://www.librarything.com/list/631/...#
Wheelchair could be a search keyword then.
Read in the early or late 1990s?
New or older book at the time?

[Angela]

Could it be Following My Own Footsteps by Mary Downing Hahn?

From Kirkus:

"For as long as he can remember, Gordy and the other members of his family have been routinely beaten bloody by his alcoholic father. In fact, his father is in jail for beating one brother, now hospitalized. Mama, unable to support the family alone, takes the family to Grandma's house in North Carolina, where Gordy--a tough kid who brawls, curses, and scorns school--meets his match; Grandma will brook none of Gordy's sass. Outside her house he's as obnoxious as ever until he meets William, wheelchair -bound from polio . The boys soon become good friends, until Gordy's well-intentioned plan to force William to walk results in William's mother taking him away. Can things get worse? They can--Daddy is out of jail and Mama, a born victim, is ready to rejoin him. Gordy knows he'll never be happy at Grandma's, but the alternative is worse. As Grandma slowly begins to breach Gordy's carefully constructed walls of toughness and bluster, he starts to realize that he's where he belongs. William returns, with leg braces and crutches, but without the wheelchair , an improvement credited to Gordy. A cast of unforgettable characters inhabit this work, seasoned with WW II setting but utterly contemporary in its concerns. Hahn is in top form, proving through Gordy's first-person narration that real love can triumph over all kinds of adversity, and often does. (Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 1996)"

[Jessica]

Angela wrote: "Could it be Following My Own Footsteps by Mary Downing Hahn?

From Kirkus:

"For as long as he can remember, Gordy and the..."

So my friend who asked me to post this says that Following My Own Footsteps sounds familiar and he thinks he read it in school, but he doesn't think it's the book he's thinking of in this case. I may have to get a copy so we can confirm!

[Jen]

Was there a horse, and burglars who broke into the home?

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

[Jessica]

OK, Following My Own Footsteps does not have anyone falling off a fence. My friend looked at Tall and Proud as well, and said it was not the book either. The search continues!

[Aileen]

This is also the one I was thinking of



Jen wrote: "Was there a horse, and burglars who broke into the home?

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1..."

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Jessica, are you still looking for this or did you find it?

[Jessica]

Still looking!

[Rainbowheart]

Hero of Lesser Causes?

[Jessica]

Rainbowheart wrote: "Hero of Lesser Causes?

"

YES!!!! He says that's it!! He is in utter shock right now. Thank you!

[Rainbowheart]

Awesome news, glad I was able to help out!