Roller Coaster Kid

“When grandpa was my age, he rode a roller coaster one hundred times in a row.” Every summer Zach visits his grandparents and visits Oceanside Park where his grandfather once rode a roller coaster called “The Whipper” one hundred times in a row. Zach and his grandpa are exactly alike, except Zach doesn’t like roller coasters. But every year Zach gets in line with grandpa to ride “the Whipper” and then backs out, Zach finds he is more like his grandmother: they both like seashells, strawberry ice cream and riding the tame Ferris wheel. Then one summer, everything has changed. Without Grandma, nothing feels right. Zach decides that what Grandpa needs is the Whipper. Maybe this will be the time Zach faces his fears and becomes a roller coaster kid. This is a very gentle handling of the death of a grandparent and how the loss affects the remaining grandparent. Ages 5-11 978-0670011506 40 pages Recommended by: Alice Cyphers, Librarian, Pennsylvania USA