Unsinkable: From Russian Orphan to Paralympic Swimming World Champion by Jessica Long - ESSENTIAL

Unsinkable: From Russian Orphan to Paralympic Swimming World Champion by Jessica Long, 112 pages. Houghton Mifflin, New York.  2018. $17. 9781328707253 

Language: G (0 swears), Mature Content: G; Violence: G

BUYING ADVISORY:  EL, MS – ESSENTIAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

Jessica Long was adopted from a Russian orphanage when she was thirteen months old. She was born with a rare birth defect where the fibular bone in the lower legs were missing. This is called fibular hemimelia. She also did not have ankles, heels or most of the bones in her lower legs. Usually this defect only affects one leg. However, both of Jessica’s legs were affected. When she was only eighteen months old, her lower legs were amputated right below her knees. Her mom gave her a doll where the lower legs had been cut off, so her doll would be like her. Jessica learned fast to walk with her prostetic legs. Nothing could stop her. She was very active and especially loved swimming, earing a gold medal in the Paralympics in Athens at the age of 12.

This book is very positive and upbeat. Jessica is a very happy and positive person. She never let her handicap stop her from doing what she loved. She shows a tremendous amount of stick-to-it-tivness. She has not let her circumstance stand in her way of doing what she wanted, and loved to do. She worked hard and practiced for hours and hours. I loved the story of Jessica, and her journey from an orphanage in Russia to a very much admired and celebrated Paralympic gold medalist many times over. This is a must read and I highly recommend this book. It would be a great read-aloud for younger children and a book I will use for book talks with my students. Jessica shows that if you can dream it, work hard and never give up you can achieve anything you want.

Ellen-Anita, Library Teacher.