If your kids are middle grade readers, or you simply love a book with humor and heart, Jamie Sumner deserves a spot on your shelf. The best-selling author is a mom of twins and of a son with cerebral palsy, and she often writes about the disability experience. In a recent Q&A, she shared the story behind her newest novel, plus some favorites that make a mom's heart happy.
About the Book: Wish You Well
Wish You Well came out last month and follows three kids with serious medical diagnoses who pretend to be friends in order to scam a wish-granting foundation. It's a funny premise with a lot of heart, because those fake friendships start to mean far more than the kids expected.
Sumner says the story grew out of the many hours she has spent with her son at the children's hospital: "It is an in-between space where time means a different thing, and I wanted to capture that for those who've never experienced it... but more importantly for those who have. It is a love letter to nurses and doctors and the kids in those halls who are the bravest, kindest people I have ever met."
More Jamie Sumner Books to Try
- Roll With It series, a popular pick for middle grade readers
- Deep Water
- Please Pay Attention, written in response to the Covenant School shooting
Jamie's Favorite Things
A book she gives again and again: Elmer the Elephant by David McKee. Elmer is a patchwork explosion of color who learns it's okay to be different. It was the first book her son Charlie loved.
What brought her family closer: a screened-in porch with a peaked ceiling and skylights. It's where she writes until the cold pushes her inside, and where the family ate nearly every summer dinner as the lightning bugs came out.
An ordinary joy: Piper, a three-year-old rescue torbie cat. Charlie was skittish around pets until Piper, who now curls up on his bed and makes him laugh.
Would-rebuy items: her AirPods and Hoka running shoes. She runs every morning with a podcast, which is when she works out what her characters will do that day.
The Speed Round
- Drink: iced coffee year-round, ideally nitro cold brew
- Cookbook: her grandmother's coverless, falling-apart church cookbook from Oklahoma, "a book of memories"
- Art supply: fine-tipped Sharpies in assorted colors, which she uses to color-code every family member's activities
- Children's books: Elmer the Elephant and Peter Reynolds' Ish, a favorite for perfectionists
Why It Matters for Your Bookshelf
Books that center kids with disabilities and medical challenges help all children build empathy, and they let kids who live those experiences see themselves on the page. If you're planning holiday gifts, a signed-on-your-list copy of Wish You Well is a thoughtful pick for a middle grader.
Inspired by the original Q&A at Cool Mom Picks.
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