Head Case by Sarah Aronson
173 pages; 2007

Seventeen-year-old Frank Marder struggles to deal with the aftermath of an accident he had while driving drunk that killed two people, including his girlfriend, and left him paralyzed from the neck down. Now Frank can't walk he can't move, he can't feel his skin. He needs someone to feed him to wash him, to move his body.

When you're a head, do you ever feel like a whole person? Will Frank ever get to forgive himself?

Thaw by Monica Roe
235 pages; 2008

Eighteen-year-old Dane's been hit with Guillain-Barre syndrome and is paralyzed except for his eyes. Sent to a Florida rehab center, his speech returns quickly, but other muscle control requires strenuous work and improves only in minute stages. Chapters in the rehab center alternate with flashbacks to home in upstate New York, where Dane is shown to be self-centered and utterly cold to his ski teammates and girlfriend Elise. Well written, but ultimately vexing. ~ Kirkus Reviews

Shark Girl by Kelly L. Bingham
276 pages; 2007

On a sunny day in June, at the beach with her mom and brother, fifteen-year-old Jane Arrowood went for a swim. And then everything - absolutely everything - changed. Now she's counting down the days until she returns to school with her fake arm, where she knows kids will whisper, "That's her - that's Shark Girl," as she passes. In the meantime there are only questions: Why did this happen? Why her? What about her art? What about her life? In this striking first novel, Kelly Bingham uses poems, letters, telephone conversations, and newspaper clippings to look unflinchingly at what it's like to lose part of yourself - and to summon the courage it takes to find yourself again. ~ Publisher's Description