Please Pay Attention, Jamie Sumner
Please Pay Attention, Jamie Sumner
List: $14.99 | Sale: $10.50
Club: $7.49

Please Pay Attention

Author: Jamie Sumner

Narrator: Erin Moon

Unabridged: 3 hr 5 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/15/2025


Synopsis

Three starred reviews!

A girl with cerebral palsy navigates loss, grief, and the aftermath of trauma following a school shooting in a world that wasn’t built for her in this “intimate, lyrical” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) novel in verse from Jamie Sumner, the acclaimed author of Roll with It.

There is a Before and an After for sixth grader Bea Coughlin. Before the shooting at her school that took the lives of her classmates and teacher and After, when she must figure out how to grieve, live, and keep rolling forward. But as her community rallies in a tidal wave of marches and speeches and protests, Bea can’t get past the helplessness she felt in her wheelchair as others around her took cover.

Through the help of therapeutic horseback riding, Bea finally begins to feel like herself again. And as she heals, she finds her voice and the bravery to demand change.

About Jamie Sumner

Jamie Sumner is the author of Roll with ItTime to Roll, Rolling OnTune It OutOne Kid’s TrashThe Summer of JuneMaid for ItDeep WaterPlease Pay AttentionSchooled, and Glory Be. Her work has appeared in The New York TimesThe Washington Post, and other publications. She loves stories that celebrate the grit and beauty in all kids. She is also the mother of a son with cerebral palsy and has written extensively about parenting a child with special needs. She and her family live in Nashville, Tennessee. Visit her at Jamie-Sumner.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by akacya ❦ on April 24, 2025

2025 reads: 84/300 i received a digital review copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. this did not affect my rating. content warnings: school shooting, grief, ableism there is a before and after for bea coughlin, an eighth grader with cerebral palsy. before the school s......more

Goodreads review by Anna on March 31, 2025

This is one I would recommend to everyone. It follows a middle schooler before and after school shooting. She has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair and realized that she couldn't follow the directions of "just get down" when the unthinkable happened at her school. This book is told in two parts wh......more

Goodreads review by Rebekah on March 30, 2025

TW: School shooting (specifically the Covenant School shooting in Nashville) I was in Nashville (in a school on the other side of town) when the tragedy at Covenant happened. Not really sure I have words for this one. Thank you, Jamie, for telling this story. "Some people cried into empty hands and w......more

Goodreads review by Melanie on July 16, 2024

Bea was born fighting to live but now as a sixth grader, she is content living with her adoptive mom, Max, next door to Lucius and Aaron, and being a sixth grade big sister to kindergarten Josie at school. Life is good, even from where she sits in the wheelchair she must use due to the cerebral pals......more

Goodreads review by Harley on January 27, 2025

This was incredible. So well written. I need to process before I write an actual review.......more