Skateboard Renegade in Braille

Matt Christopher is the “#1 Sports Writer for Kids” according to his bio. Danimal sent me the braille addition of Skateboard Renegade that he rescued from the trash.

Buzz cut or ponytail? Grunge look? Tattoo, body paint, or earring? How about none of the above? When Zach takes up skateboarding, he doesn’t realize that he’s expected to look a certain way — and cop a certain attitude, too. At least that what it seems like. But Zach just isn’t comfortable with any of these things; he wants to skateboard for the fun of it, and maybe take part in a few competitions. Will he be ostracized because he looks and acts so “normal”? Or will his decision to stay true to himself mark him as a renegade, the very attitude his skateboarding buddies will appreciate?

Oh, the irony of being an outcast amongst outcasts for not embracing being a stereotype. I’m not sure why anyone would throw away a braille book, I would imagine the demand would exceed the supply, so this story must have been especially bad. See the Skateboard Renegade braille edition plus two other sighted edition covers after the jump.

Check out the facial expression on the kid about to slam in the background. I’m also wondering how the kid in the foreground got to this position. Maybe he’s bout to land a big air that he pulled out halfway down the transition.

Holy cow, is busting out frontside a ho-ho? This looks to be a later edition of the cover.

As expected, the braille edition is much thicker than the regular versions. This one need two books. Two more things my descendants will have to throw away when they clean out the basement after I die. “Why on earth was he saving braille books?”