The Short Bus ($14.00) by Jonathon Mooney

Labeled "dyslexic and profoundly learning disabled," Jonathan Mooney, an honors graduate from Brown University, was a short-bus rider -- a derogatory term used for kids in special education.  To learn how others had moved beyond labels, he bought his own short bus and set out cross-country, looking for kids who had dreamed up magical, beautiful ways to overcome the obstacles that separated them from the so-called normal world.

The Short Bus is his irreverent and poignant record of that odyssey, meeting 13 people in 13 states who taught Mooney that there's no such thing as normal--and that to really live, everybody must find their own special ways of keeping on .  The Short Bus is a unique gem, propelled by Mooney's heart, humor and outrageous rebellions.

"What makes this journey so inspiring is Mooney's transcendent humor, the self he has become does not turn away from old pain but can laugh at it, make fun of it, make it into something beautiful." Los Angeles Times

"Endearing...chatty narrative...[Mooney's] boundless empathy will surely console those who also face the worst that cruel school children and the educational bureaucracy have to offer." The New York Times Book Review

"Mooney uses self-deprecating humor to diffuse anything that smacks of a pity party.  Most important, he celebrates the immense diversity of human minds, reminding us that there is much to be learned thom those who make their home somewhere beyond 'normal' ".  Newsday