This sequel is another peek into the life of Ellie, who loves to bake and loves her friends and her family. Ellie's family is growing-her mom is marrying the gym teacher at Ellie's school and Ellie is really happy for her mom. When her mom and her new stepdad leave to go on a honeymoon, they leave Ellie with her dad and his new wife and their two boys, which is difficult, because none of them know how to deal with someone in a wheelchair. To escape, Ellie joins a Miss Boots and Bows pageant with her best friend, Coralee, except that it's not really Ellie's thing. Ellie ends up teaching lots of different people that being different isn't a bad thing. Kids are going to love this sequel. More Ellie, please!

It was a delight to revisit Ellie's world in this follow up to Roll With It. Ellie's father (along with his wife and two children) come to stay with Ellie for four weeks while her newly remarried mother embarks on a honeymoon. Ellie's friends, Coralee and Bert, are along for the adventure as Coralee pulls Ellie into a pageant. While this story does stand on its own; the characters are more completely fleshed out in the original novel and I think readers will appreciate Time to Roll to a greater extent if they are familiar with Ellie and her friends already. The portions of the story set around the pageant give Ellie a new venue and a new cast of characters for finding her place and her voice. The feeling Ellie has, that she's being used by the pageant folks to prove how inclusive they are, provides an opening for conversations about how we treat people who have disabilities. I'm repeatedly impressed with how compassionately and realistically Sumner portrays flawed adults, Ellie's dad in particular. He is uncomfortable with Ellie's disability and she is understandably frustrated that he has to help him learn how to support her. Without making the resolution too easy, Sumner allows for some healing between Ellie and her dad, and for hope that they will grow closer in the future. This is ultimately a humorous and heartfelt story that middle grade readers will enjoy.

Cute, quick read. I would recommend this to my middle school students. Great to see a book with some disability diversity paired with a strong female protagonist.

Time to Roll is about Ellie, who has cerebral palsy, and her friends Coralee and Bert. When Ellie’s mom gets married, her dad and his family come stay with Ellie. She and her dad have never had much of a relationship and she is nervous about him coming. When Ellie’s friend Coralee wants her to join the Miss Boots and Bows Pageant, she starts on a journey to find her real beauty. As before, I love the characters: Bert, Coralee, Ellie’s grandparents, her dad, and of course, Ellie herself. They all go on a journey to figure out what is important to them in their relationships with one another. Having a child with cerebral palsy gives Jamie Sumner real knowledge and a heart to write about Ellie, making her feelings and life feel more real. I’m really hoping there will be one more book to this series!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this sequel to Jamie Sumner's Time to Roll. I was excited to read this one, and see where a second book would go. I still love the characters, but the story wasn't as compelling for me as the original. I did still like it and think a lot of students will be grateful for a sequel.

4 stars

In the sequel to _Roll with It_, Sumner takes readers back to Ellie's world and to the hilarious and memorable characters who inhabit it with her.

The novel begins at a major family event that provides an opportunity for Ellie to experience some added independence and some new and challenging situations. With her mom out of the home temporarily, Ellie must learn to navigate a challenging relationship with her dad and his second family and a number of circumstances that she would typically engage her mother in for background support. For those who know and love Ellie's mom, don't worry; she's still present in a creative way, but her physical absence is the tool Sumner uses to facilitate Ellie's new opportunities.

Along with expanding family dynamics, Ellie experiences micro and macroaggressions based on her disability, and as usual, she demonstrates that she is wise beyond her years (and also forgiving without being a pushover). Readers of all ages can learn a lot from Ellie's positive attitude, rage baking (love this and want to adopt immediately!), and general application of humor to even the most awkward situations.

Fans of the first book will be pleased with this sequel. Sumner does these characters justice and provides an entertaining read with many valuable lessons as added bonuses. I continue to truly enjoy this author and look forward to reading much more about Ellie and any other characters Sumner creates!

After reading Roll With It, I couldn’t wait to read the sequel. Ellie’s mom remarried and left her with her dad, stepmom, and stepbrothers while she takes an extended honeymoon. Her friends Coralee and Bert want her to participate in a long-running beauty pageant, which Ellie begrudgingly agrees to. She has mixed feelings once things get rolling, but she learns a lot about how others treat people with disabilities. Between the pageant, missing her mother, and trying to get to know her father, she has a lot on her plate.