TANSY, THE THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD PROTAGONIST  of Lira Brannon’s A Different Kind of Cheerleader, is confined to a wheelchair after experiencing a fall ten years ago.

Year after year, week after week, Tansy endures physical therapy. To her, the therapy is just a waste of time. Her back is broken, and she believes that her life will never amount to anything. The internal rage and anger the bitter teenager feels about the death of her dream – that of being a cheerleader – almost ruins her relationship with her family and her best friend, Bryn, who never gives up on Tansy.

A series of events leads Tansy to believe that the whole world conspires against her: Her physical therapist keeps hounding her about future plans; Bryn tells Tansy how God has changed her life; Tansy meets a man whom she believes to be an angel; she meets the youth pastor at Bryn’s church.

Brannon weaves a plot that clearly demonstrates her understanding of the challenges and the emotions of a teen aged girl whose experiences take her from one calamity to another only to become life-changing events, events that help her cope with her disabilities so that she not only can begin her faith journey but also begin to think about a more positive future.