In Jesse’s Shoes by Beverly Lewis

In Jesse’s Shoes is a story told from the perspective of the older sister, Allie. Allie loves her brother Jesse very much, but struggles with having a brother that is just “wired differently,” as her parents told her. She has the responsibility of walking her brother to his school bus each morning. Jesse did not always cooperate and easily got sidetracked. Allie saw other kids snickering and laughing at the way her brother Jesse acted.

Allie loved her brother but just wanted him to be more “normal” around her friends. One day after school she blurted out to her Dad that she just did not understand Jesse, and her Dad responded by saying, “Of course you don’t understand him, you have not walked in his shoes.”

The next day when Allie met Jesse after school, Jesse bent down took his shoes off and told Allie to walk in his shoes. That is exactly what Allie did, all the way home.

Having the chance to view things as Jesse did, Allie found the courage to stick up for her brother to her friends.

I highly recommend this book. It is a children’s book, but many adults could benefit from reading it also. In fact after I received it in the mail, my 13-year-old plopped on the couch and read the book all the way through. I asked him what he thought of the book, and he said, “Mom, this is the best book I have read in awhile.”

The illustrations are beautiful and the book will leave a lump in your throat. Sometimes we just don’t understand until we walk in another person’s shoes.

Purchase this book in the Book Store.