# Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

**Author:** Dusti Bowling
**Grade range:** Grades 3–5
**First published:** 2017
**Page count:** 200
**ISBN-13:** `9781454923466`
**ISBN-10:** `1454923466`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/insignificant-events-in-the-life-of-a-cactus
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

“Aven is a perky, hilarious, and inspiring protagonist whose attitude and humor will linger even after the last page has turned.” —School Library Journal (Starred review) Aven Green loves to tell people that she lost her arms in an alligator wrestling match, or a wildfire in Tanzania, but the truth is she was born without them. And when her parents take a job running Stagecoach Pass, a rundown western theme park in Arizona, Aven moves with them across the country knowing that she’ll have to answer the question over and over again. Her new life takes an unexpected turn when she bonds with Connor, a classmate who also feels isolated because of his own disability, and they discover a room at Stagecoach Pass that holds bigger secrets than Aven ever could have imagined. It’s hard to solve a mys

## Where this book is assigned

### Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award

- **recommended** · 3rd grade · Connecticut — [source: Connecticut Library Association + Connecticut Association of School Librarians — Nutmeg Book Award (student-choice; Elementary/Intermediate/Middle/Teen; annual since 1993)](https://nutmegaward.org/)
- **recommended** · 4th grade · Connecticut — [source: Connecticut Library Association + Connecticut Association of School Librarians — Nutmeg Book Award (student-choice; Elementary/Intermediate/Middle/Teen; annual since 1993)](https://nutmegaward.org/)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · Connecticut — [source: Connecticut Library Association + Connecticut Association of School Librarians — Nutmeg Book Award (student-choice; Elementary/Intermediate/Middle/Teen; annual since 1993)](https://nutmegaward.org/)

### Utah Beehive Book Award (Children's Fiction)

- **recommended** · 3rd grade · Utah — [source: Children's Literature Association of Utah (CLAU) — Beehive Book Award, Children's Fiction division (student-choice; annual since 1980)](https://clau.org/)
- **recommended** · 4th grade · Utah — [source: Children's Literature Association of Utah (CLAU) — Beehive Book Award, Children's Fiction division (student-choice; annual since 1980)](https://clau.org/)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · Utah — [source: Children's Literature Association of Utah (CLAU) — Beehive Book Award, Children's Fiction division (student-choice; annual since 1980)](https://clau.org/)

### William Allen White Children's Book Award

- **recommended** · 3rd grade · Kansas — [source: William Allen White Children's Book Award winners (Emporia State University), via Wikipedia — 2020](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Allen_White_Children%27s_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 4th grade · Kansas — [source: William Allen White Children's Book Award winners (Emporia State University), via Wikipedia — 2020](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Allen_White_Children%27s_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · Kansas — [source: William Allen White Children's Book Award winners (Emporia State University), via Wikipedia — 2020](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Allen_White_Children%27s_Book_Award)

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