Life Happens Next by Terry Trueman Page A

of my son Sheehan Trueman, a profoundly developmentally disabled man. Or in the life of Stuck in Neutral after it was selected as a Printz Honor Book in January 2001 and how the book has touched so many people, including those with developmental disabilities and their care providers. Or the ways my life has changed on account of having written Shawn’s story.
    In 2001 I remarried. Patti and I had already been together for nearly a decade with the shared responsibility of providing care in our home for her younger sister Donna, who has Down syndrome.
    My invention of Debi Eagen in this story is based on the life of my sister-in-law Donna, just as Shawn McDaniel is based on my son Sheehan. Shawn and Debi are fictional creations. I made them up . But it’s unlikely I’d ever have been able to invent and create such characters without being a part of Sheehan’s and Donna’s real lives.
    My stories are an attempt to expand my readers’ and my own compassion, empathy, and understanding of the lives of people struggling and dealing with extraordinary challenges and situations. I hope this sequel to Stuck in Neutral achieves that higher purpose.
    Terry Trueman

Other Works
    Also By Terry Trueman
    Life Happens Next, 2012
    Hurricane, 2008
    7 Days at the Hot Corner, 2008
    No Right Turn, 2006
    Cruise Control, 2004
    Inside Out, 2003
    Stuck in Neutral, 2000

Credits
    Cover design by Sammy Yuen
    Cover art © 2012 by Cliff Nielsen

Copyright
    HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
    Life Happens Next
    Copyright © 2012 by Terry Trueman
    All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
    www epicreads.com
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    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
    Trueman, Terry.
    Life happens next / Terry Trueman. — 1st ed.
    p. cm.
    Sequel to: Stuck in neutral.
    Summary: Shawn McDaniel, almost fifteen, cannot speak and has no control over his body due to severe cerebral palsy, but he forms a strong connection with his mother’s cousin Debi, who has Down syndrome, and her dog Rusty.
    ISBN 978-0-06-202803-7 (trade bdg.)
    EPub Edition © JUNE 2012 ISBN 9780062028082
    [1. Cerebral palsy—Fiction. 2. Down syndrome—Fiction. 3. People with disabilities—Fiction. 4. Communication—Fiction. 5. Family life—Washington (State)—Seattle—Fiction. 6. Dogs—Fiction. 7. Special education—Fiction. 8. Seattle (Wash.)—Fiction.] I. Title
PZ7.T7813 Lif 2012
2011044627
[Fic]—dc23
CIP
 
AC
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    12 13 14 15 16    CG/RRDH    10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

    First Edition

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