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marleefayek's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
A strong YA book that looks at diversity of disability and examines internalized and systemic oppression of ableism. The characters are vivid, and nuanced as is the plot. Loved it!
foggy_rosamund's review against another edition
5.0
Written by disability-rights activist Harriet McBryde Johnson, who had muscular dystrophy, this novel is set in a summer camp for disabled people, in 1970. I have never before read a book where all major characters are disabled: usually, novels about disabled people focus on the protagonist trying to interact with and fit into the abled world. But this novel is about throwing that idea away: it's about how the disabled body is something to celebrate, and disabled people do not have to change to be respected and valued. The world should accept them as they are. Seeing the social theory of disability explained and discussed in a book for teenagers is thrilling.
The story focus on Jean, a teenager with cerebral palsy, who uses a wheelchair, and is the first disabled student to attend her high school. She has rarely met other disabled people, and at first seeing other disabled teenagers is frightening and overwhelming for her. She meets Sara, who has muscular dystrophy (and, the reader infers, is a version of McBryde Johnson) and Sara talks about the ableism she faces, both in the world at large and in the patronising treatment she experiences from the camp leaders and counselors. It's the first time Jean has been exposed to the concept of ableism, and she finds Sara's attitude, with her bitterness, anger and rebellion, hard to handle, but also compelling. The reader sees Jean's attitude towards the people around her change: she grows to see beauty in the other campers, and realises that disabled bodies are just as worthy of respect and celebration as any other body.
One of my problems with this book is that the empowerment and respect for disabled people seems to be limited for those who do not have an intellectual disability, or autism. Frequently, the characters who are ID/DD and/or autistic are treated as something lesser. That said, Margie, who has an intellectual disability is shown as a character in her own right, and there are instances when the narrative celebrates the autistic characters speaking up for and expressing themselves. The main focus of this book though, is on disabled bodies, and physically disabled people being celebrated for who they are, without being forced to change or put themselves throw pain in order to walk or seem more like other people. And that's wonderful: this book is incredibly important, and continues to feel revolutionary, even decades after the year (1970) in which the story takes place.
I recommend this book for anyone, especially people who have not thought much about disability before. It is easy to read and understand, and the ideas it contains are vital.
The story focus on Jean, a teenager with cerebral palsy, who uses a wheelchair, and is the first disabled student to attend her high school. She has rarely met other disabled people, and at first seeing other disabled teenagers is frightening and overwhelming for her. She meets Sara, who has muscular dystrophy (and, the reader infers, is a version of McBryde Johnson) and Sara talks about the ableism she faces, both in the world at large and in the patronising treatment she experiences from the camp leaders and counselors. It's the first time Jean has been exposed to the concept of ableism, and she finds Sara's attitude, with her bitterness, anger and rebellion, hard to handle, but also compelling. The reader sees Jean's attitude towards the people around her change: she grows to see beauty in the other campers, and realises that disabled bodies are just as worthy of respect and celebration as any other body.
One of my problems with this book is that the empowerment and respect for disabled people seems to be limited for those who do not have an intellectual disability, or autism. Frequently, the characters who are ID/DD and/or autistic are treated as something lesser. That said, Margie, who has an intellectual disability is shown as a character in her own right, and there are instances when the narrative celebrates the autistic characters speaking up for and expressing themselves. The main focus of this book though, is on disabled bodies, and physically disabled people being celebrated for who they are, without being forced to change or put themselves throw pain in order to walk or seem more like other people. And that's wonderful: this book is incredibly important, and continues to feel revolutionary, even decades after the year (1970) in which the story takes place.
I recommend this book for anyone, especially people who have not thought much about disability before. It is easy to read and understand, and the ideas it contains are vital.
samranakhtar's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
iffer's review against another edition
4.0
This book is extremely good in it's own right, but definitely the best that I have read that falls into the genre about disabilities (not that I've read many, and not that many even exist). I think that it's well worth its while for anyone to read for an honest, funny, sharp novel about that gives insight into the disabled community/culture. The novel isn't sentimental, and impressed me with its non-Pollyanna-type ending and the author's description of the main character's sudden coming-of-age moment, one that everyone who's left home and returned changed can empathize with, even if it's not complicated by the realization that Norms, even the ones who love you, can never truly understand what it's like to be a Crip.
megana73's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
libraryofdreaming's review against another edition
Harriet McBryde Johnson is a legend in the disability community and I really admire her message in this book. However, the language and attitudes of the book (while historically accurate for 1970) were incredibly difficult to read. I'm also unsure about the way race is discussed here. Again, it may be accurate for 1970 but this book was published in 2006. We're having much better conversations today and I think we owe our young readers better too.
bethebookworm's review against another edition
3.0
Pros:
- Unique insight into the world(s) of teenagers with disabilities in an ability oriented society. This is something needed in teen fiction (and for adults who work with or live with teenagers who have disabilities too).
- The book dealt well with a lot of challenging issues - the de-sexualization of people with physical/cognitive disabilities, the negative effects of many fundraising attempts (i.e. Telethons), and the dangers of categorizing people with disabilities as heroes, victims, angels etc.
- I appreciate that the author writes from her life experience, and I look forward to reading her non-fiction writing.
Cons:
- It was a little painfully obvious that the author herself was portrayed as the new friend of the protagonist. I appreciate fictionalized memoirs, but felt that the whole book would have been stronger if she had told the story from her own perspective rather than another character.
- Because of the above, I doubted the authenticity of the main character in terms of some of the details of life for a teenager with CP. I couldn't help thinking "I've never seen a teen with CP walk like that". Of course, it is a story, not a medical treatise, and the likelihood is some of the things described have changed over the years as treatment approaches and surgical interventions have evolved.
- Unique insight into the world(s) of teenagers with disabilities in an ability oriented society. This is something needed in teen fiction (and for adults who work with or live with teenagers who have disabilities too).
- The book dealt well with a lot of challenging issues - the de-sexualization of people with physical/cognitive disabilities, the negative effects of many fundraising attempts (i.e. Telethons), and the dangers of categorizing people with disabilities as heroes, victims, angels etc.
- I appreciate that the author writes from her life experience, and I look forward to reading her non-fiction writing.
Cons:
- It was a little painfully obvious that the author herself was portrayed as the new friend of the protagonist. I appreciate fictionalized memoirs, but felt that the whole book would have been stronger if she had told the story from her own perspective rather than another character.
- Because of the above, I doubted the authenticity of the main character in terms of some of the details of life for a teenager with CP. I couldn't help thinking "I've never seen a teen with CP walk like that". Of course, it is a story, not a medical treatise, and the likelihood is some of the things described have changed over the years as treatment approaches and surgical interventions have evolved.
librariann's review against another edition
3.0
At a summer camp in the 1970's, a girl learns what it is like to be around other people with disabilities.
settingshadow's review against another edition
5.0
Harriet McBryde Johnson may have looked at her life as being "too late to die young;" however, she died younger than she should have and her unique, powerful voice was lost to us. I tend to be skeptical about freshman novels, skeptical about the first person, skeptical about authorial self-inserts and skeptical about manifestos parading as novels. Accidents of Nature falls into all of the above categories; however, it is transcendent.
First and foremost, for a lawyer with no formal training on creative writing, Johnson has an unbelievable knack with characterization. Her characters are understated, but unique; flawed but sympathetic. Even characters that disagree with her point of view are granted strengths. The message in Accidents of Nature is very similar to that of "Too Late to Die Young;" however, in novel format, it is somehow easier to understand -- that Johnson is suggesting an approach that is taken to all people with disabilities, not just razor sharp Southern ADA lawyers who happen to be disabled. And while groups such as Disability is Natural are beginning to champion similar movements, Johnson is one of the first and one of the loudest to take her approach to the disability movement. Accidents of Nature is guaranteed to challenge how all of us think disability and Johnson makes it clear, by inserting a caricature of herself, that even she is not above reproach.
I read this in a sitting, but it will stay with me for a long, long time.
First and foremost, for a lawyer with no formal training on creative writing, Johnson has an unbelievable knack with characterization. Her characters are understated, but unique; flawed but sympathetic. Even characters that disagree with her point of view are granted strengths. The message in Accidents of Nature is very similar to that of "Too Late to Die Young;" however, in novel format, it is somehow easier to understand -- that Johnson is suggesting an approach that is taken to all people with disabilities, not just razor sharp Southern ADA lawyers who happen to be disabled. And while groups such as Disability is Natural are beginning to champion similar movements, Johnson is one of the first and one of the loudest to take her approach to the disability movement. Accidents of Nature is guaranteed to challenge how all of us think disability and Johnson makes it clear, by inserting a caricature of herself, that even she is not above reproach.
I read this in a sitting, but it will stay with me for a long, long time.