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A review by foggy_rosamund
Accidents of Nature by Harriet McBryde Johnson
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.