Review: I Was Here by Gayle Forman
I Was Here is full of wasted potential; Meg is as much of a prop to the story as Mr. Body is to Clue.
I Was Here is full of wasted potential; Meg is as much of a prop to the story as Mr. Body is to Clue.
I was intrigued by the virtual-reality premise, but this book is a veritable hotbed of misogyny and a case study in how not to write a wheelchair-using character.
I highly recommend Rage for anyone with depression, who wants to learn about depression, or anyone who just enjoys a good story. It’s moving, it’s clever, and despite its fantasy elements it’s incredibly realistic.
Although Kurt’s character seems to largely exist to serve the central romance, I was pleasantly surprised by how many pitfalls Perkins avoided in a wonderfully understated manner. Various assumptions and tropes were casually turned over with a single line here or there.
Like in real life, autism spectrum disorder alone is never the whole story, and Baskin does a good job balancing Jason’s autism with his writing life, family, school, and budding friendship. She’s succeeded in creating an authentic autistic character who is anything but stereotypical.
A good ending doesn’t erase the time I spent feeling isolated, excluded, and hurt because of the way Rose is treated.
This is a story about what it’s like to go crazy, and it is brilliantly, masterfully crafted.
In terms of disabled characters, what would our contributors like to see more of in children’s literature?
During April 2015, we’re holding an event dubbed Autism on the Page. Why is this event important? And what can you expect from us?
In science-fiction and fantasy, you invariably run into fictional disabilities and allegories. Do these “count” as disability? What makes them work successfully in a book?