Review: Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde
Queens of Geek is an authentic and refreshing portrayal of an autistic and anxious girl.
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Review: A Wizard Alone by Diane Duane
It’s a rare occurrence when an author can update an already published book, and even more rare when that update includes a huge overhaul of the portrayal of an autistic character. Alyssa Hillary takes a look at both the original and updated version in this review.
Review: OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu
Some people call OCD a doubting disease. Corey Ann Haydu infuses her story with the back-and-forth, pulsing presence of this doubt, resulting in a first-person, insider’s account of what the condition feels like for many.
Review: Omegaball by Robert J. Peterson
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.
Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Despite their proclamations to the contrary—“don’t tell me you’re one of those people who becomes their disease”—the characters are shown to have nothing in their lives that isn’t about their cancer.
Review: Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
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.
Discussion: Fictional Disabilities
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?
Review: I Funny by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein
We have so few stories—especially lighthearted ones—with wheelchair-using characters that I’d hoped I’d be able to recommend I Funny, but it’s a dangerous narrative wrapped up and presented as “good messages.”
Discussion: Romanticizing Mental Illness
Romanticization is a common element of mental illness narratives, including many in the YA category; what kind of message does that send?
Review: The Half-Life of Planets by Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin
While some elements of the representation were handled decently, I ultimately wasn’t a fan.