Looking Back at 2016, and Looking Ahead to 2017
We take a moment to look back at our favorite posts and reads of the year, and to look ahead to the substantial changes 2017 will bring at Disability in Kidlit.
Blog overview
Post listing
Finding Yourself in a Book: Why I Wrote Blind Spot
I wanted to write about a real girl with real emotions struggling in a world that too often is unforgiving to those who don’t fit the right mold.
Review: Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
Wonderstruck is wonderful. It is, to date, the most creative and ambitious novel about the d/Deaf experience in America I’ve ever come across.
Review: Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland
The characterization and descriptions of Grace do disabled readers a disservice in more ways than one.
Review: Dead Girls Society by Michelle Krys
I appreciated the honesty and authenticity with which the emotional aspects of serious illness were written; the actual details of day-to-day life with cystic fibrosis, however, were a mixed bag.
Review: Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
Skim does a good job of showing misguided attempts to help those with depression, and lets the reader see the absurdity for themselves.
Review: Two Girls Staring at the Ceiling by Lucy Frank
I wish this book, featuring a girl newly diagnosed with Crohn’s, had existed when I was a teenager—my recurring thought throughout was, “Oh my god, someone wrote a book for me!”
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.
Review: Deenie by Judy Blume
When Deenie was first published, it may well have been a positive representation of the experience of a child with scoliosis, but it hasn’t held up well.
Review: A Time To Dance by Padma Venkatraman
Venkatraman creates a fully-formed character, and nails both the details and the emotion of having a limb amputated and adjusting to life afterwards.