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Interview with Anne Ursu about The Real Boy
As The Real Boy was one of our favorite reads of the year, we couldn’t wait to invite author Anne Ursu over to discuss this wonderful, magical middle grade novel about an autistic boy.
As The Real Boy was one of our favorite reads of the year, we couldn’t wait to invite author Anne Ursu over to discuss this wonderful, magical middle grade novel about an autistic boy.
Many characters who may be mentally ill reject treatment out of hand, considering therapy a waste of time and suspecting medication will turn them into a zombie. Why are these narratives so popular? What are the alternatives?
We recap the highlights of our #diklSFF Twitter chat, including a link to the full Storify.
The most common wheelchair-using character has acquired paraplegia, but why is this particular narrative so prevalent, and at the expense of all others?
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.
These magical or futuristic “fixes” seem rooted in a discomfort with disability: many writers cannot (or don’t want to) imagine a life without sight and therefore create excuses to give their character equivalent sighted experiences.
While I don’t think disability metaphors are sufficient disability representation, I do think that they’ll come up naturally in many stories, and that they’re relevant to the discussion of disability in SFF.
Portrayals of scoliosis in fiction often lack realism. Why is there so little reflection on the factors that affect a person’s journey?
We’re looking to expand the Disability in Kidlit team, as the website has grown in popularity in recent months and we’re working on exciting new projects.
The two or three months I managed to get by on the reduced dose were enough to convince me: My psychiatrist is lying. I don’t need medication. I’m fine. I can beat this. Until, of course, I couldn’t.