{"id":2914,"date":"2015-12-13T13:00:16","date_gmt":"2015-12-13T18:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/?p=2914"},"modified":"2020-11-18T19:17:38","modified_gmt":"2020-11-18T19:17:38","slug":"review-blindsided-by-priscilla-cummings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/2015\/12\/13\/review-blindsided-by-priscilla-cummings\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Blindsided<\/i> by Priscilla Cummings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blindsided<\/a><\/em> by Priscilla Cummings tells the story of Natalie, a typical teenage girl whose world is rocked by the news that she will be completely blind within a matter of months due to glaucoma.\u00a0 Natalie leaves her family farm and local high school to attend a state school for the blind several hours away.\u00a0 Once there, she meets an interesting and diverse group of fellow students who both encourage and annoy her.<\/p>\n

The book touches on the very real bonds that form when a bunch of teenagers are together night and day for a whole school year (and that\u2019s coming from someone who met some of her very best friends \u2014 and her husband \u2014 at a place like this).\u00a0 I also loved that, as in real life, blindness was not the most important thing about any of the characters.<\/p>\n

\"Cover<\/a>\t\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBUY ON BOOKSHOP<\/span>\n\t\t\t\tBOOKSHOP<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t& support independent bookstores\n\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/article> \n\n\t<\/center><\/div>The author spent a year studying the culture and environment at her state’s school for the blind before writing Blindsided<\/em> and it absolutely showed! She had a real “insider perspective” that came out in the way she casually mentioned common rules of a school for the blind (at least in my experience). For example, Natalie had to pass a test with her Orientation and Mobility (cane) instructor to be allowed to leave the school (a big rite of passage). When she first arrived, she also worked with a mentor who helped her find her classes and settle in at the school.<\/p>\n

Beyond the topic of blindness, the book also gives a teen perspective on some very serious (and universal) topics including rape, drug use, and (more positively) friendship.<\/p>\n

I absolutely love this book! Like Natalie, I began losing my vision as a high school student (though not from glaucoma) and based on my experience, Natalie\u2019s emotions were spot-on. I seriously could have been reading my own journal as Natalie described her denial (\u201cThis won\u2019t really happen to me, will it?\u201d) her self-image (\u201cI mean I\u2019m not like these people, I\u2019m not really<\/em> blind.\u201d) and her bargaining with God.<\/p>\n

That being said, there were a few moments that made me cringe.\u00a0 Unfortunately, this book does contain the awkward \u201ccan I feel your face\u201d scene that pop culture seems determined to work into every book, movie or television show with a character who is blind. Seriously, imagine being a teenaged girl with pimples and oily skin. Now ask yourself, would you allow a teen boy (who you may possibly like) to touch said face \u2026 blind people don\u2019t really do that, people.<\/p>\n

I also thought that although in my experience Natalie felt all the \u201cright\u201d feelings of a teenager losing her vision she sort of sped through the process. In the course of one nine-month school year she received the news she would go blind, changed schools, experienced denial, bargaining, and grief, and made it all the way to acceptance in time to have a whole other traumatic experience (not related to blindness) by the end of the school year. (Yes, a lot <\/em>happened in this book.)<\/p>\n

Natalie acquired her \u201cblindness skills\u201d (braille, cane use, etc.) a little faster than is strictly realistic too, but I think this is forgivable considering the time constraints of a book and that it\u2019s not key to the plot in any way.<\/p>\n

Overall, this was the best books depicting blindness that I have ever read. Yes, there are some corny moments, but the relationships and emotions are so authentic that it completely makes up for it.\u00a0 I highly recommend you give it a read!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although the process of coping with and accepting sudden blindness seems rushed, this is one of the best books depicting blindness that I’ve read. Natalie’s emotions and time at a school for the blind are spot-on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":2915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_generate-full-width-content":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[168,254],"genre":[5],"age_category":[8],"disability":[68],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2914"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2914"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6730,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2914\/revisions\/6730"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2914"},{"taxonomy":"genre","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/genre?post=2914"},{"taxonomy":"age_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/age_category?post=2914"},{"taxonomy":"disability","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityinkidlit.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/disability?post=2914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}