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[CCBC-Net] Disabilities - Blindness, in particular
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From: Steward, Celeste <csteward>
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:48:10 -0700
"I think also that some other disabilities, such as autism and asperger's syndrome, are now just coming to the forefront, but with a vengeance, it appears. I suspect that we will see many more novels with characters with these neurological differences as the number of diagnoses grows (which I understand is currently happening)."
Good point...there's a recent paperback mystery series called Wright and Wong (for grades 3-6) in which one of the main characters has Aspergers syndrome.
Celeste Steward
Collection Development Librarian, Children's Services Alameda County Library 2400 Stevenson Blvd. Fremont, CA 94538
-----Original Message----- From: ccbc-net-bounces at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
[mailto:ccbc-net-bounces at ccbc.education.wisc.edu] On Behalf Of Melissa Henderson Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 7:57 AM To: ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu Subject: [CCBC-Net] Disabilities - Blindness, in particular
It's interesting to me how many stories I can easily think of that have a primary character who is blind but where the disability if not a primary focus of the story.
The Schwa Was Here also came to my mind as a novel that featured a blind character , but was not a "disability story." Another variation on this theme is the Clement novel Things Not Seen in which the blindness of one of the main characters is essential to the plot, but, again, the book is not about the disability (although being blind gives Alicia an advantage in helping Bobby).
Jack Gantos' What Would Joey Do? has my favorite character "you love to hate," Olivia, a terrible, nasty little girl who also happens to be blind. I give Gantos credit for writing a disabled nasty character
(instead of good, noble, etc.) -- that seems like real equality to me.
Granny Torrelli Makes Soup also has a blind character, but (IMHO) the book seems to be about the disability, rather than incidental to the story. Not that that's a bad thing...just different from the others.
I was wondering why blindness seems to pop up more than other disabilities and I think it's because the characters can more easily interact. Think about the wonderful, but probably challenging to write exchanges in Rules between Catherine and Jason, who uses picture cards to communicate.
I think also that some other disabilities, such as autism and asperger's syndrome, are now just coming to the forefront, but with a vengeance, it appears. I suspect that we will see many more novels with characters with these neurological differences as the number of diagnoses grows
(which I understand is currently happening).
Can anyone think of books with characters who are deaf? I'm coming up blank...And yet, this is the disability that was most apparent to me as a young person because I went to a highschool that had a number of deaf and hearing-impaired students who were mainstreamed to various degrees.
Melissa Henderson Children's Librarian Warren-Newport Public Library Gurnee, IL
-----Original Message-----
From: ccbc-net-bounces at ccbc.education.wisc.edu on behalf of dragonflyer
Sent: Thu 10/5/2006 8:13 PM
To: ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
Cc:
Subject: Re: [CCBC-Net] Portraying Disabilities
I agree with Denise (posting copied below); a good novel should not focus on a disability to the exclusion of everything else. A novel like that won't ring true with the reader, and he/she will most likely put it down... I hope!
It would never occur to anyone who's read The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman to describe this as being a novel about a blind girl
(Lexie), just as no one would describe Saffy's Angel as a novel about a disabled girl named Sarah. Like Sarah, Lexie is a rounded character--one with whom readers can empathize, one who enriches the themes which the novel attempts to relate. In education today we push for 'inclusion'--the idea being that, when possible, we adapt for and include all children, not make room for "them". In The Schwa Was Here, Lexie is precisely the kind of character with a disability which we should expect from good literature: the kind whose universality and essential humanity always supersede her disability.
For more on The Schwa Was Here read the editorial reviews at amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Schwa-was-Here-Neil-Shusterman/dp/0142405779/sr=8- 1/qid=1160080675/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-8684765-1699165?ie=UTF8&s=books
R. Joers
Wayne, PA
> I also favor portrayals of disabled children in everyday
situations as real
> people. Hiliary McKay's series about the Casson family
(Saffy's Angel;
> Indigo's Star; Permanent Rose; and Caddy Ever After) comes to
mind. Saffy's
> good friend, Sarah, sometimes known as "the wheelchair girl"
early in the
> friendship does everything. It's easy to forget that Sarah is
in a
> wheelchair. Her friends are respectful of her but do not
coddle or fuss over
> her.
>
> Denise Sciandra
> Fresno, CA
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Received on Tue 10 Oct 2006 10:48:10 AM CDT
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:48:10 -0700
"I think also that some other disabilities, such as autism and asperger's syndrome, are now just coming to the forefront, but with a vengeance, it appears. I suspect that we will see many more novels with characters with these neurological differences as the number of diagnoses grows (which I understand is currently happening)."
Good point...there's a recent paperback mystery series called Wright and Wong (for grades 3-6) in which one of the main characters has Aspergers syndrome.
Celeste Steward
Collection Development Librarian, Children's Services Alameda County Library 2400 Stevenson Blvd. Fremont, CA 94538
-----Original Message----- From: ccbc-net-bounces at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
[mailto:ccbc-net-bounces at ccbc.education.wisc.edu] On Behalf Of Melissa Henderson Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 7:57 AM To: ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu Subject: [CCBC-Net] Disabilities - Blindness, in particular
It's interesting to me how many stories I can easily think of that have a primary character who is blind but where the disability if not a primary focus of the story.
The Schwa Was Here also came to my mind as a novel that featured a blind character , but was not a "disability story." Another variation on this theme is the Clement novel Things Not Seen in which the blindness of one of the main characters is essential to the plot, but, again, the book is not about the disability (although being blind gives Alicia an advantage in helping Bobby).
Jack Gantos' What Would Joey Do? has my favorite character "you love to hate," Olivia, a terrible, nasty little girl who also happens to be blind. I give Gantos credit for writing a disabled nasty character
(instead of good, noble, etc.) -- that seems like real equality to me.
Granny Torrelli Makes Soup also has a blind character, but (IMHO) the book seems to be about the disability, rather than incidental to the story. Not that that's a bad thing...just different from the others.
I was wondering why blindness seems to pop up more than other disabilities and I think it's because the characters can more easily interact. Think about the wonderful, but probably challenging to write exchanges in Rules between Catherine and Jason, who uses picture cards to communicate.
I think also that some other disabilities, such as autism and asperger's syndrome, are now just coming to the forefront, but with a vengeance, it appears. I suspect that we will see many more novels with characters with these neurological differences as the number of diagnoses grows
(which I understand is currently happening).
Can anyone think of books with characters who are deaf? I'm coming up blank...And yet, this is the disability that was most apparent to me as a young person because I went to a highschool that had a number of deaf and hearing-impaired students who were mainstreamed to various degrees.
Melissa Henderson Children's Librarian Warren-Newport Public Library Gurnee, IL
-----Original Message-----
From: ccbc-net-bounces at ccbc.education.wisc.edu on behalf of dragonflyer
Sent: Thu 10/5/2006 8:13 PM
To: ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
Cc:
Subject: Re: [CCBC-Net] Portraying Disabilities
I agree with Denise (posting copied below); a good novel should not focus on a disability to the exclusion of everything else. A novel like that won't ring true with the reader, and he/she will most likely put it down... I hope!
It would never occur to anyone who's read The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman to describe this as being a novel about a blind girl
(Lexie), just as no one would describe Saffy's Angel as a novel about a disabled girl named Sarah. Like Sarah, Lexie is a rounded character--one with whom readers can empathize, one who enriches the themes which the novel attempts to relate. In education today we push for 'inclusion'--the idea being that, when possible, we adapt for and include all children, not make room for "them". In The Schwa Was Here, Lexie is precisely the kind of character with a disability which we should expect from good literature: the kind whose universality and essential humanity always supersede her disability.
For more on The Schwa Was Here read the editorial reviews at amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Schwa-was-Here-Neil-Shusterman/dp/0142405779/sr=8- 1/qid=1160080675/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-8684765-1699165?ie=UTF8&s=books
R. Joers
Wayne, PA
> I also favor portrayals of disabled children in everyday
situations as real
> people. Hiliary McKay's series about the Casson family
(Saffy's Angel;
> Indigo's Star; Permanent Rose; and Caddy Ever After) comes to
mind. Saffy's
> good friend, Sarah, sometimes known as "the wheelchair girl"
early in the
> friendship does everything. It's easy to forget that Sarah is
in a
> wheelchair. Her friends are respectful of her but do not
coddle or fuss over
> her.
>
> Denise Sciandra
> Fresno, CA
_______________________________________________
CCBC-Net mailing list
CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe...
http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net
_______________________________________________ CCBC-Net mailing list CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe... http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net
Received on Tue 10 Oct 2006 10:48:10 AM CDT
