Disabilities in YA 2016 discussion
THE BIG DISCUSSION!!!
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I read Everything, Everything . The book is about a girl, Madeline, who is suffering from SCID. She never leaves her house for 17(I'm not sure) years because of her illness. But instead of getting depressed and hating her life, she actually kind of enjoys it. She has a really good relationship with her mom. (view spoiler) I'm not sure if the book focuses on the positives or the negatives of being disabled. I mean Madeline was always happy (view spoiler) and saw the good things in her life. Maybe it was because she never experienced the world before. I don't know. But she was happy and she had a really good relationship-more of a friendship actually- with her mom and I've always envied people like that. But then again when (view spoiler) so, as I said, I don't know if the book is positive or negative. The only thing I know is that the book was really interesting and worth reading. It made me see the world from a different, I mean different, point of view. Okay, I guess that was it. It's easier for me to answer some specific questions while reviewing so if you have any questions about this book, I'd love to answer/discuss!
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In some ways I feel it's a negative representation (MAJOR spoiler): (view spoiler) but at the same time it could be seen as positive (view spoiler).
Everything Everything is definitely worth a read, whether or not it's positive it is a good book.
It's also possible for a bad book to have positive representation, I just finished reading Not If I See You First which is about a blind girl, and I really didn't enjoy it at all, but the portrayal of the blindness was not a problem, it was actually probably the best written part. Unfortunately I found the rest of the book quite juvenile and boring.
Did anyone else read Everything Everything?
I haven't read Everything Everything, in part because it got a negative review for its disability representation at Disability in KidLit , by a reviewer whose disability is somewhat similar to the disability in the book: http://disabilityinkidlit.com/2015/09... If anyone who has read Everything, Everything has a different perspective from the linked review, and if you also have a disability somewhat similar to what the character has, then Disability in KidLit does welcome opportunities to publish dissenting/conflicting reviews of the same book, so that blog readers can get multiple perspectives on the book.I've seen blog comments from Asian, and bi-racial Asian/white people who do like Everything Everything for its representation of a bi-racial Asian/white character. So there is that.
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When I first read it I was struck by similarity to Maddie (even though we have very different conditions, mine is nowhere near as serious). I felt the way Nicola Yoon described Maddie as a mostly positive person, but also someone who has good days and bad days with her disability, was very realistic. There was one bit in the book in particular that hit very close to home where Maddie has a day when she re-realises that this is the rest of her life, she will never get better. I had many of these moments myself, and it doesn't get easier when your body is your own enemy.
I would still recommend Everything Everything to people, if only for the discussion it brings. It's also pretty quick to read, and was well written.
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I think I will go with Jennifer, the author of the review, on this one- but I'm very torn because I feel Yoon does capture the nature of disability well, and in a positive light. I don't believe she intended for it to be ableist, but I suppose authors never do. Everything Everything might be one of the most confusing books in YA to place for disability representation (which I had predicted when I put it on the reading list, I thought it might be divisive!)
Any more thoughts? Did anyone else read anything good/bad?
There was Zoella's(the youtuber-you guys probably know her-) Q&A with Nicola Yoon and here's the link. Maybe it would help us to discuss it. https://blog.whsmith.co.uk/zbc616-nic...
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Andrea wrote: "I haven't read Everything Everything, in part because it got a negative review for its disability representation at Disability in KidLit , by a reviewer whose disability is somewhat similar to the ..."I haven't read Everything, Everything for the same reason. Also, a friend spoiled me on the big twist, and I'm glad she did, because it seems to me like a huge problem with a book that could otherwise offer some good representation. But again, I haven't read the book, so I won't get caught up in trash-talking it!
Sadly, I haven't actually had time to finish Otherbound, the book I chose for the challenge. But I definitely do plan to finish it! Super-cool concept.As far as the other discussion points, I'd like to see more fantasy with characters who have disabilities. Other genre stuff, too - horror, romance, etc. (Particularly horror where the characters with disabilities don't die or turn out to be the villain!)
I agree! The major problem I had with this challenge was that I'm not a realistic fiction reader. I love fantasy and unfortunately I discovered quickly, this was hard to find. The only one I could think of I've read before was Eon and although I love the series in terms of gender representation, in terms of disability representation it's debatable. I ended up reading Otherbound, and I was happy because it is fantasy and sci-fi. And as far as I remember, this might be the first time I've read one with the main protags being disabled.
There really needs to be more in fantasy
I have not read Everything Everything but I have wanted to read it for quite a while. It's unfortunate if the story does not offer a realistic representation of teenagers with disabilities, but I may give it a try anyway. I feel like authors, who decide to write about disabled teenagers, should do some research on the disability they plan to write about. I think they should talk to teenagers who live with the disability in question and ask them, how their disability affects their life. Most teenagers struggle with insecurity and other issues and it would be interesting to know, whether teenagers with disabilities think that their experience is different from the norm. Do they feel like their disabilities make their teenage years especially hard? Do they feel like their disabilities define them or are their disabilities not such a big deal after all? Maybe they consider their disabilities just one of the many problems they struggle with.
I read The Adoration of Jenna Fox for this discussion. It tells about a girl who suffers from amnesia after a serious car crash. As the story progresses (view spoiler) There are also other disabled characters in the book as Jenna's new classmates all have disabilities of their own. I think it's great how The Adoration of Jenna Fox represents a variety of disabilities. However, I feel like the characters are not always very realistic. I feel like Jenna should be a little more angry and confused than what she is in the book. Well, she is angry and confused, but considering she's a 17-year-old girl who doesn't remember almost anything about her past, she could be angrier. I think she could rebel against her parents a bit more. (view spoiler) I also wonder why Jenna never asks her parents about her past. She never asks them what her favorite food was or who her friends were...or anything similar really. Asking the parents would be the easiest way for Jenna to learn who she used to be, so it's a little weird she doesn't do it. She obviously wants to know about her past, but all she does is watch home videos and hope her memories will return.
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I recently went to a talk with Sarah Crossan, author of One about conjoined twins. She said she originally wanted to write a book about one twin deciding she no longer wanted to be connected to her sister after falling in love, but then did some research and found out that conjoined twins hardly ever feel that way, they like the connection and live normal lives regardless. After that her story changed dramatically (though I don't know how dramatically, because I haven't yet read One).
I think this illustrates how authors must be willing to change the book when they research disability and find out things they didn't know, they can't make the disability be what they want it to be to work for their story.
Disability should be a defining characteristic but not a plot point.
This was to no one in particular, I'm just rambling on....
Other talking points;
-What do we think about the way popular media (magazines, tv, movies) are portraying disabilities?
-If you could talk to authors who want to write realistic disabled characters, what advise would you give them?
-Does a book have to be happy to be 'positive representation' for disabled people, or does it only have to be realistic?
-What would you like to see more/less of in disabled YA fiction?
Any discussion, opinions and thoughts are fine, but no offensive language is allowed AT ALL!
If you want to post something with a spoiler then please use the goodreads coding for spoilers, look at the (some html is ok) page on desktop.
i.e. Harry Potter Spoiler! (view spoiler)[wow dumbledore was a bit of a douche canoe sometimes, right? (hide spoiler)]
and thats it! Have fun! I really hope we can discuss this together!