Changeling - Discussion

[Pamela]

I had to order my copy through Interlibrary Loan. It came in yesterday and I finished it this evening. I enjoyed many aspects of the story, but am very ambivalent about the depiction of Changeling, as she is clearly displaying fairly classic signs of someone with Asperger's Syndrome or High-Functioning Autism. Had she been the viewpoint character, maybe this would have worked better for me, but to see someone displaying the signs of a very real condition that affects very human individuals depicted as an unreal Fairy construct leaves me feeling very conflicted.

[Terrea]

I agree with you, Pamela, and am glad I was not the only one that noticed it.

While it was my pick, I wasn't as entertained by the story as much as I thought I would be. Every time there would be some sort of conflict to enrich the story line it was too quickly resolved for my taste.

[Michelle]

i picked this one up from the library in the childrens' section, and i was ultimately disappointed because it was indeed a childrens' book. most all of the kids/ya stuff i've picked up in recent years has been marvelously mature, so finding it in the shorter shelves wasn't a deterrent at all. it started off great, right up through the part where Neef gets chased by the wild hunt...but then, everything got easy (i 100% agree with you Terrea). the story was quick and snappy, as was our heroine, but i think of the fairy realm as a much more perilous place. Neef kept saying everything was dangerous, but she got out of everything with nary a scratch.

Pamela, i was ok with the vague hypothesis of autism = fairy. we don't have a concrete cause of this disease worked out anyway (i'm a researcher). perhaps kids reading this and recognizing the symptoms in a classmate would be better primed to think of an autistic child's personality traits & outbursts as innate things about them, rather than blaming such a child with a "that kid is mean".

[Pamela]

Hi Michelle. I understand your perspective. For much of the book, I thought about whether the depiction of Changeling might help other children to understand their condition. Ultimately, I rejected that conclusion. My concern is that characterizing someone with Asperger's Syndrome or any other developmental disability in this way could reinforce the impulse to stigmatize them, because it labels them as "not human."

[Michelle]

absolutely valid Pamela. and they did, after all, barely use changeling as more then a convenient tool rather than an active participant in the plot (a "sword of destiny" that could fix the producer's computer would have just as much personality), which is further dehumanizing.

[Pamela]

Thanks, Michelle. I think you've put your finger right on the real quibble I had with Changeling's role in the book, which seemed to be to solve the problems Neef faces. Had she been given a different role, had we been given a glimpse into her viewpoint, or had she and Neef been able to form a stronger bond of friendship (which I had hoped for, given their similar positions as changelings in each others' worlds), I might have felt very differently.

[Pamela]

Hi Terrea, sorry to have missed replying to you. I agree with your assessment of the resolution of the story.