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The YA Literature Symposium is quickly approaching! Have you registered yet? The list of programs with times is now available.

The featured program this week/today is:

Beyond Good Intentions and Chicken Soup: Young Adult Literature and Disability Diversity: How Far Have We Come?

Today’s teens are likely to have friends and classmates with disabilities. Young adult literature increasingly reflects the diverse identities found among today’s teens, and scaffolds the social beliefs they hold about people with disabilities, by including positive portrayals of characters with disabilities. Session participants will critically examine how changing social beliefs about disability are reflected in historical through contemporary fiction and nonfiction YA lit and explore methods to promote acceptance of diversity through the genre. Participants will be able to apply this knowledge when selecting and teaching YA lit. Speakers are Dr. Heather Garrison, Dr. Katherine Schneider, and author Terry Trueman.

The interview with Drs. Heather Garrison and Katherine Schneider is available at the YA Lit Symposium Online Community.

The YA Literature Symposium is November 5-7 in Albuquerque, NM. To give everyone a sneak peek into the presentations I be posting portions of interviews with program presenters weekly until the symposium. Full interviews will be available at the YA Lit Symposium Online Community.

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I just today read this post on disabled people (or, if you prefer, people who happen to be disabled)—particularly regarding creation of characters—over at the Rejectionist, so being a little late and interested in continuing the discussion focusing on a specific character, I am turning my potential comment into a blog post instead.

Rachel notes that the “Supercrip” character stereotype is “the most pervasive and most cherished in the Able-bodied Narrative.” What was that relatively recent book made into a movie in which a kid with spina bifida (or was it cerebral palsy?) joins up with his able-bodied friend/nemesis with a mental disability to imagine that they’re both superheroes, but ends up with at least one if not both dead because they get beat up? (Forgive me if I mangled that plot—I got so annoyed by the emotional manipulation that I stopped paying attention; I must have been watching it in a location where I couldn’t just turn it off, like at a relative’s house or something.)  Then there’s A Beautiful Mind, which I can’t judge well because I refused to see it because it appeared to portray a schizophrenic curing himself—another trope Rachel discusses, looking for the cure. (My mother is schizophrenic. Sorry, it’s not curable.) It isn’t enough that the guy is a mathematician who happens to have schizophrenia. No, it makes him one of the best mathematicians in the world! It’s all so inspiring! (gag) Tell me if I’m wrong, because like I said, I avoided it it due to perceived possible emotional manipulation.

As Rachel says,

Supercrip is the “inspiring” and “amazing” disabled person who has “suffered” and “overcome” the “terrible limitations” of disability. Bitch magazine explains it thus:

Supercrip provides a way for non-disabled folks to be “inspired” by persons with disabilities without actually questioning—or making changes to—how persons with disabilities are treated in society…. Supercrip cannot just be human; she or he must be superhuman and surpass not only her/his disability, but the realms of “normal” human achievement. Supercrip allows some non-disabled folks to feel better about themselves; this is quite evident when it comes to statements like, “What an inspiration!”

In fiction, particularly fantasy, the Supercrip trope is interpreted in its literal sense—the disabled superhero, a la Daredevil, a blind man with super-sensitive hearing and touch that completely negated the effects his blindness and therefore of his experience as a blind man. It is a form of fixing and normalizes disability by rendering actual conflicts and difficulties of being disabled as irrelevant.

Which makes me wonder where Toph in Avatar: The Last Airbender fits in to this paradigm.  I don’t see Toph in the same way that I see those emotionally manipulative stories. Toph may be “making up” for her blindness via Earthbending, yet it’s not really the same thing … is it? Sure, she can “see” with her feet, but it’s a much different kind of seeing. She still can’t do some things her companions can, like read. (Because, duh, she’s blind, as she so matter-of-factly reminds them.) Being blind is simply a part of who she is as a well-rounded character. She’s not *more* awesome than everyone else (though she’s still VERY awesome)—she’s just who she is, a smart, capable girl who happens to be one of the best Earthbenders in the world (hence, my wondering: stereotype?), who discovers metalbending, who grows emotion

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Blindsided by Priscilla Cummings

Natalie has been losing her sight since she was eight.  She is still able to see in a tunneled form, but then receives the news that she will lose her sight completely in a short period of time.  Natalie is sent to a school for the blind to learn the skills she will need to have when she is blind.  She is taught Braille and how to walk with a cane. But she doesn’t consider herself in the same situation as the other teens at the school.  They are blind and she is not.  She does learn the skills, but inwardly refuses to accept the situation, hoping for a miracle to happen.  Eventually her sight does leave completely and now Natalie has to choose between using the skills she learned and becoming independent or remaining scared and protected at home.

This book is a mix of positive and negative for me.  Natalie was a fine character with intelligence, lots of doubts, and complex reactions to her situation.  She was well drawn and interesting.  The information on the school for the blind and her skills were also interesting, though they could have been woven more into the story itself so that they read more effortlessly. 

Unfortunately, the book suffered from heavy-handed writing that was often didactic in tone.  There was a sense that the author had a lot to say about overcoming obstacles and disabilities.  Her need to inform others intruded on the story itself, which would have been much stronger without the tone.  Additionally, there were often moments when Natalie grew to new understanding which the author underlined and pointed out, lessening their impact instead of strengthening it as intended.

I must also quibble with the foreshadowing of the action-filled ending, which would have been surprising except that it was built into the story too clearly with events leading directly to it.  Again, a more even-handed writing style would have raised it to another level.

Appropriate for ages 13-16.

Reviewed from copy received from Dutton.

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Woodson, Jacqueline. 2010. Peace, Locomotion. Read by Dion Graham. Brilliance Audio.
(about 2 hours on CD, mp3 download, or Playaway)

Peace, Locomotion continues the story of Lonnie Collins Motion (or Locomotion) first begun in Locomotion.  After their parents perished in a fire, Lonnie and his sister, Lili were sent to separate foster homes. Years have passed.  Lonnie is now twelve and although they miss each other, both have settled in to their new homes.

Locomotion was a novel written in verse, as Lonnie learned the forms of poetry from a caring teacher.  Peace, Locomotion is an epistolary novel, consisting of letters from Lonnie to Lili as he  endeavors to chronicle his feelings, his memories of their earlier life together, and the daily occurrences of his new life.  He saves the letters in the hope that when he is someday reunited with Lili, he can relive and share with her each day that they were apart.  He struggles with the fact that his younger sister begins to call her foster mother, Momma, and can barely remember their parents.  One of his friends is moving away, his teacher is mean, and he does poorly on tests and homework.  At home, he has another problem.  One of his foster mother's sons is serving in the war (the listener does not know if it is the war in Afghanistan or Iraq) and things are not going well.  Lonnie is tempted to pray for Jenkins' safe return but his foster brother Rodney suggests that he pray for peace instead - explaining,  if peace comes, all things will follow.  In spite of the many obstacles that life has placed in Lonnie's path, he remains positive and thoughtful, never quick to draw conclusions or pass judgment. He finds joy in a church choir, a snowball fight, a good friend.  He is kind and wise beyond his years.  Although this is a story about African American families, it could be about any family in similar circumstances.  It is a story about hope and family and finding peace wherever one may.

The challenge of narrating a novel consisting of letters from only one person is a great one, and Dion Graham's reading rises to the test. He is superb. Graham perfectly captures the many moods of Lonnie Collins Motion with precision, never exaggeration.  The listener can hear a smile begin to spread across Lonnie's lips,  tears well up in his eyes, a sparkle light up his face. Lonnie recounts conversations within his letters, allowing Graham to create character voices of Lili, Lonnie's friends, and his foster family; but Locomotion is the star of this novel and all ears are upon him.  Highly recommended for middle grades.

Peace, Locomotion was named a 2010 Odyssey Honor Audiobook, and was named to ALSC's 2010 Notable Children's Recordings.

Listen to an excerpt here.

Penguin Young Readers offers a free downloadable discussion guide.

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Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper

Melody is eleven years old and has never said a single word.  She also has a photographic memory so she remembers being a baby, remembers every show she has ever seen on TV, remembers the commercials too, remembers songs, factoids, everything.  All those words are trapped in her head, unable to be released.  Her parents know she is bright, but how could anyone know just how smart Melody actually is with her cerebral palsy being all that they can see?  At school she is in the classroom for those with special needs where the quality of instruction varies from year to year. One year she was subjected to the alphabet over and over again along with a CD of nursery rhymes.  Pure torture!  So when Melody realizes that she needs a computer to help her talk, everyone had better be ready to hear what she has to say!

This in-depth character study is beautifully done.  Melody is a character with charisma, brilliance and a sassy attitude that is integral to her personality.  Despite being unable to speak, Melody will speak deeply to any reader who takes the time to meet her.  Draper does not sugarcoat Melody’s disability.  She does not make the people around Melody too perfect and good.  Instead everyone is human, especially Melody. 

Draper brought me to tears several times in the novel.  From spectacular moments of Melody speaking to the cruelty of other children, this book offers such highs and lows.  And through it all, living it all, we have Melody, a true heroine, an amazing person, and someone we all should get to know.

The cover is wonderful with its fish out of water theme and a direct tie to the storyline.  I love the contrast of the pale blue and bright orange, because Melody is such a flash of bright color in the novel.

This will make a brilliant read aloud for a classroom of 5th or 6th graders.  It will also be adored by single readers who will find Melody a person worth spending time with.  Appropriate for ages 9-13, this book is a real winner.

Reviewed from library copy.

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"Monks came, of course, with their prayers and prayer wheels, for they
thought in this way to help Hwei Ming to see. Magician-priests came, of course,
with their incantations and spells, for they thought in this way to help Hwei
Ming to see" and Physicians came, of course, with their potions and pins, for
they thought in this way to help Hwei Ming to see..."