Accidents of Nature

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Synopsis
Jean has cerebral palsy and gets around in a wheelchair, but she's always believed she's just the same as everyone else. She goes to normal school and has normal friends She's never really known another disabled person before she arrives at Camp Courage. But there Jean meets Sara, who welcomes her to "Crip Camp" and nicknames her Spazzo. Sara has radical theories about how people fit into society. She's full of rage and revolution against pitying insults and the lack of respect for people with disabilities. As Jean joins a community unlike any she has ever imagined, she comes to question her old beliefs and look at the world in a new light. The camp session is only ten days long, but that may be all it takes to change a life forever.
Copyright:
2006

Book Details

Book Quality:
Excellent
Book Size:
234 Pages
ISBN-13:
9780805076349
Publisher:
Henry Holt & Company
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
Harriet McBryde Johnson
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
Children's Books, Disability-Related, Literature and Fiction, Outdoors and Nature
Grade Levels:
Ninth grade, Tenth grade, Eleventh grade, Twelfth grade
Submitted By:
Donna Smith
Proofread By:
Shannon Reece
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

Reviews

5 out of 5

By on

This is a young adult novel by famed disability rights activist Harriet McBryde Johnson. It's simply wonderful. I've never read anything that captures the disability experience better. Basically a simple story about Jean, a teen with C.P. who spends two weeks at the mythical, but all too real summer camp courage. There she pals around with a group of other disabled teens, whose ringleader, Sarah is the author's alter-ego. Sarah by contrast is a troublemaker, who speaks out against the conventional wisdom of treating disabled people as brave cripples who we must only pretend can contribute to society. Like many coming-of-age characters, Jean must confront herself, realizing that up until now she's been the crip that Sarah decries. Jean has always gone to school with non-disabled kids, pretending that she isn't any different. Confronting her own differences at the end of the novel, she knows she has to forge a unique path towards her adulthood. If you like fiction about disabled people, this is a must read. There is no politics, no lecturing, no strident voices or grating tone. The characters are so breathtakingly real you will feel like you went to camp with them too when the novel is over.