617 words
5 minute read
21.
Disability Representation: Yes (trauma)
Rating: 1/4 Wheels (It was okay)
Excerpt of GoodReads Summary: Yetu holds the memories for her people—water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners—who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly, is forgotten by everyone, save one—the historian. This demanding role has been bestowed on Yetu.
What I Thought: Rivers Solomon authored one of my favorite new reads in 2018, An Unkindness of Ghosts, and so I was really excited to check out this book. It's very different and I found it more difficult to get invested in. Not a lot of time getting to know the characters, maybe? It's definitely an intriguing read, and I suspect that once I read it again, I may feel differently. (It took me a couple of times reading their first book, before it really clicked for me.
22.
Genre: Fiction
Disability Representation: Yes (trauma)
Rating: 4/4 Wheels (LOVE THIS ALWAYS)
Excerpt of GoodReads Summary: A young widow raising two boys, Sarah Laden is struggling to keep her family together. But when a shocking revelation rips apart the family of her closest friend, Sarah finds herself welcoming yet another troubled young boy into her already tumultuous life...
What I Thought: This is a book I've reread once a year for over a decade. (Sometimes, twice!) That's because, in my opinion, this book is the best representation I've yet to read on how it feels to grow up traumatized. I'd recommend this book to anyone whose loved ones have experienced trauma (and caution those of us who have to read with care.)
23.
Disability Representation: No.
Rating: 1/4 Wheels (It was okay)
Excerpt of GoodReads Summary: As soon as Anne Shirley arrives at the snug white farmhouse called Green Gables, she is sure she wants to stay forever . . . but will the Cuthberts send her back to to the orphanage? Anne knows she's not what they expected—a skinny girl with fiery red hair and a temper to match. If only she can convince them to let her stay, she'll try very hard not to keep rushing headlong into scrapes and blurting out the first thing that comes to her mind. Anne is not like anyone else, the Cuthberts agree; she is special—a girl with an enormous imagination. This orphan girl dreams of the day when she can call herself Anne of Green Gables.
What I Thought: I liked reading about Anne, particularly when she was younger. But Marilla's harshness was hard to take...and the plot just...didn't seem to go anywhere? I found myself enjoying the book less as it went along, because it felt less and less personal.
24.
Disability Representation: No.
Rating: 2/4 Wheels (Liked it!)
Excerpt of GoodReads Summary: Every person matters. Here, national-bestselling and beloved author Nancy Tillman shows readers how each of us fits into life's big picture, and how the world would be incomplete without you in it.
What I Thought: A cute story with really sweet illustrations! I enjoyed this!
25.
Disability Representation: Yes (Cerebral Palsy and brain injury, mainly)
Rating: 4/4 Wheels (Love it!)
Excerpt of GoodReads Summary: For two sisters with disabilities, being home is anything but safe. While one searches for information on who she is, the other comes face to face with secrets from her past.
What I Thought: Still odd to share my thoughts on my own work, but I make no secret about how much I really like this book, particularly the later parts - and getting to write it with my sister.
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I really like Nancy Tillman's illustration style too. Another book of hers, You're All Kinds of Wonderful, includes a girl with Down syndrome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ1nUewOe60
ReplyDeleteOh, cool! Thanks for letting me know!
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