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thefattingtonfrisk's review
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This book was published in 2006 and set almost 4 decades prior. Reading it in 2024, you won't be surprised to hear that not all of it has aged well. But as with all works of writing, we have to consider the context of when it was both set and written to really understand it. Yes, there are things in this book that make me cringe. But I also think, for some of it, that's the point.
Some have pointed out that Sara is clearly meant to be a sort of stand-in for the author. Given some of the details she includes, she certainly wasn't trying to hide it. But I think Jean was, in some ways, a version of Harriet as well. The story is told through Jean's perspective, and it's one of intense internalized abliesm. It can be painful to read, but I believe that that was the point -- to force the reader into that mindset, in part to help us reach into out own ableism, internalized or otherwise. Along with Jean, we get to experience her transformation over the course of the ten days of camp. And I for one really enjoyed the journey, even while acknowledging some of the shortcomings that became more obvious with the book's aging.
Some have pointed out that Sara is clearly meant to be a sort of stand-in for the author. Given some of the details she includes, she certainly wasn't trying to hide it. But I think Jean was, in some ways, a version of Harriet as well. The story is told through Jean's perspective, and it's one of intense internalized abliesm. It can be painful to read, but I believe that that was the point -- to force the reader into that mindset, in part to help us reach into out own ableism, internalized or otherwise. Along with Jean, we get to experience her transformation over the course of the ten days of camp. And I for one really enjoyed the journey, even while acknowledging some of the shortcomings that became more obvious with the book's aging.
mckinlay's review
i have a really low tolerance when it comes to books. if 26 pages in i've already found stuff to be fairly offensive and i have no desire to keep reading, i stop. that's exactly what happened with this book.
kait_unicorn's review
4.0
Published in 2016 and set in 1970, there are aspects of the language that will come across as dated to modern readers but holy crap was this ever an excellent book. The protagonists wrestles with internalised ableism as she encounters community and cross-disability solidarity at a summer camp for disabled kids. I can’t help but think McBryde Johnson would marvel at how far we have come, despite how far we have yet to go for Disability Justice.
mirable's review
5.0
Gr 9 Up-Jean, an intelligent 17 year old with cerebral palsy who is wheelchair bound, goes to Camp Courage, a summer "Crip Camp," for the first time in Harriet McBryde Johnson's powerful novel (Holt, 2006). She's the only handicapped student at her normal school, has non-handicapped friends, and has never really seen herself as different. Jean has no idea what she's in for during her 10 days at camp. Everyone there has a label: spazzos (CP), walkie talkies (handicapped but can walk and talk), MRs (mentally retarded), and aussies (autistic). Jean meets Sara, who has MS and is also wheelchair bound. Sara is jaded and bitter from eight years of the "be happy, try harder" attitude at camp and in life, and Jean is forced to reassess her plans for the future and her place in society. Jenna Lamia's narration adds dimension and depth to the story. Jean's inner thoughts flow smoothly and flawlessly, but when she speaks aloud, Lamia does a credible job of duplicating the halting, stumbling speech of CP. The contrast is shocking and powerful. The careful, deliberate speech of the MRs and the slow, soft North Carolinian accents of the counselors are very believable. This audiobook should be in every high school and public library.-Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI
nmuss97's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
marleefayek's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
A strong YA book that looks at diversity of disability and examines internalized and systemic oppression of ableism. The characters are vivid, and nuanced as is the plot. Loved it!
foggy_rosamund's review against another edition
5.0
Written by disability-rights activist Harriet McBryde Johnson, who had muscular dystrophy, this novel is set in a summer camp for disabled people, in 1970. I have never before read a book where all major characters are disabled: usually, novels about disabled people focus on the protagonist trying to interact with and fit into the abled world. But this novel is about throwing that idea away: it's about how the disabled body is something to celebrate, and disabled people do not have to change to be respected and valued. The world should accept them as they are. Seeing the social theory of disability explained and discussed in a book for teenagers is thrilling.
The story focus on Jean, a teenager with cerebral palsy, who uses a wheelchair, and is the first disabled student to attend her high school. She has rarely met other disabled people, and at first seeing other disabled teenagers is frightening and overwhelming for her. She meets Sara, who has muscular dystrophy (and, the reader infers, is a version of McBryde Johnson) and Sara talks about the ableism she faces, both in the world at large and in the patronising treatment she experiences from the camp leaders and counselors. It's the first time Jean has been exposed to the concept of ableism, and she finds Sara's attitude, with her bitterness, anger and rebellion, hard to handle, but also compelling. The reader sees Jean's attitude towards the people around her change: she grows to see beauty in the other campers, and realises that disabled bodies are just as worthy of respect and celebration as any other body.
One of my problems with this book is that the empowerment and respect for disabled people seems to be limited for those who do not have an intellectual disability, or autism. Frequently, the characters who are ID/DD and/or autistic are treated as something lesser. That said, Margie, who has an intellectual disability is shown as a character in her own right, and there are instances when the narrative celebrates the autistic characters speaking up for and expressing themselves. The main focus of this book though, is on disabled bodies, and physically disabled people being celebrated for who they are, without being forced to change or put themselves throw pain in order to walk or seem more like other people. And that's wonderful: this book is incredibly important, and continues to feel revolutionary, even decades after the year (1970) in which the story takes place.
I recommend this book for anyone, especially people who have not thought much about disability before. It is easy to read and understand, and the ideas it contains are vital.
The story focus on Jean, a teenager with cerebral palsy, who uses a wheelchair, and is the first disabled student to attend her high school. She has rarely met other disabled people, and at first seeing other disabled teenagers is frightening and overwhelming for her. She meets Sara, who has muscular dystrophy (and, the reader infers, is a version of McBryde Johnson) and Sara talks about the ableism she faces, both in the world at large and in the patronising treatment she experiences from the camp leaders and counselors. It's the first time Jean has been exposed to the concept of ableism, and she finds Sara's attitude, with her bitterness, anger and rebellion, hard to handle, but also compelling. The reader sees Jean's attitude towards the people around her change: she grows to see beauty in the other campers, and realises that disabled bodies are just as worthy of respect and celebration as any other body.
One of my problems with this book is that the empowerment and respect for disabled people seems to be limited for those who do not have an intellectual disability, or autism. Frequently, the characters who are ID/DD and/or autistic are treated as something lesser. That said, Margie, who has an intellectual disability is shown as a character in her own right, and there are instances when the narrative celebrates the autistic characters speaking up for and expressing themselves. The main focus of this book though, is on disabled bodies, and physically disabled people being celebrated for who they are, without being forced to change or put themselves throw pain in order to walk or seem more like other people. And that's wonderful: this book is incredibly important, and continues to feel revolutionary, even decades after the year (1970) in which the story takes place.
I recommend this book for anyone, especially people who have not thought much about disability before. It is easy to read and understand, and the ideas it contains are vital.
samranakhtar's review
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
iffer's review
4.0
This book is extremely good in it's own right, but definitely the best that I have read that falls into the genre about disabilities (not that I've read many, and not that many even exist). I think that it's well worth its while for anyone to read for an honest, funny, sharp novel about that gives insight into the disabled community/culture. The novel isn't sentimental, and impressed me with its non-Pollyanna-type ending and the author's description of the main character's sudden coming-of-age moment, one that everyone who's left home and returned changed can empathize with, even if it's not complicated by the realization that Norms, even the ones who love you, can never truly understand what it's like to be a Crip.