Accidents of Nature

Through the eyes of 17-year-old wheelchair-bound Jean, readers of this wry, at times searing debut novel gain access to an intimate world that few Norms (what Jean calls fully functioning people) ever see. Her family has always treated Jean as a "normal" child; her 10-day stay at Camp Courage is her first time away from them. Johnson, like her heroine, is confined to a wheelchair (due to a neuromuscular disease), and possesses a rare gift for writing in the present tense: readers will feel as if they are experiencing Jean's many small discoveries right along with her. Each chapter covers a day at camp, and Jean's world view begins to shift on day one, when she meets Sara (also wheelchair-bound), a veteran camper. A straight shooter, Sara nicknames Jean "Spazzo," and exposes the insidious ways in which the Norms condescend to the Crips. Taking stock of the cabin they share, Sara says, "It looks like we've got about the right mix—three wheelchairs, a one-leg amputee, two MR's [mentally retarded], and two walkie-talkies." When Jean asks Sara why she comes to camp, she replies, "I need to be with my people. The Crip Nation." In one of the novel's many revelatory scenes, Jean describes swimming with the other campers: "I count it a rare privilege to see them all without their coverings, their equipment, their attachments, their replacement parts, as they really are, in all their strange variety." Readers, too, will find this journey with Jean a rare privilege, as she rethinks her place in the world. Ages 12-up. (May)