A deeply moving and provocative novel that boldly confronts attitudes to disability from the perspective of a sixteen year old with cerebral palsy. Set in a 1960s holiday camp for what would now be called 'special needs' children, it is the antithesis of the politically correct 'issue-based' book.
Jean goes to Camp Courage to please her parents, who have always tried to give her as normal a life as possible, and are keen to foster her independence. During Jean's stay she meets Sara - a veteran of what she herself calls 'Crip Camp' - and an outspoken rebel against the patronising influence of the camp leaders, and other 'normal' people in general.
Refusing to submit to society's expectations of her, Sara opens Jean's eyes to a whole new way of thinking about her disability. Based on the author's own experience of growing up as an invalid in even less liberated times, Accidents of Nature is not always a comfortable read, but all the better for that.
Jean goes to Camp Courage to please her parents, who have always tried to give her as normal a life as possible, and are keen to foster her independence. During Jean's stay she meets Sara - a veteran of what she herself calls 'Crip Camp' - and an outspoken rebel against the patronising influence of the camp leaders, and other 'normal' people in general.
Refusing to submit to society's expectations of her, Sara opens Jean's eyes to a whole new way of thinking about her disability. Based on the author's own experience of growing up as an invalid in even less liberated times, Accidents of Nature is not always a comfortable read, but all the better for that.
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