Book Recommendation

My family and I just finished “listening to” a mind opening audio book, entitled    Accidents of Nature. I don’t think I would have gravitated to a book on the experience of a handicapped young woman if my husband wasn’t teaching “diversity” classes at the local highschool, but I’m so glad I did.

Accidents of Nature was funny and smart and tender— opening our family’s ears to the experience of those among us who are disabled.  While the reality of disability was, at times, challenging to hear, the story was engaging, the characters edgy and the message strong.

Jenna Lamia was the reader of this audio book and she did a fantastic job capturing the inner thoughts vs. the speech of the main character who had cerebral palsy.  That contradiction of inner and outer representation itself created a shift of awareness within our whole family.

The author, Harriet McBryde Johnson, grew up disabled  and now practices law.  She bases this story, in part, on her experience of summer camp, a theme which captured my whole family’s interest.

Accidents of Nature and its “crips” left a lasting mark on our  hearts.