Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask about Being Disabled by Shane Burcaw
2017; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 71; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.2017.0842
ISSN1558-6766
Autores Tópico(s)Neurogenetic and Muscular Disorders Research
ResumoReviewed by: Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask about Being Disabled by Shane Burcaw Deborah Stevenson Burcaw, Shane Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask about Being Disabled; illus. with photographs by Matt Carr. Roaring Brook, 2017 34p ISBN 978-1-62672-771-7 $17.99 R Gr. 2-5 Author of the adult memoir Laughing at My Nightmare, Burcaw here gives younger readers a view into his life as a wheelchair user with spinal muscular atrophy. A Q&A format provides information about some of the issues people most ask him about: "Why is your head so much bigger than the rest of your body?" (the weakening of his muscles has limited his bone growth); "How does your chair work?" ("I drive it by using a joystick, sort of like a videogame controller"). Burcaw's tone is breezy, matter-of-fact, and humorous, and he's got an accessible and mischievous persona ("Once I tried to pull my brother to the top of the basketball hoop with a rope tied to my chair") that frames him as an older sibling rather than a distant adult. That impression is enhanced by the illustrative photographs, ranging from goofy pictures of young Shane mugging with his friends to posed yet lively images of him in action, often with his face in comic overdramatic response and always with an impish glint in his eye. The combination of approachable photographs and informative text makes this highly valuable for solving kids' essential conundrum of wanting to understand a disability without rudely quizzing people. An author's note gives more information about Burcaw and spinal muscular atrophy. DS [End Page 153] Copyright © 2017 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
Referência(s)