Accidents of Nature Audiobook By Harriet McBryde Johnson cover art

Accidents of Nature

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Accidents of Nature

By: Harriet McBryde Johnson
Narrated by: Jenna Lamia
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Seventeen-year-old Jean has cerebral palsy and gets around in a wheelchair, but she’s always believed she’s just the same as everyone else. She goes to normal school and has normal friends. She’s never really known another disabled person before she arrives at Camp Courage. But there Jean meets Sara, who welcomes her to “Crip Camp” and nicknames her Spazzo. Sara has radical theories about how people fit into society. She’s full of rage and revolution against pitying insults and the lack of respect for people with disabilities. As Jean joins a community unlike any she has ever imagined, she comes to question her old beliefs and look at the world in a new light. The camp session is only 10 days long, but that may be all it takes to change a life forever.

©2006 Harriet McBryde Johnson (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group Fiction Growing Up Growing Up & Facts of Life Literature & Fiction Social & Life Skills Friendship Special need

Critic reviews

"[Johnson] 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." (Publishers Weekly)
All stars
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Wonderful point of view story . You will never look at telephones the same way.
I will enjoy reading more from this author. The narration was exquisite.

brilliant narrator

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What did you love best about Accidents of Nature?

This title gave me an insight into what many disabled people must experience in a world that views them as "crips".

What about Jenna Lamia’s performance did you like?

I enjoyed the fact that it was written in first person.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

I have a toddler niece who has cerebral palsy and we often try to perceive what her world is and will be like. This book gave me an insight that I have shared with family members since listening. While there were parts that struck a personal defensive chord, it was painfully honest.

Amazinly Insightful

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Profound depth emerges with the exploration of vivid characters and hilarity of dialogues.

above expectation

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I loved listening to this book, because it helped me to compare how we referred to the developmental and intellectually disabled people back the in comparison to now.

Perceptions of the past

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What a fantastic book for young adults with and without disabilities. It touches on important disability rights issues while showing an interdependent community in which all campers are included and valued. It also highlights societies ableist tendencies, including telethons, institutions, discrimination, and employment. Highly recommended!

Excellent Book

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I found this book because I really enjoyed the narrator from the Secret Life of Bees. I did a search and found that she also did this book so I took a chance without knowing much about the this particular title.
I loved this book! It is a wonderful portrayal of a teenage girl with cerebral palsy who learns more than she bargained for at a sleep-away camp her parents want her to attend.
I have a son with autism and a Deaf cousin who are both highly-opinionated and intellegent about their "disabilities." They both remind me of the character Sarah who tells us "norms" that the voice of a disabled person can not only be blunt but downright inconvenient!
If you feel sorry for disabled people or pity them, this book is not for you. The author (a disabled woman herself) does not candy-coat the content with politically correct terms. It is an insider's view into a culture that deserves its own voice.

I Loved this Book!

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Narrator did an outstanding job with character voices. I am an occupational therapist who used to work in Johnston County schools. Narrator has the accent right. The story is a revealing , inside view of life from someone with CP and a loving family. She meets others at camp with handicaps and explores their worlds and questions her own. The crips and the walkie talkies. Will be some skeptical when watching telethons. Loved experiencing the camp experiences with her. Very real and candid.

A ride in their wheels

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it was kind of dry buy well read and defenitely a different point of view that makes it worth reading

well read

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