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Unseen Childhoods: Disabled Characters in 20th-Century Books for Girls
Helen Aveling
Summer 2008, ISBN 978 0 9552973 5 9
£14.99 (includes p&p in the UK)
This collection of essays by British and American authors, all of whom have personal experience of disability, is edited by Helen Aveling. Disabled characters are few and far between in children’s literature, and those that do exist are often stereotyped and two-dimensional. But there are characters - and authors - who buck the trend, appearing in books by favourites such as Dorita Fairlie Bruce, Elsie J. Oxenham, Elinor M. Brent-Dyer, L M Montgomery, Eleanor H. Porter and Frances Hodgson Burnett, as well in books as by lesser-known authors.
Unseen Childhoods examines disabled role models, stereotypes and the inclusion/exclusion of disabled characters in 20th-century books for girls and looks at how these change and develop - or fail to change and develop - from the early years through to the middle period and then the last years of the century. The representation of characters with impairments ranging from diabetes and visual impairment to illness and mental health difficulties is discussed alongside the representation of family members and wider society.
Accessible and varied, this collection of essays will appeal to everyone with an interest in children's books, as well as students and scholars working in the fields of Children's Literature and Disability Studies.
Visit Helen Aveling's Topsyweb to find out more about the background to the book.