Disability Book Week, held on April 23-29 each year, invites individuals to become more inclusive with what they read by reading a book that features a main character with a disability.
I most often read nonfiction, but this past week I took up the challenge of choosing a fiction novel featuring a main character with a disability. I scoured a few lists from GoodReads and the official Disability Book Week website, and picked out something that caught my interest.
I’ve been reading “The Maid” by Nita Prose, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it! It’s won some awards and made bestseller lists, but also gets some mixed reviews on GoodReads. Most of these reviews were critical of the portrayal of the main character.
I’m understanding this criticism, even though I’m finding the book enjoyable. A few scenarios were less than believable when main character Molly “struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others.” Molly’s awkwardness sometimes comes across as her being unintelligent, which readers know through her inner thoughts she is clearly not.
I’m going to see this one through to the end to see if the characterization of Molly becomes more believable. I do enjoy the writing style and the pace of the story; it’s keeping me interested and I’m curious how Molly is going to navigate the mess that is her hotel of employment.
What books have you read featuring a disabled main character? Have you picked up any of the others on the Disability Book Week list?
We can’t have a Disability Book Week without celebrating other books about disability inclusion! Check out this post from the archives from NDEAM on Books about Accessibility and Disability Inclusion. Of course, I’d love it if you wanted to support another disabled author and pick up my book, Making Online Learning Accessible!