Where You See Yourself

This was such a good read. We follow Effie as she navigated her senior year of high school and figures out her plans for college. We see her with her best friends and explore the evolution of a friendship when everyone will be scattering to different school. And there's a love interest. 

Effie has Cerebral Palsy and uses a wheelchair. We see her experiencing casual (often unconscious) ableism and denial of access to places by people who mean well, but do little. A lot of the book is Effie being clear on her career goals and trying to find a college that will support not just her dreams but her access to those dreams. I'm left thinking any institution that doesn't work for inclusion is all the poorer in the end in the loss of brilliant hearts and minds. 

I light up at his compliment, but dial it back quickly. They want me, yes, but a want is just a want. They haven't done the work. 

relatable

I think this is a great read for teens wondering about their college experience. It's also great to have this #OwnVoices depiction of disability–I think it will make some wheelchair-using readers feel represented and will be illuminating to some abled readers. It is so detailed in its depiction of the ableist barriers Effie faces that it ends up feeling somewhat didactic in places, but, you know, it's good information to learn.

Also a side character's dream college was randomly Grinnell College and I was like “oh this author must have gone to Grinnell otherwise there's no reason why this would be in here” and, I was correct. (Class of 2013.) Grinnell recognize Grinnell.