I learned a lesson that I kept finding fascinating even as I learn it again and again in my grown-up life, which is that kids are unbelievably resilient. What was the most surprising thing you learned about blind and visually impaired teens while working with the Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind? How to survive and live in a way that’s meaningful and joyful. For me, Blind isn’t a book meant to be about blindness, or even a blind girl-it’s a book about being a girl in the world in general, about figuring out how to make meaning in (and of) your life, no matter how difficult the hand you’re dealt.
To find herself in an impossible context, but not to become that context-or to become a victim or symbol. I wanted Emma to be a resilient warrior, but not a saint. What was your greatest challenge in writing a story narrated by a blind character? DeWoskin’s ability to draw readers into her blind character’s mind seems effortless, and the story is full of details-such as comparing voices and words to smells and colors-that reveal Emma’s mind to be far from the lonely, dark place she initially fears it will be. Rachel DeWoskin’s first young adult novel draws from her experiences while working with the Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind, where she learned braille and was inspired by the determination and warmth of her visually impaired and blind friends.
And when her insular hometown is shaken by a local teen’s suicide, Emma’s own tragedy is placed in sharp relief. In the sensitively rendered and beautifully written Blind, Emma shares her story of courage and resilience as she comes to terms with a world that is forever changed. The last thing Emma saw before going blind was the bright, spinning colors of fireworks-and then it all went dark.
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