Harriet McBryde Johnson

Harriet McBryde Johnson went to schools for children with disabilities until age thirteen and to a cross-disability summer camp until age seventeen. She kept in contact with some of her friends from those times throughout her life. Having continued her education in regular schools.

She became a lawyer in 1985.

Ms. Johnson wrote for the New York Times Magazine and was a frequent contributor to the disability press. She was also the author of a memoir, Too Late to Die Young. Harriet died in June 2008.

Harriet's Books

0. Accidents of Nature - Paperback £5.99

by Harriet McBryde Johnson
(Books/All genres) (ISBN:9781842707418)

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 ten days long, but that may be all it takes to change a life forever.

Awards & Reviews

Out of Shadows

by Jason Wallace

'Excellent. [Out of Shadows is] the
latest lacerating addition to the
boarding-school-as-living-hell genre
... read on if you have the courage.
The author attended a similar
establishment at the age of 12,
and gives every indication of knowing
exactly what he is writing about.'

Independent

Elmer's Special Day

by David McKee

'The first Elmer book seemed like a great and original one-off, McKee's extraordinary imagination and colourful art have between them maintained originality and delight over all these years: amazing.' Chris Brown, School Librarian