The Disability Book Archive

[ID: A book cover. The background is a painting that shows a young boy wearing a red shirt and black glasses with dark lenses. He is standing under a large tree and has a German Shepherd dog at his side. They are outside and it is sunny. The tree has orange leaves. At the top of the cover, a blue band with the words “A Puffin Book” in black caps in the top right corner. The logo of a puffin in an orange oval is next to it. Underneath the band, the author’s name “James B. Garfield” in larger white caps. Underneath this, the title “Follow My Leader” in larger, yellow italics. The phrase “With Leader at his side, Jimmy can go anywhere!” is written in small white writing in the lower left corner of the cover. /end]

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Content Warning:

Note: This novel is over 60 years old. Some aspects of it may thus seem a bit dated now, i.e. attitudes towards disability, accessibility, gender roles and women.

• Historical Inaccessibility
• Historical Misogyny
• Injury
• Death of a Parent

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Summary:

A heartwarming story about a boy and his guide dog, for fans of  Where the Red Fern Grows  and Because of Winn-Dixie .

After Jimmy is blinded in an accident with a firecracker, he has to relearn all the things he used to know – how to get dressed, how to find his way around the house, even how to eat. With the help of a determined therapist, he learns to read Braille and use a cane. Then he’s given the chance to have a guide dog. Learning to work with Leader is not easy, but Jimmy tries harder than he ever has before. Can Leader really give him the ability and the confidence he needs?

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Notes:

This book was published 33 years before the passing of the ADA (or, The Americans With Disabilities Act). This is a civil rights law, passed in 1990, that prevents the discimination of individuals on the grounds of disability. The final bill was signed into law on July 26th 1990. As of July 2023, the ADA is 33 years old.

(I weirdly love that this book was written 33 years before the ADA, and now, 33 years after the ADA, I’m adding it to a disability book archive)

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Archivist Comments:

It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes when people submit a book they provide some background or an anecdote to go with it, basically just explain why they love it so much. I did get one for this book, and it clearly meant a great deal to the person who submitted it, and to their family too by the sounds of it. No one who submits a book is required to defend their decision, or justify why they think other people should read it, but really it is nice sometimes to be able to see just how much these books mean to people.

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