Ona Gritz

THE SHAPE OF WINGS

Written by Ona Gritz

(West 44 Books; Available in Hardcover, Paperback, and eBook,
Ages 14-18/Grades 9-12)

 

 

 

GUEST REVIEW BY KAROL SILVERSTEIN:

Newly connected with her biological sisters (having hunted down her sperm donor-dad on Ancestry), C.C. is loving getting to know them. But when talk turns to sports and other physical activities they all enjoy, C.C. chooses not to share that she has cerebral palsy, enjoying the anonymity of the Zoom room. C.C.’s friend group—which includes bestie volleyball star Paige—is all non-disabled. In fact, the only other disabled person C.C. knows is a local woman who’s a wheelchair user. That changes when Jasmine comes to the library where C.C. works. C.C. instantly recognizes Jasmine’s altered gait and assumes, correctly, that Jasmine has CP too. Jasmine’s astonished that C.C. has no disabled friends and is unaware of the nearby Judy Heumann Center, a gathering place for disabled kids and teens that offers adaptive sports and other activities.

Jasmine takes C.C. under her wing, taking her to the Heumann Center and introducing her around. The experience proves to be a revelation for C.C., who begins spending most of her time with Jasmine and the other disabled teens she meets. She even begins a sweet romance with Lucas, who’s blind, and starts learning adaptive volleyball. Meanwhile, C.C.’s been blowing off her other friends, and Paige is hurt and confused by how unavailable C.C.’s been all summer. Like keeping her CP a secret from her sisters, C.C. hasn’t shared her new friends or her budding romance with Paige.

When C.C. does finally hang out with Paige and her old friend group, she meets Paige’s cute cousin Jack, who takes an interest in C.C. Longing to “test the waters” of attracting a non-disabled guy, C.C. allows herself to be swept up in his attention and they kiss a little on her front porch at the end of the night. She instantly regrets her betrayal of Lucas and intends to tell him what she’s done. But Jasmine saw her kissing Jack, and is furious. C.C. knows she needs to come clean with all the secrets she’s been keeping—from Paige, from her sisters and from Lucas. Somehow she needs to reconcile the fences she’s put up and then broken and to bring the separate parts of her world together.

Like author Ona Gritz’s previous book that introduced C.C., The Space You Left Behind, this new novel is a hard-to-put-down page turner. It explores the benefit of leaning into one’s disabled identity and the power of having a community that understands you in a way those who don’t share your experience might not. C.C. swings from a disabled teen with no disabled friends to one who shuts out and nearly loses her long-time, non-disabled friends. Obviously, finding a balance and communicating more openly with her old friend group is essential for C.C. Seeing C.C.’s eyes open to all the disabled community has to offer was a thrill. The Judy Heumann Center was practically in her backyard, yet she didn’t know about—or about the disability activism of the center’s namesake.

Able-bodied parents of disabled kids often think treating their child “just like any other kid,” deemphasizing their disabled identity, is doing them a service. But it can deprive these kids of the opportunity to appreciate a significant part of themselves and to connect with other kids like them—in addition to their non-disabled friends. The Shape Of Wings is a loving, honest look at one teen’s journey of discovery and revelation around a part of herself she had yet to embrace as unique and powerful.

 

A Q&A With Ona Gritz by Karol Silverstein:

Karol Silverstein: Books are like our children’s. What excites you most about your latest?

Ona Gritz: The Shape of Wings is, in many ways, a love letter to disability friendships and community. I’m excited to share the depth of those connections, the fun to be found there, and how affirming and essential it is for disabled kids to have that particular part of themselves valued and understood from the inside out.

 

KS: Did you always envision (or hope for) a sequel to The Space You Left Behind?

OG: Not long after I began writing The Space You Left Behind, I realized I wanted more time with these characters. When we meet CC, she’s at the absolute beginning of her journey toward self-acceptance as a young woman with cerebral palsy and, by the end, disability pride and community are possibilities she’s just beginning to envision for herself. She was definitely ahead of me at 16 in that respect, but I hoped for an opportunity to fully immerse her in that world.

 

KS: Jasmine’s family leaned into her disability early on, connecting with the disability community and making sure she knew other disabled kids. CC’s parents did not. Which side of that coin landed face up for you growing up?

OG: Unfortunately, my family fell on CC’s side of that coin. I was the only disabled kid in my friend group growing up. As a result, I had no sense of disabled identity and tended to see myself as clumsy and lesser than because of the way my body moved and the physical things I couldn’t do. When I finally met my first disabled friend at 25, we had an immediate and breathless finish-each-other’s-sentences kind of connection. Soon after, I asked my mom why she didn’t seek out other families with disabled kids when I was small. She said it had never occurred to her.

 

KS: What’s your message to misguided disability allies—the “I don’t think of you as disabled” folks?

OG: That it’s not the compliment they think it is. Words like that not only discount our experiences and identity, but communicate a belief that disability is necessarily and solely a negative.

 

KS: Scoops seems like a fun place. What’s your go-to ice cream parlor order?

OG: Assuming they carry gelato, vanilla stracciatella.

 

KS: What books, shows, movies or music have you encountered recently that blew you away? Why?

OG: For books, Roxie in Color by Stacy Cervenka and Diane Debrovner is a unique and compelling story of a sighted 7 th grader with blind parents. My husband is blind, and the book felt authentic and true to our experience. It also happens to be a real page-turner. Another MG novel I loved was The Moon Without Stars by Chanel Miller. There’s something so fresh and surprising about Miller’s voice. She, and therefore her characters, have such a poetic and empathetic way of viewing the world. This is a book about books, friendship, and peer pressure that’s both heartbreaking and hopeful. I also can’t say enough good things about Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry by Ada Limón. It’s a lyrical and inspiring treatise on the importance of poetry. As a poet and verse novelist, I return to it often for inspiration. A movie I was especially charmed by this year was Eternity. It offers a wonderfully quirky and imaginative version of the afterlife, plus it has a lot of heart. And since we’re KidLit people, I’ll add that I absolutely love the film adaptation of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. It was my first-ever favorite book, and I thought it was beautifully translated to film. Shows I’ve loved recently are Hacks, Shrinking, and All Creatures Great and Small. What all three share in common are dimensional and irresistible characters.

AUTHOR BIO:

Ona Gritz holds a master of arts in poetry from the creative writing program at New York University. She is the author of the hi/lo young adult verse novels Take a Sad Song, a Kirkus Reviews’ best YA title; The Space You Left Behind, a Children’s Book Council Disability Pride Month Recommended Read; and its brand-new sequel, The Shape of Wings, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Her books for middle grade readers include If You Find This Letter, recently featured in People Magazine for Disability Pride Month, and August Or Forever, a Reader’s Choice and Wishing Shelf finalist in middle grade fiction. She also writes poetry and nonfiction for adults.
Find out more at her website: www.onagritz.com.

Author socials:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onagritz/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557125428404

Buy the book: Children’s Book World, Haverford, PA for signed copies, or Bookshop.org.

REVIEWER BIO:

Karol Ruth Silverstein (she/her/disabled) is an award-winning children’s book author. She’s
represented by Abigail Samoun at Red Fox Literary and lives in West Hollywood, California, with
two unmanageably fluffy cats. Check out www.karolruthsilverstein.com for more info.