Love and First Sight by Josh Sundquist

Love and First Sight by Josh Sundquist is a debut novel likely to appear on future award lists. It is a relatively quick read, but a thought provoking one which explores issues of reacting to a disability, parent-child relationships, and coming of age romance. The main character, Will Porter, is 16, blind, and moving to a new “mainstream” school. There, he gradually builds relationships, especially with Cecily who also seems not to fit in with “normal” expectations.  They support and accept each other, but tension increases when Will has a chance at an experimental operation.

Sundquist does an excellent job of raising questions about what it is like to be blind or have a friend who is visually impaired:

   - "Sighted people are always doing this. Imaging they are translating vision into words for me, but they are really just describing one image by comparing it to another image, neither of which I have a point of reference for."
   - "That’s sightist .... Assuming that blind people cannot have a full life because they don’t have eyesight. My sensory experience isn’t less than yours. It’s just different."
  - "Do people have a duty to disclose what they look like to their blind friends?"
  - "Eyesight is in the eyes. Vision is more. It is in the mind. The heart. The soul."

Those interested in learning more about the impacts of gaining sight should also read Robert Kurson’s non-fiction Crashing Through.

The emphasis on difficulties of “fitting in” reinforces the appeal of Love and First Sight to late middle school and early high school students and I concur with School Library Journal’s review: “A highly recommended and engaging story for most YA collections.” In addition, Sundquist has been on my to read list for a while and I will be turning to his earlier non-fiction works, Just Don’t Fall and We Should Hang Out Sometime.

Not if I See You First by Eric Lindstrom

Fans of books by Jennifer Smith like The Geography of You and Me and of Nicola Yoon’s Everything, Everything will also enjoy Not if I See You First by Eric Lindstrom.

The main character, Parker Grant, was involved in an accident and blinded at age seven and Lindstrom does an excellent job of evoking what it must be like to be blind.  Parker has learned to cope through a variety of rules and reliance on friends, but this story does shake some of the “truths” to which she adheres.  

Not if I See You First is full of drama and angst – the teenage angst of realizing that there are other people with problems, too. This story details her efforts over a few months to grow-up and to step outside her comfort zone. In many ways, Parker is as blind emotionally as she is physically. However, I personally thought that Not if I See You First was too repetitive when focusing on romance and on Parker’s attempts to work out feelings for her “ex” while dating someone else.  I was more engaged when she considers trying out for the school track team, learns to trust and makes some new friends as the year progresses. Although I wished that Parker was an even stronger person, she was not bitter and often insisted on being independent.

If you are a younger teen and looking for a book about teenage relationships and friendships, Not if I See You First is one to try – I will be including this title in a booktalk on characters with disabilities and look forward to hearing your reaction. Not if I See You First by Eric Lindstrom received a starred review from Kirkus.