Schneider Family Book Award acknowledges past missteps

This week, as an offshoot to my studies in librarianship, I reviewed the manual for a literature award that I am interested in, the Schneider Family Book Award. Presented each year by the American Library Association, this award recognizes books for children, middle-grade readers, and Young Adults “for their distinguished portrayal of people living with a disabling condition” (ALA, 2024, p. 6).

The last time I’d reviewed the award manual, I’d been deeply concerned that it extolled Rules by Cynthia Lord as an example of the type of book for which the award might be presented. Rules was the winner in 2007 in the award’s middle-grade category. It is essentially a book that focuses upon a neurotypical character wishing her autistic brother was “normal.” As such, I would argue that it is not a portrayal of someone living with a disability, but instead centers the viewpoint of a neurotypical character. Given that focus, how can it exemplify books that portray the disability experience?

To my relief, I detected improvement with the latest iteration of the manual, which was updated in August 2024. Instead of elevating Rules as a model award-winner, the manual reproduces an article from the January 2024 edition of School Library Journal. The article states that within the disabled community, there have been “criticisms of recognized titles for inaccurately depicting disabilities or containing stereotypes.” The article mentions Rules as a specific example: “some claimed it leaned into stereotypes of autistic people and dehumanized the brother” (Kingsbury, 2024, p. 27/para. 26).

References:
Kingsbury, M. (2024). The Schneider turns 20: How the award has propelled disability representation into the spotlight. School Library Journal. https://www.slj.com/story/the-schneider-family-book-award-turns-20

American Library Association (2024). Schneider Family Book Award manual. https://www.ala.org/sites/default/files/2024-08/Schneider%20Manual%20-%20Finalages.pdf