It is no longer cool, folks, to describe a seemingly normal child and then do a sudden "zoom out" and see that he's actually in a wheelchair. That does not make you sound like you accept/are spreading awareness...it really just sounds like you're going for a cheap twist.
(The most recent submission I got of this sort was terrible in other ways too. Fascinating word choices. For instance, this child did now "say," he "uttered." But it did make me think about why, exactly, that kind of plot line fundamentally bugs me.)
What is "in," any dear aspiring child-lit authors, is putting the handicap out there straight away (the manifestation of it, at least, e.g., the wheelchair)and then telling a story that ranges beyond that part of your characters life. What the twist at the end does is make you think you are reading about a child's life only to have it reduced in a second to OH HEY AND HE IS IN A WHEELCHAIR.
Also, be careful when you're folding paper. No first reader likes to have to untangle her submissions before reading them. And don't say "I look forward to hearing your favorable response" in your cover letter. That makes me really not want to give you a favorable response. Soon I will talk about cover letters. Since we have some problems with those.
Alright, that is all for tonight, sorry for my (now usual) lack of vibrancy. I have just enough energy to (barely) get my schoolwork and paid-work done and then I'm pretty much done.
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