- Because I have always been intrigued to see whether my 'hunch' about the portrayal of disability in fiction is accurate, viz. no realistic portrayal, stereotypical characters.
- Because I have a partial start in Winifred in Particular first published in FOLLY
in 1994. - I collect children's fiction, never having completely grown out of it, and am a part of a community of collectors of girl's literature.
The reasons why I am fascinated by this study
- It is a definable segment of literature
Why children's fiction?
- written for ages 8 - 14.
- a certain style, format, and length.
- certain subjects taboo, making comparisons easier.
- a fairly clear 'beginning' to genre - What Katy Did, Little Women, The Secret Garden, the Anne books, Heidi.
- I collect early twentieth century girls' school stories and this seemed to be a logical extension to that hobby.
- I am disabled myself and am interested in how people perceive disability.
Once I started thinking about the way disability was used in girls' school stories from the first half of the twentieth century, it felt as if every conversation generated more and more avenues which looked fascinating. This continued until it felt as if the project was alive and capable of independent and autonomous growth, just like Topsy.