Blindsided by Priscilla Cummings

Pages: 226

Intended Audience: Teens and Tweens

Genre: Real life

Notes for Parents: Contains some mature scenes

The Back Cover

Natalie is a typical fourteen-year-old girl: a great student, lots of friends, a loving family. Her life seems perfect. But when a routine visit to the eye doctor reveals that she will soon go blind, she is devastated. As if this wasn’t shocking enough, she is then forced to leave everything behind and go to a school for the blind to learn the skills she will need to survive. While she does what she’s told, inwardly she desperately hopes for a miracle that will save her sight. But ultimately, Natalie must decide how to go on when her future isn’t what she expected.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

The back cover is a bit misleading. Natalie was born without irises and that put her at high risk for glaucoma and she’d had seven surgeries to relieve pressure in her eye before the story even begins, so it isn’t a “routine visit to the eye doctor” where it’s reveal that she will suddenly and unexpectedly go blind.

What’s good?

This was a quick and easy read with a lot of interesting information about how blind people adapt to their surroundings. The simple storyline follows Natalie as she reluctantly learns skills that will help her if she loses her sight completely. Natalie is a sympathetic and believable 14-year-old who doesn’t want to accept that she may lose her sight completely. The excellent cast of supporting characters include: her mom, who encourages Natalie to prepare for the worst; her dad, who doesn’t want to admit the worst; Meredith, Natalie’s best friend, who’s trying her best to be a good friend; and the students and teachers of the Baltimore school who teach her that losing her sight doesn’t mean she will no longer see the world.

Best Part: Nuisance the goat.

What isn’t good?

The story reads like an afterschool special. It unfolds in a series of events that are uncomplicated and very predictable.  

Worst part: The back cover description.

Recommendation þþþoo

The story was good, but very simple. There were several interesting parts and a couple of very intense scenes which were well executed, but overall, this was a fairly straight forward story about a girl who is forced to accept her challenging circumstances. I recommend this for anyone looking for a light, interesting read.

Cummings, Priscilla. Blindsided. New York: Scholastic, 2010.