Hi everyone! It is my pleasure to bring you my second interview for GeekDis 2022. Amy is a disabled book blogger who blogs at Golden Books Girl. She won the 2018 UKYA Teen Champion Blogger Award and reviews MG and YA books.

Amy joined me for GeekDis to talk about disability representation, her favourite disabled books and more!

Hi Amy, thank you for joining me today for GeekDis 2022! Could you tell us a little about yourself?

Hi Heather, it’s so lovely to be here and get to chat with you 😊. I’m not very sure what to say as I don’t think I’m a super exciting person, but I’ll try! I’m 20, I’m from Scotland and I absolutely LOVE animals, especially dogs. My blog is called what it is because I have golden retrievers. My favourite film is from the 80s, Pretty in Pink, and I can’t pick just one favourite TV thing because the truth is I have a bunch of comfort things I like to watch over and over again.

How long have you been blogging?

I celebrated my 5th anniversary in June, which is wild because it feels like it was yesterday and forever ago at the same time (which is true, horribly cliché as it sounds!). I bought myself a balloon, which the person who did it for me thought was for a child (MY non-existent 5 year old child, which made me worry I’m aging prematurely!). 

My blog is primarily focused on books, but I also do posts about whatever I fancy e.g. music, TV, movies and sometimes, disability. I find the last one the hardest to write about by far!

You won the UKYABA award for Champion Teen blogger in 2018. What was that like?

Oh, it was amazing!! I couldn’t attend the ceremony because I’m so far from London, and also I was at a relative’s birthday party that night so had my phone turned off. I came home to find LOADS of notifications which was very confusing till I realised they were all congratulations messages from people who were there or who had seen it online before I did. I got a trophy in the post, which is still pride of place in my house, and I’m honestly still surprised I’ve not been told there was a miscount and I didn’t actually win! Lucy Powrie, who had a blog/YouTube for years and then wrote her own wonderful YA trilogy, was up for the same award and she is my IDOL, so I had fully expected her to win. Honestly, she’s such an inspiration to me, and such a lovely person now I actually know her as well!

You often review books with disability representation. What are your thoughts on disability representation in fiction?

Okay, so not that long ago my answer would’ve been very different, because I think we’ve made such huge progress in the past couple of years in regards to OwnVoices disability rep. I read and review a lot of middle grade (they’re so imaginative and clever and fun) and especially there and in young adult books I think the past 2 years have been revolutionary. I’m sure she’s too humble to take all the credit, and of course there are other people who’ve made a huge difference, but I really started to notice a change when Elle McNicoll debuted and took the kidlit world by storm with A Kind of Spark. She’s a superstar walking among us and if you haven’t read her books, I’d honestly recommend them to anyone.

Have you ever felt seen in a book with disability representation?

Again, my answer would’ve been no a few years ago, but now I have and it is the best feeling. Two that deserve extra special mentions are Drew Leclair Gets a Clue and The Secret of Haven Point, I basically just cried the whole time because they made me feel so seen and so loved. And obviously I adore Elle McNicoll- Show Us Who You Are got me in the feels so much in particular.

What are some of your favourite books with disability representation?

Okay, so obviously all the ones I’ve already mentioned, all of which were 5 star reads for me, and some others I want to mention are: Etta Invincible ; The Extraordinary Adventures of Alice Tonks ; Wilder than Midnight ; Toby and the Silver Blood Witches ; One for All ; You, Me and Our Heartstrings and Talia Hibbert’s Chloe Brown and Eve Brown books. Some disabled authors I love with less explicit disability rep are Dominique Valente and Jennifer Killick. 

And I haven’t read it yet (my copy arrived today when I’m writing this) but I’d be an absolutely atrocious pal if I didn’t mention that my friend Tasha is bringing out her debut The Miraculous Sweetmakers and the Frost Fair in October! And my pal Laura (the third member of my only murders in the building group chat!!) is releasing her debut Cosima Unfortunate in June next year and I’m DYING to get my hands on that.

What is the worst/most inaccurate disability representation you’ve seen in a book?

Welllllll. I’ve read quite a few. I won’t name names publicly, but in the past year alone I have read a book by an able-bodied author which started using a slur from page 4 (and I have no issue with people reclaiming slurs, but this just wasn’t good vibes) and a not insignificant number of books where characters with walking sticks are painted as villains (there are some where it isn’t as jarring, but one recent read made the walking stick such a huge part of their villainy and it made so angry and upset). I just think in 2022, we don’t need this kind of harmful and upsetting rep anymore. And don’t even START ME on those books that were especially super popular in the 2010s where it was a romance with a disabled/mentally ill girl and a boy just comes along and magically cures her. Damaging and offensive (not to mention incredibly heteronormative…)

Who are some of your favourite disabled content creators and influencers?

Lucy Dawson is hands down my absolute favourite! I just love her whole vibe so much, and as I too have a brain injury (albeit not the sole reason for my symptoms), I relate to a lot of her content. She also has a DELIGHTFUL cat called Alan, which is a big plus point for me as animal lover, and I envy her walking stick collection greatly. I’m planning to add some Neo Walk sticks to my collection soon, hopefully, just by the by, I’m totally not trying to be Lucy Dawson or anything 😉

Do you have any disabled blogger recommendations?

I mean, obviously you ; I’m so happy to have discovered your blog/social media presence this year. I believe that was because of One for All, actually. I’m wary of naming other names, though, as I’m always so worried I’ll forget someone absolutely amazing and mortally offend them!

Aww thank you, Amy, that’s so sweet of you to say! I promise I didn’t pay her to say that!

Thank you, Amy, for taking the time to talk to us!

Thank you for reading my interview with Amy! Please do take the time to check out Amy’s blog Golden Books Girl. You can also follow Amy on Twitter, Instagram and GoodReads!

If you’re interested in seeing what other content myself and others have been creating for GeekDis 2022 take a peek at the GeekDis 2022 content hub!

---

Support Just Geeking By

I hope you enjoyed this post! If you did please consider sharing it on social media using the nifty buttons at the end of this post <3

If you enjoyed this content please consider helping to support my blog. You can do this in multiple ways (click here to find out how!) or by donating via Ko-Fi to help me reach my current goal.