Roll With It

These chapters address a number of issues concerning the Common Challenges Faced by People With a Disability, particularly public accommodation for people with disabilities. As Ellie and her mother visit the school she will be attending in Eufaula, they discover that the smaller school has never had to accommodate someone who uses a wheelchair. They are still unprepared to accommodate her on her first day of school when all the classes are arranged in a way that prevents her from comfortably entering or finding a spot. Readers see this get amended as she moves from room to room. Sumner offers a criticism of public facilities that are ill-prepared to accommodate those with disabilities through a personal lens using first-person voice. The obstacles to Ellie navigating the physical space of school are juxtaposed with Mema’s attempts to accommodate Ellie’s needs in a small space. The challenges at school are further exacerbated by the school lacking qualified trained personnel to assist Ellie in the way that she needs assistance. Hutch, on the other hand, is depicted as being completely prepared for Ellie in gym class. The clear juxtaposition of accommodations and discrimination throughout the novel highlight methods and benefits of inclusivity to middle-grade readers.

The quality of care provided in assisted living facilities is also drawn into question when Ellie’s family is recommended to consider this type of care for Jonah by the neurologist and each of them displays immediate resistance. The problems that the family anticipate with assisted living, including accessibility to quality facilities with sufficient staff, reinforces Sumner’s criticism of accommodation for people with disabilities. Both Ellie and her grandparents resist physical assistance in the novel, a point through which Sumner subverts ableist and ageist expectations.

In Chapter 6, Ellie meets Bert for the first time, and he is characterized as being on the autism spectrum. This character adds yet another dimension to the kinds of challenges that people with physical disabilities often navigate. Ellie learns that he is going to be carpooling to school with her because of social difficulties on the bus. While Bert does not have a physical disability, Sumner makes him subject to another un-inclusive practice which limits his ability to navigate spaces freely. Sumner contrasts this with many representations of freedom; in Chapter 6, for example, Ellie remembers returning a fish to Lake Eufaula. The lake is a symbol of freedom throughout the novel.

In Chapter 7, Sumner highlights The Social Impact of Class. When Ellie has lunch with her friends, she believes that she is being laughed at by some of her other peers because of her wheelchair. Coralee, however, asserts that they are being laughed at because they live in trailers. Ellie and Bert both seem socially unaware of this factor, and the first-person narrative has dwelled positively on the trailer environment so far in the novel. Coralee, however, is more aware of classism because she has been to several different schools. She establishes the distinction between “townies” and those who live in the trailer park, explaining to Ellie and Bert (and therefore the reader) the class-based dynamics of the area. She explains that this is the difference that sets them apart from their peers at school.