New Middle Grade Novel Centers Accessibility in Story and Format
By Pooja Makhijani | Jun 02, 2026 Stacy Cervenka. When Stacy Cervenka was interviewed in 2019 for a Parents magazine story about blind parents raising children, the conversation sparked more than a feature—it launched a creative partnership that would become Roxie in Color (Candlewick, June), a middle grade novel that is breaking new ground in accessible publishing. Co-written by Cervenka and former Parents editor Diane Debrovner, the novel will be published with text set in the low-vision-friendly Atkinson Hyperlegible font developed by the Braille Institute; in simultaneous Braille and large-print editions; and in audiobook format, narrated by Aria Mia Loberti, an actor best known for portraying a blind teenager in Nazi-occupied France in the Netflix miniseries All the Light We Cannot See. The novel, inspired in part by Cervenka’s own experiences, follows a sighted seventh grader navigating a new school while concealing both her parents’ blindness and her fears about inheriting a degenerative eye condition herself. “I want blind and low-vision people to see themselves and their community in this book,” the author said. In rural America, where Cervenka lives, “it’s not uncommon for a blind kid to be the only blind student in their county,” she said. “And if you don’t see other adults who navigate the world or live the way that you do, it’s hard to imagine being a blind adult. I want [readers] to see what blind adulthood can be.” Accessibility was top-of-mind throughout the publishing process, said Kaylan Adair, editorial director (fiction) at Candlewick Press, and Nancy Bruckman, assistant director of subsidiary rights at Candlewick. “Even when Kaylan first started thinking about acquiring this book, one of the things that was important to her and the creators was accessibility and what our options would be for that,” Bruckman said. Candlewick immediately secured audio, Braille, large-print, and dyslexic-friendly editions for the novel. Adair and Bruckman acknowledged that the process came with a learning curve—Candlewick had published relatively few novels in Braille, and its partnerships with large-print and dyslexic-friendly licensees were still developing—but said the effort was essential to the project’s mission. “Accessibility is not only important for books that feature characters who use the services that some of those accessible formats reach, but for everyone,” Bruckman said. Rebecca Waugh, editorial director of Penguin Random House Audio’s Listening Library, was excited when Candlewick sent Roxie to PRH for production consideration. “Candlewick let us know that it was important to the authors of this book that we think about accessibility from all angles,” she said. “They wanted to find a narrator who had experience with what it means to be blind and how that affects the way that one navigates the world.” Cervenka and Debrovner were especially eager to cast Loberti, who is also the author of I Am Ingrid (Scholastic, 2025), a picture book inspired by her guide dog. (Loberti had her vision corrected in 2024 and, according to her social media posts, now lives “as a sighted person.”) “We loved this casting idea right away,” Waugh said. “And when we reached out to Aria and her team, she was really enthusiastic; it was nice that she immediately felt that connection to the work.” Cervenka has been heartened by her publishers’ commitment to accessibility, particularly for blind and low-vision readers. “I wrote the book with [those] readers in mind—period,” she said. “There are things in the book that are going to alert a blind reader that a blind person wrote this.” More broadly, the team hopes that the book will encourage creators and publishers to think more expansively about the many ways readers experience stories. Cervenka emphasized that “not everyone is going to be reading [a book] in standard size print. Subconsciously or not, people automatically think sighted readers are books’ only readers.” Bruckman added, “I see my role as helping find readers for our books in whatever form best suits them—so they can enjoy and appreciate without any barriers to access.” Roxie in Color by Stacy Cervenka and Diane Debrovner. Candlewick, $18.99 June 2; ISBN 978-1-5362-4660-5 Original source: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/100533-new-middle-grade-novel-centers-accessibility-in-story-and-format.html Richard, USA "While striving for perfection, let us do what is possible." -- John Wesley My web site: https://www.turner42.com (sent from my iPhone 16 pro) -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. 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