Paws Hazel has her hands full

This is a full colour graphic novel which is part of a series. Twelve-year-old Hazel Miller is a manual wheelchair user as a result of spinal muscular atrophy, a condition which gradually weakens all a person’s muscles. There are two types and the type which Hazel has is not stated.

Hazel and her friends, all of whom are non-disabled, live in Vancouver in Canada. They have a dog-walking business called Paws. Hazel’s mum is happy for Hazel to be part of the Paws team so long as she never cares for animals on her own.

The Paws team are asked to cat sit two cats for two weeks at a fellow wheelchair user’s house. The problem is that all the other members of the Paws team are away on holiday during the cat sitting period, so Hazel decides she will care for both cats on her own. She also decides not to tell her mum because she thinks her mum will say no.

What will happen when her mum finds out? And can Hazel care for the cats on her own?

The premise of this book is admirable: to show disabled young people as capable and fully rounded characters, despite the barriers faced. However, a person with SMA would probably need a more heavily adapted wheelchair than the attractive fuscia pink model shown. Also, the physical skills needed to care for animals such as opening cupboards and packets to get food and emptying litter trays would be next to impossible for a twelve -year-old wheelchair user to do alone.

A huge positive of this book is that it gives disabled pre-teens the equal ability to be part of a group doing something productive together. There is also a very relatable scene when Hazel is having physio and detests doing her required hamstring stretches. Anyone with a physical disability will know the pain of that particular exercise.