För sjuk för skolan?

Magont, motstånd och metaforer i nordiska barn- och ungdomsböcker om hemmasittare

Abstract

^{Theme: Norms of (Dis)ability in Nordic Children’s and Young Adult Literature.}

Too Sick for School? Stomachache, Resistance, and Metaphors in Nordic Children’s and Young Adult Books about School Refusers

This article examines how contemporary Nordic children’s and young adult literature represents extended school absenteeism as a question of (dis)ability. Drawing on theories of characterization and picturebook modality, it analyses 16 Danish, Finland-Swedish, Norwegian and Swedish books published for young readers 2015–2025. The analysis focuses on how inability, diagnoses, and therapy are mobilized in characterization, plot, and paratexts. The discourse of school refusers as disabled is manifested throughout the material in characters who are unable to go to school even though they want to, informative sections on diagnoses, and therapeutic treatment reflected in the narrative structure. The literature, however, also contains various ambiguities that invite readings attentive to the limits of this discourse, suggesting that some experiences of distress resist categorization and communication.