Before I start my review of Katy, I should mention that I am disabled myself. I am different from the character of Katy in the book, in that I’ve been disabled since birth, (I have Cerebral Palsy, which means I use a wheelchair). So I will review the book from the viewpoint of a disabled reader. (But all views expressed are my own personal ones - other disabled readers might have different ones!)

Katy by Jacqueline Wilson, is a modern take on the children’s classic What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge. It tells the story of loving, and excitable 11-year-old Katy, the oldest of six children, who has her life changed upside down when she has an accident in the summer holidays, that leaves her needing to use a wheelchair.

I’ve never actually read the book that Katy is based on, so I can’t comment on how good of a modern adaptation it is. But I can say that it is an amazing book in its own right.

Katy is such a well-written character. We’re introduced to her as a caring, older sister, but Jacqueline Wilson also balances this by showing that she is as stubborn and adventurous as every 11-year-old is. Whether she’s arguing with her stepmother or trying her best to be a good mother figure to her siblings and things go a bit awry, Katy’s voice is always one of a 11-year-old girl that will have a solid place in our hearts by the end of the book.

But the thing that I was most impressed by in Katy, is, of course, the representation of disability. Everything that Jacqueline Wilson includes about disability, is so, so true. Not only was it really well-written, but I often found myself laughing, and even cheering, at times, because she was writing about an experience that I’ve had in my wheelchair, that I’ve never read in a book before.

But not only was this great for me to read - it is so important for her younger audience to be exposed to, and for her able-bodied readers learn about disability, as well. From how disabled people can be mistreated by able-bodied people (even if they mean well), to how disabled people cope at school, and even how they are still the same as everyone else (which is wonderful to be able to read, because Katy’s voice stays exactly the same all the way through the book!) - Jacqueline Wilson, through the wonderful Katy, gives her readers, disabled or not, a wonderful representation of what it’s like to be disabled. It’s definitely a book that younger readers should pick up, because it’s such a great introduction to disability.

While there were a few things in there about disability that I didn’t really like - certain words like “cripple” were used throughout, and things that Katy thought about her disabled self made me a bit uncomfortable, I know why Jacqueline Wilson chose to use them. Because of course disability representation isn’t always completely perfect, because everyone’s experience with disability is so different. So while I am uncomfortable with some words and phrases that are used, other disabled people might not be.

I think that’s why I liked reading Katy so much. There were well-written characters, and you root for Katy all the way through - but there was an honest representation of disability all the way through, and while I was reading parts of the book, like when she was talking about being disabled with Helen, a family friend with arthritis, I would just close the book, and think “I so wish I could have read this when I was 11.”

Because even though I am positive about my disability now, I love it, in fact - I struggled when I was Katy’s age, partly because I felt so alienated. I had no one else who was like me in my life, not even in books, because, like Jacqueline Wilson so rightly writes in Katy - in the classics, most disabled people, if they are good and kind and end up “overcoming” their disability on the last page.

If only I had Katy to read, because it would have made me feel so much more positive about my disability. Although, even now, it really makes me appreciate my disability even more than I already do.

But not only is this a book for disabled people - it’s one that everyone should read. It’s well-written, with lovely characters and a great story. But it’s also much more than that - it’s such a refreshing read, especially when disability and disabled characters are concerned, and one that will leave every reader - disabled or not - grinning by the end.

Jacqueline Wilson’s Katy is available from the Guardian bookshop.