Follow My Leader is a book by James B. Garfield (no, not that one), about a boy, Jimmy Carter (no, not that one), who, during an after-school baseball game, is blinded when one of his friends, Mike Adams (no, not that
one), is playing with a firecracker and, in a panic, accidentally throws it at Jimmy. Now having to learn to live with his disability, Jimmy learns how to use a white cane, to read and write Braille, and to work with a seeing-eye dog, whom he names Leader.
Provides Examples of:
- The Ace: Implied to be Jimmy, before his blindness.
- An Aesop: About forgiveness, about looking forward and not wallowing in the past, and about overcoming disabilities.
- Amplified Animal Aptitude: Justified, given Leader's special training.
- A Boy and His X: Much of the story has to do with Jimmy bonding with his guide dog, Leader, who helps give him back a sense of independence.
- Blind People Wear Sunglasses: Jimmy is given glasses to wear, but becomes angry with Sense Loss Sadness at the idea of wearing dark glasses. He shown wearing dark glasses on the cover of several editions of the book, as shown here◊ and here◊.
- Broken Ace: Jimmy is of course not able to play sports anymore after his accident.
- Bullying the Disabled: Mike bullies Leader both because he is jealous of Jimmy's canine companion and has unresolved guilt from his role in Jimmy's accident, causing Leader to bite back. Eventually Mike and Jimmy are able to talk it out and reconcile.
- Canine Companion: Did we mention the book is about a boy and his seeing-eye dog?
- Curiosity Is a Crapshoot: In two instances:
- In the beginning, the boys find a firecracker, implied to be defective, and Mike's playing with it is what leads to Jimmy's blindness.
- Toward the end, when the boys are at Scout camp, they decide to go exploring and see the sun rise, and get lost. Fortunately, Leader brings them back to the camp.
- Disappeared Dad: Jimmy's father was killed in a car accident in the backstory.
- Disability Superpower: While it's not to super-levels, Jimmy does find that some of his other senses are sharpened after he loses his sight (which is Truth in Television).
- The Dog Bites Back: Leader's response to Mike's repeated teasing and provocations.
- Dog Walks You: In Jimmy's case, that's a very good thing.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Jimmy does not want people to feel sorry for him because he's blind.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: Leader really doesn't like Mike, justified since Mike has been provoking him.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Jimmy gets very excited to explain how he can organize the books on his shelf by size and feel so he can find them without being able to see them... and then is depressed to realize that also means he won't be able to read them.
- Fatal Fireworks: Fortunately not actually fatal, but disfiguring.
- The '50s: When the book was written. It's easy to miss, however, but for a few scattered slang expressions and the absence of modern technology.
- Forgiveness: A major aesop of the book, and an important step in Jimmy's Character Development.
- Handy Helper: A canine example! Leader, like any service dog, is specifically trained to help make up for Jimmy's disability. Jimmy even refers to him as "my eyes."
- Heel–Face Turn: Mike causes Jimmy's blindness through a careless accident, but his guilt over it makes him into a bully until he is able to work it out with Jimmy and become friends again.
- Heroic Dog: Justified, with Leader.
- Insistent Terminology: At the training school, all the students, even Jimmy, are referred to as Mr. or Miss (their surname). This is to remind them that they are adults and should expect to be treated as such.
- Inspirationally Disadvantaged: Averted, with the story's very realistic portrayal of blindness. Jimmy's disability is treated as a fact of life and he's simply doing what anyone would do to cope under the circumstances.
- Kick the Dog: The incident where Mike blinded Jimmy was an accident, but then Mike went on to tease and provoke Jimmy's seeing-eye dog, resulting in a well-deserved biting, but leading to Leader's quarantine and putting the dog at risk for more serious consequences. Mitigated by the fact that Mike is just a kid himself, he confesses to Jimmy and turns himself in when he is made aware of the seriousness of the situation, and that there may not have been as much of an awareness of seeing-eye dogs at the time the book was written.
- Meaningful Name: Sirius, which is lampshaded in the book.
- Meaningful Rename: Leader, who was originally named Sirius, itself a Meaningful Name.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: All the boys in the book, as well as Mack. In fact, we only see Jimmy's given name mentioned once or twice.
- Sense Loss Sadness: Jimmy has to learn to deal with the emotional fallout of losing his sight.
- Schmuck Bait: If you see a dud firecracker just lying around, why not light it to see what will happen? What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
- Shown Their Work: The story manages to convey quite a lot of accurate information and awareness about the realities of blindness, justified as
the author himself was blind. - Then Let Me Be Evil: Mike takes a level in jerkass when the other kids ostracize him after the incident that blinded Jimmy.
- They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: Inverted at the training school, where the teachers insist on calling the students, even Jimmy, by Mr. (or Miss) and their surname, to remind them that they should expect to be treated as adults regardless of their impairments.
- Those Two Guys: Chuck and Art.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Mike over the course of the story.
- True Companions: Jimmy, Chuck and Art.
- Truth in Television: The author himself had become blind later in life and had a guide dog named Coral, which provided the impetus for the book's detailed descriptions of blindness.
