Float

Content Warning: This section contains discussions of ableism.

All of the major characters in Float have unusual abilities that straddle the line between superpowers and disabilities. Much of the language surrounding RISK factors is borrowed from the current state of disability rights law and activism in the United States. In contrast to many other stories about children with superpowers, the powers that the kids in Float are born with are usually very dangerous, unpleasant, and challenging to keep under control. Emerson can float, but he cannot return to the ground, so he lives in constant fear of floating away and dying. Gary can stick to things, but he cannot unstick himself and must sometimes have his hand burned off of surfaces with painful caustic acid. In Float, Martin draws a parallel between RISK kids and disabled kids in the United States who receive accommodations at school and are required to be monitored for their own safety and the safety of the general population.

Some of the laws surrounding RISK kids are generally positive in Float. Emerson notes that there was “a time before RISK kids were government-protected, when people born with a RISK were literally rejected from society” (188).