10 Books in Honor of Disability Pride

Published on 12 July 2023 at 16:46

During the month of July, we celebrate Disability Pride Month! July was selected as the time we celebrate the disability community so that it would coincide with the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This piece of legislation protects the rights of people with disabilities to participate in public life and requires public spaces and activities to be accessible. Historically, the institutionalization and exclusion of people with disabilities has encouraged a culture of shame and blame around disability and chronic illness as well as a devaluing of people in this community. Awareness activities like Disability Pride fight back against these ideas by empowering people with disabilities to see their own value and take pride in their accomplishments as well as promoting acceptance and understanding in the community at large.

Image Description: A bright pink sign in the grass. The sign has a symbol of a wheelchair user with the text, "step free route."

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10 Books in Honor of Disability Pride

  1. A Time to Dance (Padma Venkatraman): Following a below the knee amputation, a dancer living in India learns to reconnect with her passion with the bharatanatyam dance form. Learn more about the book, its author, and where to buy it on the author's website or read it for free through the InternetArchive.
  2. Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability and Making Space (Amanda Leduc): This nonfiction book discusses the use of disability as a way of portraying villainy, victimhood, and comedy in classical literature and the need to tell new, more empowering stories. Learn more about the book, its author, and where to buy it from the author's website or search the WorldCat database to find it at a library near you.
  3. Get a Life, Chloe Brown (Talia Hibbert): This adult romance is steamy and comedic. It centers a chronically ill computer geek who works her way down a list of things that will make her feel like she is really living. Learn more about the book, its author, and where to buy it on the author's website or visit WorldCat to find it at a library near you.
  4. I Am Not A Label (Cerrie Burnell): This illustrated nonfiction book introduces young readers to famous people with disabilities. Buy this book on Amazon or search the WorldCat database to find it at a library near you.
  5. Sick Kids in Love (Hannah Moskowitz): Here's a young adult romance about two chronically ill lovebirds who don't die at the end of the story! If you're looking for a book that breaks the mold for romance novels with chronically ill characters, this one is for you. Learn more about this book and where to buy it from Entangled Publishing or use the WorldCat database to find it at a library near you.
  6. The Secret of Haven Point (Lisette Auton): A middle grade fantasy, this book tells the story of Haven Point, a mystical place that is only accessible to people with disabilities. Learn more about the book, its author, and where to buy it on the author's website or search the WorldCat database to find it at a library near you.
  7. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (Anne Fadiman): This academic work discusses the conflict that arises between American medicine and immigrant families struggling to understand one another through differences of culture and language. Borrow the book for free from OpenLibrary or buy it on Amazon.
  8. Stay with Me (Ayòbámi Adébáyò): This award-winning book centers a Nigerian perspective as it discusses marriage, family, and political turbulence. It also includes a character living with sickle cell disease. Learn more about the book and its author on the author's website. Borrow it from OpenLibrary or buy it from Barnes and Noble.
  9. This Beach is Loud! (Samantha Cotterill): This picture book tells the story of a boy and his dad's day at the beach. When the beach is too loud, he and his father try a few tricks to make sure the day is successful. Borrow this book from OpenLibrary or buy this book from the Sensory Toolhouse.
  10. You're Welcome, Universe (Whitney Gardner): In this young adult story, the protagonist covers up a slur with graffiti art. When she is expelled for her illegal art, she becomes the only deaf student at her new school. Borrow this book from OpenLibrary or buy it from Barnes and Noble.

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