Disability Representation in Middle Grade Books

Happy Disability Pride Month! Disability pride is recognized in the United States during the month of July in honor of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This landmark piece of legislation was a crucial step towards accessibility and inclusion for many disabled Americans. Disability Pride Month comes on the heels of the much more popular and more readily recognized, LGBTQ+ Pride Month in June. Many people wonder why the disability community uses the word pride rather than "awareness", or something similar. While the disabled and queer communities have their own unique struggles, both have come to acknowledge the importance of "pride" in relation to self-worth and self-acceptance. In the case of the disability community, a long history of eugenics, asylums, "ugly" laws, and other abuses have created a need for people in the disability community to both embrace themselves and drive others to accept the value that disabled people possess.

Literature is an important way to instill self-worth in children with disabilities who may struggle to accept their differences and their individual struggles. It's also an a valuable teaching tool when introducing nondisabled children to the diversity they may encounter in the world. The list below includes books for middle grade readers with a focus on disability, acceptance, diversity, adaptive equipment, and more. Parenthetical notations for each book mark some of the key themes present in each book. Books are organized according to genre. You will notice that some books appear on this page more than once. This is because they fit more than one genre.

*Please note that I have not read all of these books. I encourage you to do your own research to find the book/s right for you and your family and to use this resource merely as a guide.