YA Books with Disability Representation

Published on 30 July 2024 at 13:23

As Disability Pride Month comes to a close, I'm sharing this latest resource, a collection of books with disability representation organized according to genre. In my research, romance seemed to be the most ubiquitous genre, followed by general fiction. Personally, I would love to see more sci-fi/fantasy with disability representation! (As an aside, one of my books, The Wood, and my work in progress, Airphibious, both have strong disability representation in these genres.) If you come across other books that you think should be added to this collection, please let me know by email at contact.undergroundbookshelf@gmail.com.

 

*You may find that some books are listed under more than one category. This is because those books fit into 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.

Image Description: A book lies open on a white bedspread. The book is illuminated by a mass of fairy lights. A pair of light-skinned hands hold the book open.

Credit: Nong / Unsplash via Webador

General Fiction

  • The Moth Girl by Healther Kamins (chronic illness)
  • Breathe and Count Back from Ten by Natalia Sylvester (hip dysplasia)
  • A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Bernard (selective mutism, deafness, British Sign Language)
  • A List of Cafes by Robin Roe (ADHD, dyslexia, PTSD)
  • Meet Me in Outer Space by Melinda Grace (auditory processing disorder)
  • The Boy Who Steals Houses by C.G. Drews (autism)
  • Peta Lyre's Rating Normal by Anna Whateley (autism)
  • Cursed by Karol Ruth Silverstein (chronic pain, juvenile arthritis)
  • The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais (deafness, ASL)
  • Run by Kody Keplinger (blindness)
  • Two Girls Staring at the Ceiling by Lucy Grank (Crohn's disease)
  • Pinned by Sharon G. Flake (learning disability, limb differences)
  • Like Water by Rebecca Podos (Huntingon's Disease)
  • A Time to Dance by Padma Vekatraman (amputation, limb differences)
  • Fix by J. Albert Mann (scoliosis, PTSD, limb differences, addiction)
  • Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett (HIV)
  • The Edge of Anything by Nora Shalaway Carpenter (OCD, heart condition)
  • Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram (depression, brain tumor)
  • You're Welcome, Universe by Whitney Garner (deafness)
  • The Disturbed Girl's Dictionary by NoNieqa Ramos (unnamed psychological disorder, unnamed neurological disorder)
  • A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass (synesthesia)
  • Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork (autism)
  • The One Thing by Marci Lyn Curtis (blindness)
  • Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom (blind/low vision)
  • Wild and Crooked by Leah Thomas (cerebral palsy)
  • Turtles All the Way Down by John Green (OCD)

Historical Fiction

  • One for All by Lillie Lainoff (ostural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome)
  • The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones (chronic pain)
  • The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee (epilepsy)
  • The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf (OCD)
  • The Girls I've Been by Tess Sharpe (endometriosis)

Sci-Fi/Fantasy

  • For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig (bipolar disorder)
  • A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer (cerebral palsy)
  • The Oracle Code by Marieke Nijkamp (paralysis, wheelchair use, depression)
  • Skyhunter by Marie Lu (sign language)
  • A Dragonbird in the Fern by Laura Rueckert (dyslexia)
  • A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft (chronic illness)
  • Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman (autism)
  • Graceling by Kristin Cashore (blind/low vision)
  • Sixteen Souls by Rosie Talbot (limb differences)

Supernatural/ Horror/Thriller

  • Even if We Break by Marieke Nijkamp (arthritis)
  • The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones (chronic pain)
  • For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig (bipolar disorder)
  • To Stand In The Light by Ennis Rook Bashe (scars, masking)
  • On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis (autism)
  • Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu (hard of hearing, hearing aids)
  • Far From You by Tess Sharpe (addiction, chronic pain, disfigurement)
  • Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis (physical disability)
  • Things the Eye Can't See by Penny Joelson (blind/low vision)

Anthologies

  • Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens edited by Marieke Nijkamp (own voice stories by disabled authors)

Graphic Novels

  • Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu (hard of hearing, hearing aids)
  • The Oracle Code by Marieke Nijkamp (paralysis, wheelchair use, depression)
  • Graceling by Kristin Cashore (blind/low vision)

Nonfiction

  • The Bite of Mango by Mariatu Kamara (amputation, trauma)
  • Laughing At My Nightmare by Shane Burcaw (spinal muscular atrophy)
  • Strangers Assume My Girlfriend Is My Nurse by Shane Burcaw (spinal muscular atrophy)

Romance

  • All the Right Reasons by Bethany Mangle (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
  • You, Me, and Out Heartstrings by Melissa See (cerebral palsy)
  • Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moskowitz (rheumatoid arthritis, Gaucher disease)
  • Brave Enough by Katie Gardner (limb differences, amputation, cancer, addiction)
  • A Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen (Tourette's syndrome, depression)
  • The Art of Not Feeling by Laura Tims (injury, chronic pain, congenital insensitivity to pain and anhidrosis)
  • When my Heart Joins the Thousands by A.J. Steiger (autism, brittle bone disease)
  • Love From A to Z by S.K. Ali (multiple sclerosis)
  • Finding Balance by Kati Gardner (acute lymphocitic leukemia, amputation, limb differences)
  • The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones (chronic pain)
  • For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig (bipolar disorder)
  • The State of Grace by Rachael Lucas (autism)
  • To Stand In The Light by Ennis Rook Bashe (scars, masking)
  • Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde (autism)
  • The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais (deafness, ASL)
  • The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee (epilepsy)
  • Like Water by Rebecca Podos (Huntingon's disease)
  • Jerk California by Jonathan Friesen (Tourette's syndrome)
  • Lovely, Dark, and Deep by Justina Chen (allergy to sunlight)
  • History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera (OCD)
  • Made You Up by Francesca Zappia (schizophrenia)
  • Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl by Brianna Rl Shrum and Sara Waxel Baum (autism)
  • Something More by Jackie Khalilieh (autism)
  • Chaos Theory by Nic Stone (bipolar disorder)
  • How to Dance by Jason B. Dutton (cerebral palsy)
  • Where You See Yourself by Claire Forrest (cerebral palsy)
  • Love Letters for Joy by Melissa See (cerebral palsy)
  • A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft (chronic illness)
  • Reggie and Delilah's Year of Falling by Elize Bryant (chronic migraines, dyslexia)
  • Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino (deafness, hard of hearing)
  • Loveboat Reunion by Abigail Hing Wen (dyslexia_
  • Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert (OCD)
  • Every Time You Go Away by Abigail Johnson (paraplegia)

Sources:

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