We hope these selections serve to educate, entertain, amplify disabled voices, and encourage a dialogue on topics of disability and neurodiversity.


Laughing at My Nightmare by Shane Burcaw

With acerbic wit and a hilarious voice, Shane Burcaw’s Laughing at My Nightmare describes the challenges he faces as a twenty-one-year-old with spinal muscular atrophy. From awkward handshakes to having a girlfriend and everything in between, Shane handles his situation with humor and a “you-only-live-once” perspective on life. While he does talk about everyday issues that are relatable to teens, he also offers an eye-opening perspective on what it is like to have a life threatening disease.

Available formats: Book, Ebook (OverDrive by Media on Demand)

 

 

 


The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais

Deaf teen Maya moves across the country and must attend a hearing school for the first time. As if that wasn’t hard enough, she also has to adjust to the hearing culture, which she finds frustrating. As Maya looks past graduation and focuses on her future dreams, nothing, not even an unexpected romance, will not derail her pursuits. Features a Deaf protagonist and an Own Voices perspective on Deaf and Hard of Hearing culture.

Available formats: Book, Ebook (Hoopla), Audiobook (Hoopla)

 

 

 

 


Unbroken:13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens

An anthology of stories in various genres, featuring disabled characters and written by disabled creators, ranging from established best selling authors to debut authors.

Available formats: Book

 

 

 

 

 


Run by Kody Keplinger

Bo Dickinson is a girl with a wild reputation. Agnes Atwood has never broken any of her parents’ overbearing rules, rules that are meant to protect their legally blind daughter. Despite everything, Bo and Agnes become best friends. So when Bo shows up in the middle of the night desperate to get out of town, Agnes doesn’t hesitate to take off with her. But running away and not getting caught will require stealing a car, tracking down Bo’s dad, staying ahead of the authorities, and-worst of all-confronting some ugly secrets. Author Kody Keplinger is legally blind like the protagonist.

Available formats: Book, Ebook (OverDrive by Media on Demand)

 

 

 


The State Of Grace by Rachael Lucas

Sixteen-year-old Grace has Asperger’s, a horse, and a best friend who understands her, which is pretty much all she needs. But when she kisses Gabe and things start to change at home, suddenly everything threatens to fall apart, and it is up to Grace to fix it on her own. Author Rachael Lucas is autistic like the protagonist.

Available formats: Book

 

 

 

 

 


Even if We Break by Marieke Nijkamp

For five friends, this was supposed to be one last getaway before going their separate ways–a chance to say goodbye to each other, and to the game they’ve been playing for the past three years. But they’re all dealing with their own demons, and they’re all hiding secrets. When the lines between game and reality start to blend with deadly consequences, it’s a race against time before it’s game over–forever. Author Marieke Nijkamp is a neurodiverse, physically disabled person like the protagonist Maddy.

Available formats: Book, Ebook (Hoopla), Ebook (OverDrive by Media on Demand)

Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones

When risen corpses called ‘bone houses’ threaten Ryn’s village because of a decades-old curse, she teams up with a mapmaker named Ellis to solve the mystery of the curse and destroy the bone houses forever. Author Emily Lloyd-Jones has her own experiences with chronic pain like the protagonist.

Available formats: Book

 

 

 

 

 


Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction–if they don’t kill each other first. Author Leigh Bardugo suffers from osteonecrosis and sometimes needs to use a cane like protagonist Kaz who walks with a limp and also uses a cane.

Available formats: Book, Ebook (OverDrive by Media on Demand)

 

 

 

 

 


How We Roll by Natasha Friend

After developing alopecia Quinn lost her friends along with her hair and former football player Jake lost his legs and confidence after an accident. But the two help each other believe in themselves and the possibility of love.

Available formats: Book

In India, a girl who excels at Bharatanatyam dance refuses to give up after losing a leg in an accident. Author Padma Venkatraman wrote A Time to Dance because of an experience where she nearly lost her leg.

Available formats: Book, Ebook (OverDrive by Media on Demand), Audiobook (OverDrive by Media on Demand)

Available formats: Book, Ebook (Hoopla)

 

 

 

 

 


The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen

When a school bus accident leaves sixteen-year-old Jessica an amputee, she returns to school with a prosthetic limb and her track team finds a wonderful way to help rekindle her dream of running again.
Available formats: Book, Ebook (OverDrive by Media on Demand), Audiobook (OverDrive by Media on Demand)

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Prince Rhen was cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. Nothing has ever been easy for Harper, while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s instead somehow sucked into Rhen’s cursed world.

Available formats: Book, Ebook (OverDrive by Media on Demand)

 

 

 

 


Steffi has been a selective mute for most of her life – she’s been silent for so long that she feels completely invisible. But Rhys, the new boy at school, sees her. He’s deaf, and her knowledge of basic sign language means that she’s assigned to look after him. As they find ways to communicate, Steffi finds that she does have a voice, and that she’s falling in love with the one person who makes her feel brave enough to use it.
Available formats: Book, Ebook (OverDrive by Media on Demand)

Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis

Nolan doesn’t see darkness when he closes his eyes. Instead, he’s transported into the mind of Amara, a girl living in a different world. Amara’s world is full of magic and danger–she’s a mute servant girl who’s tasked with protecting a renegade princess.  To keep the princess–and themselves–alive, Nolan and Amara will have to work together and discover the truth behind their connection. Both main characters are physically disabled in this science fiction book.
Available formats: Book, Ebook (Hoopla), Ebook (OverDrive by Media on Demand

Love from A to Z by S.K. Ali

When Zayneb, who is the only Muslim in her school, is suspended for confronting her teacher, she heads to Qatar for an early spring break at her uncle’s home. Then she meets Adam, who has just been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. He’s keeping the diagnoses a secret from his father, who is grieving the death of his mother. They fall in love as they both struggle to find a way to live their own truths.

Available formats: Book, Ebook (OverDrive by Media on Demand)


Brave Enough by Kati Gardner

Cason is the youngest ballerina in the Atlanta Ballet Conservatory. But that’s about to change. Cason has been hiding an injury that causes her to to go from amazing ballerina to an amputee. Davis survived cancer, but his drug addiction nearly killed him. Cason and Davis are not friends. But, as their worlds collide, they will start to depend on one another. Author Kati Gardner is a childhood cancer survivor and amputee like the protagonists.

Available formats: Book, Ebook (Hoopla)

 

 

 

 


When My Heart Joins the Thousand by A. J. Steiger

Alvie Fitz doesn’t fit in, and she doesn’t care. All she wants is to be left alone to spend time with her friend, Chance, the one-winged hawk at the zoo where she works. Then she meets Stanley, a boy who walks with a cane, who turns up every day with a new injury, whose body seems as fragile as glass. Without even meaning to, she finds herself getting close to him. But Alvie remembers what happened to the last person she truly cared about. Author A. J. Steiger is neurotypical like the protagonist Alvie.

Available formats: Book, Ebook (Hoopla), Audiobook (Hoopla)

 

 

 


A Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen

The moment Spencer meets Hope the summer before seventh grade he knows she’s special. The pair become fast friends, climbing trees and planning world travels. After years of being outshone by his older brother and teased because of his Tourette syndrome, Spencer finally feels like he belongs. But as Hope and Spencer get older and life gets messier, the clear label of “friend” gets messier, too.

Available formats: Book

You’re Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner

When Julia finds a slur about her best friend scrawled across the back of the Kingston School for the Deaf, she covers it up with a graffiti mural. Her supposed best friend snitches, the principal expels her, and her two mothers set Julia up with a one-way ticket to a “mainstream” school in the suburbs, where she’s treated like an outcast as the only deaf student. Out in the ‘burbs, Julia paints anywhere she can, eager to claim some turf of her own. But someone is adding to her tags and making them better. Julia never imagined getting dragged into a full-blown graffiti war.

Available formats: Ebook (Hoopla), Ebook (cloudLibrary)

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