July is Disability Pride Month, a time to focus on people with disabilities and their history, culture, accomplishments, and struggles. This commemorative event began as a Disability Pride Day in Boston in 1990, the year the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law. It became Disability Pride Month in 2015, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the ADA.
In honor of Disability Pride Month, I’ve curated this list of my personal favorite books that center or highlight the experience of the disability community. Some of these books are written by authors who draw from their own experience as being disabled; other are written by authors who have significant personal experience with disability, though the disability is not their own. Whether fiction or nonfiction, all these stories center and celebrate the experiences of disabled individuals.
Something I love about an assortment of books compiled by something other than genre is the sheer variety of books on offer, and that is especially true here: we’ve got campus novels, fantasy, romance, coming of age stories, literary fiction, memoir, even a book with elements drawn from the horror genre. What a roundup!
There are so many more books I could have shared here, so please fill up the comments section with your own favorites. I can’t wait to see what you’ve read and loved.
Fiction for Disability Pride Month
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The War That Saved My Life
This WW2 adventure will appeal to fans of historical fiction and underdog stories. Nine-year-old Ada has never been allowed to leave her family’s small apartment. Her foot is twisted and her mother is too ashamed of the physical impairment to let Ada out in public. When the war arrives in London, Ada's little brother is put on a train to safety and Ada makes a daring escape to join him. Out in the countryside, a woman named Susan begrudgingly takes the children into her home. There, Ada learns to read, ride a horse, and wiggle her way into Susan’s heart. Readers will be riveted by the danger, daring, and risks that both Ada and Susan take to discover true belonging and a place to call home. More info →
A Curse So Dark and Lonely
This clever twist on Beauty and the Beast features Harper, a modern-day 17-year-old girl who is going through a terrible time when she gets sucked right into a fantasy world. There she encounters Prince Rhen, heir to the throne of Emberfall, who is cursed, turns into a beast, and destroys everything he holds dear. (Sound familiar?). This retelling is delightfully modern, features a character with cerebral palsy, and straddles reality and fantasy in a refreshing way. More info →
Eventide
The follow-up to Plainsong returns readers to Holt, Colorado and a cast of familiar characters as well as some new faces. The elderly McPheron brothers, Harold and Raymond, are adjusting to no longer having Victoria and her daughter living with them, as the single mother has left the ranch and started college. Meanwhile, a young boy takes care of his grandfather and a disabled couple struggles to do their best for their kids. Haruf is an excellent choice for readers who love Wallace Stegner, Wendell Berry, and Marilynne Robinson, as I do. More info →
Breathe and Count Back from Ten
Verónica, a Peruvian-American teen with hip dysplasia, dreams of being an aquatic performer at the Mermaid Cove in Central Florida. When she’s in the water swimming, she feels healthy, free, and at peace. But her strict parents will never let her audition, much less let her be with her cute new neighbor Alex so Vero decides it’s time to take control of her own life. I appreciated the way the story thoughtfully handled the friction that exists between a disabled teen and her non-disabled siblings. More info →
Get a Life, Chloe Brown
This rom-com is laugh-out-loud funny and excellent on audio. Chloe Brown is a grump for good reason: her fiance abandoned her after she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. After a near death experience, she comes up with a to-do list to help her "get a life," including things like "ride a motorcycle," "go camping," and "do something bad." When she enlists her landlord Red to help her accomplish the list, their flirtation quickly escalates as they learn more about each other. Charming, delightful, and VERY steamy. Narrator Adjoa Andoh makes the witty banter between Chloe and Red crackle and spark. (Open door.) More info →
Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky Book 1)
Roanhorse brings this complex pre-Columbian American fantasy world to life with gritty characters grappling with prophecies and political intrigue. The holy city of Tova prepares for the Convergence, a rare celestial event when the winter solstice and solar eclipse coincide, under Sun Priest Naranpa’s guidance. Disgraced captain Xiala sets her ship for Tova, carrying a young blind passenger named Serapio. She doesn’t know anything about him, other than it’s imperative he arrive on the day of the Convergence. And then there’s Okoa, a member of the ruling family and whose mother has just died creating a power vacuum his sister is ready to fill. No one and nothing is as they seem and by the time these characters collide, their world will be undone. Content warnings apply. More info →
The Sign for Home
When Adah at Main Street Books in Davidson told me back in April 2022 that this book will forever change the way she sees the world, I couldn't start reading fast enough. Arlo is a 23-year-old DeafBlind man whose world opens up when he meets his new interpreter Cyril as he begins courses at the local community college. Arlo's devout Jehovah's Witness guardians disapprove of Cyril because he's agnostic, gay, and inexperienced with DeafBlind clients, but Arlo takes to him immediately; he's never had such a fierce advocate in his corner. Thanks to Cyril, Arlo soon learns that the love of his life, who he never expected to see again, may not be out of reach after all. Fell has been an ASL interpreter for the Deaf for nearly twenty years; his fascinating and enlightening descriptions of the methods and ethics of interpretation absolutely made the story for me. More info →
Silver Nitrate
A 2023 Summer Reading Guide selection: Movies cast magic spells in this unique and darkly humorous thriller set in 1990s Mexico City. Montserrat and Tristán are childhood friends who once bonded over classic horror films. Now, nearing forty, she’s an under-appreciated disabled sound engineer and he’s a washed-up telenovela star. When they cross paths with a legendary director, he persuades the two to help him complete an unfinished horror film from the 30s, the script for which was written by a Nazi occultist. The director claims that bad luck has plagued everyone who worked on the film, but completing it will break the curse and bring their trio prosperity. But instead of luck, their interference unleashes something dark and deadly in Mexico City. Surprising, sharp, and smart. More info →
True Biz
This campus novel takes place at Ohio's River Valley School for the Deaf, a boarding school where students can count on the cultural richness of the deaf community being celebrated. When Charlie enrolls as a new student, she's never met another deaf student; her parents had kept her in traditional school for far too long, hoping her issues with hearing would simply disappear once they got her cochlear implants dialed in. Charlie knew that would never happen, and quickly makes herself at home in her new school setting, not knowing the school's very existence is actively being threatened. I knew little about deafness and the deaf community prior to reading this book, and ate up all the details about various facets of the deaf experience deaf author Nović wove into the story. More info →
The Hero of This Book
In this novel written as a memoir, Elizabeth McCracken, (or perhaps more accurately, the character that we feel is Elizabeth McCracken), shares about her larger-than-life mother, the titular hero of this book. She begins her story in summer 2019, one year after her mother died: she's traveled to London, a place that holds many memories of the trips McCracken and her mother once traveled to together. She interweaves stories from her mother’s life, including her experience of disability, with her present day narrative of experiencing London without her now. Through her insightful anecdotes and introspective reflections, McCracken makes you wish you’d had the chance to know the complicated, charming, occasionally infuriating woman that was her mother. More info →
Iron Widow
This YA science fiction, described as The Handmaid's Tale meets the Pacific Rim, was loosely inspired by the first and only female emperor in Chinese history, Empress Wu. Young female soon-to-be-warrior Zetian is out to avenge her sister's wrongful death. While few concubine-pilots survive a battle—their life force basically gets sucked dry by the pilot—Zetian not only survives, she kills the pilot who murdered her sister. And she’s not about to stop there. Zetian is feisty and she can be mean in her fight to show her people that women deserve better than having their feet bound and dying as concubine-pilots. Because her feet are bound, she sometimes uses a cane or wheelchair. There’s political intrigue and misogynous advisors who would rather see her dead, on top of fighting battles against Hunduns. And if all that wasn’t enough, there’s a polyamorous love triangle with Shimin, the pilot she’s paired with, and Yizhi, her only friend. More info →
Love from A to Z
After Zayneb, the only Muslim in class, stands up to her Islamaphobic teacher, she’s suspended from school—and so her family books her ticket to leave Indiana and spend spring break with her expat aunt in Doha, Qatar. While her anger is justified, the way she expresses it isn’t always and she’s resolved to try to be a nicer version of herself in Doha. Zayneb meets Adam on the flight there and neither thinks they’ll see each other again, yet they soon find themselves in the same friend group. Since Adam was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis a few months prior, he’s kept it a secret from his father and dropped out of college; his family is grieving the death of his mother from MS and he doesn’t want to cause them more pain with his own news. Written in the form of diary entries, we see Zayneb and Adam connect as they discuss their families, religion, and so much more. More info →
Nonfiction for Disability Pride Month
Too Late to Die Young: Nearly True Tales from a Life
Johnson is an author, attorney, and disability rights activist. Due to a congenital neuromuscular disease, she’s always needed assistance with her daily care and uses a motorized wheelchair. Her life defies assumptions about disability. Her memoir details her pursuit of a law career and her activism and also includes profound meditations on death and pleasure. More info →
Ten Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation
Like many, I first learned of Hannah Gadsby through her Netflix special Nanette. It was an incredibly personal show in which the comedian took on homophobia, gendered violence, and more. At the time, she said she was quitting comedy but lucky for us, she didn’t. Here she takes us behind the scenes of establishing her comedy career and creating the show, including what it was like being a queer person from Tasmania, where homosexuality was illegal until 1997, and her decision to tell the truth, no matter the cost. She also shares about being diagnosed with autism and ADHD as an adult and how her relationship to comedy evolved. I especially appreciated her insights into family dynamics and storytelling. More info →
Easy Beauty: A Memoir
"I am in a bar in Brooklyn, listening to two men, my friends, discuss whether my life is worth living." So begins Pulitzer finalist Jones's new memoir about living with a disability that is instantly recognizable and "other" to nearly everyone she encounters. Jones employs an interesting circular structure to portray what it's like to move through the world in her particular and unique body. Jones was born with a condition called sacral agenesis which affects her appearance and her ability to easily walk and move; physical pain is a near constant companion. Here she writes of self-consciousness and shame, of believing stories about herself that turned out to be all wrong, of learning to rewrite them. Along the way she tells stories about a a panoply of interesting topics I never expected to encounter here: tons of literary references, Bernini sculptures, Roger Federer, the Cambodian genocide, higher education, the Sundance Film Festival, Beyoncé(!). Content warnings apply, including unexpected violence. More info →
The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight
Leland, now in his 40s, wasn’t diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa until college, despite years of knowing something was wrong with his vision. At some point, he’ll have no vision left and this starts him on a journey of adaptation and exploration. Part memoir, part nonfiction history and cultural examination, Leland’s experience and relationship to his own blindness starts out by mirroring systemic ableism and moves toward acceptance. A thought-provoking and thoughtful read. More info →
Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century
Disabled activist and Founder and Director of the Disability Visibility Project Alice Wong assembled this anthology of essays by disabled writers. Their work highlights the everyday reality of their unique situations, celebrates disability culture, and explores the complexity of being disabled in an ableist society. More info →
Quietly Hostile: Essays
Comedic essayist Samantha Irby’s latest essay collection touches on chronic illness, life during quarantine, new career opportunities, and so much more. I think of this book often, particularly for the essay in which she recounts that she simply replies "I like it!", as many times as necessary, whenever someone is condescending about her taste. More info →
Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body
I enjoy following Taussig on Instagram and loved getting to know her better through this memoir-in-essays. She details her life as a wheelchair-user and what it was like growing up paralyzed in the 90s and early 2000s, including the subpar disability rep she saw on-screen. This book is her invitation for us to reconsider the ableism around us, in our lives and in media, and what accessibility really looks like and why it matters. Well-written, vulnerable, and humorous. More info →
The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness
Chronic illnesses and autoimmune diseases are on the rise but they remain difficult to diagnose and are often misunderstood, leading to years of pain, discomfort, and even medical abuse for patients. Author Meghan O’Rourke understands this on a personal level, detailing her quest for answers, no matter how many doctors dismissed her symptoms. By talking with doctors, patients, and researchers, she explores how the Western model of medicine impacts those living with invisible illnesses, hitting those who are part of marginalized communities the hardest. She also profiles innovators within the field and discusses how the increasing number of long COVID patients could hopefully lead to better care. More info →
What are your favorite disability fiction and nonfiction reads? Please share in the comments.
P.S. What Should I Read Next #349: Canceling Netflix rebooted my reading life with Rachel Seidman.
46 comments
I am just starting Silver Nitrate.
I recently enjoyed Deaf Utopia by Nyle DiMarco. I had never watched his season of America’s Next Top Model so my enjoyment was purely based on his story telling ability.
I loved The War that Saved My Life! Its sequel was also wonderful. I really enjoyed Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper. This middle grade book was so powerful.
Yes! And the sequel, Out of My Heart, is fabulous, as well. There’s a third book, Out of My Dreams, coming out in September!
I was going to comment about Out of My Mind and Out of My Heart–they are amazing books! I had no idea a third book is coming out in September…squeeeee!
I loved Out of My Mind and its sequel, Out of My Heart. (They can be enjoyed independently.)
I just read this and am eager to read the sequel. I also just kearned that it is being made into a movie!
For young readers, I highly recommend Natalie Lloyd’s middle grade novel, HUMMINGBIRD, about a character with brittle bone disease.
Adding to my list!
Thank you for the wonderful list…as a child in the early 60s (I am 74 today) a favorite book of mine was Light a single candle (1962) by Beverly Butler about a teen with glaucoma.Impacted me so much that my 1st professional library position was working with the Talking Book Program through the Library of Congress…I learned so much from my borrowers.
The two I have queued up for this are Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino and Deaf Utopia by Nyle DiMarco. I loved True Biz and I’m looking forward to reading these titles to broaden my understanding of the deaf community.
I really enjoyed “Driving Forward” by Sophie Morgan, who became disabled due to a bad car accident. She goes on to become a British broadcaster, and campaigns for disability rights. Very honest, well written book!
Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist by Judith Heumann. She also has a young readers version titled Rolling Warrior. She lead the fight that brought about the Americans with Disabilities Act. Year of the Tiger by Alice Wong is on the TBR pile.
I felt like I learned so much from Being Heumann. My daughter read the kids version and it gave us a lot to discuss.
On the nonfiction side 100% agree with Sitting Pretty and The Country of the Blind. Both excellent memoirs. I’m currently reading Beautiful People by Melissa Blake. Very good look at Disability advocacy, justice, and ableism.
Great list! Jean Meltzer also writes Rom Coms that feature women living with chronic illness. I love her books!
One of the best books I’ve ever read is The Butterfly Cage by Rachel Zemach. It’s a memior. It’ll make you laugh, cry, and shake your fists with fury.
This one is new to me. Thank you for sharing!
Jessica Slice, one of the essayists featured in Disability Visibility, has just published a book called Dateable about dating with a disability that is fantastic!
What a great title!
Hope Heals and Suffer Strong are both EXCELLENT memoirs written by Katherine and Jay Wolf. Katherine and her family unexpectedly entered the disability community when she had a stroke at age 26 that left much of her body paralyzed. They write in a beautiful and relatable way about the universal story of suffering and the ways it impacts our lives— often birthing new life in surprising ways.
I agree, Meg! Hope Heals and Suffer Strong are both wonderful books! I saw Katherine Wolf speak at a women’s event. Her story is amazing and so inspirational!
If anyone wants some more fantasy with their disability reading, one of Brandon Sanderson’s newer books called Dawnshard is a novella in the Rhythm of War series, but can stand alone. It features disabled woman who is a sea captain, and finds ways to use the magic of the realm to help herself be more independent (a magic wheelchair!).
I would add Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonham-Young (romance). Both main characters have physical disabilities and seeing the world through their eyes was such an interesting perspective. Aside from that, it’s a really sweet story too!
As someone who has fibromyalgia and ME/CFS, I found “Get a Life, Chloe Brown” very frustrating to read. Climbing a tree and going camping? No, that would make you very ill. The work situation was a bit better explained.
Jean Meltzer did an excellent job writing about a character with ME/CFS in The Matzah Ball (the main character acts a bit juvenile, but otherwise a great romcom).
Rhubarb by Craig Silvey – cracking good story about a young blind woman determined to get on with her life accompanied by her guide dog Warren. Possibly sits in the YA category but I read it in my 30s and enjoyed it.
I would add Emily Ladau’s Demystifying Disability. I am adding Love From A to Z to my TBR.
On the ya/middle grade side, I echo the endorsement of Out of My Mind and add Show Me a Sign about a real deaf community in the 1800’s. And Wonder, of course.
Real by Carol Cujec and Peyton Goddard is a middle grade novel based on Peyton Goddard’s life. It is about a non-verbal Autistic girl. My students loved it, as did my husband!
I am adding so many books to my TBR from this post and the comments! Books featuring characters with disabilities has long been a favorite sub-genre and guided me to a career working with children with special needs.
Being Huemann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist by Judith Heumann
and
Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice by David Tatel
Both 5 stars in my opinion.
I would also add to this list, Golem Girl by Riva Leher
I would add a couple of Canadian books to your list. Deafening by Frances Itani is 20 years old now but I still think of this story about a young deaf woman waiting for her husband’s return from World War I. There is also a follow-up called Tell.
Polio hit my province of Manitoba particularly hard and one of the best books I’ve read about the epidemic and its aftermath is Second Chances by Harriet Zaidman. A good friend who was disabled by polio read it and now speaks to school children about the book and her experiences.
As the mother of a son on the autism spectrum, I’ve read some great books about life for or with someone on the spectrum.
The Spark: A Mother’s Story of Nurturing, Genius, and Autism by Kristine Barnett
Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism by Ron Diamond
Rules by Cynthia Lord
Love Anthony by Lisa Genova
Oops. The author of Life, Animated is Ron Suskind…not Diamond.
Thoroughly enjoyable and thought provoking YA – A Step Toward Falling and Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern, Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom, and Love and First Sight by Josh Sundquist.
I’m finishing up The Country of the Blind audiobook now, and it is very good! My husband has worked in the blindness field for over a decade, and as we’ve discussed the book, he says that it took him 14 years to learn everything I’m learning in one book! 😂
Great list! I loved True Biz, Sitting Pretty, and Melissa Blake’s memoir, Beautiful People, which someone already mentioned in the comments. I’d also suggest My Body is Not a Prayer Request by Amy Kenny.
I would love to see Helen Hoang’s novels on this list!
I loved Sitting Pretty and Get A Life, Chloe Brown. A few others here are on my TBR. Thanks for the recs!
An excellent recent novel dealing with the experience of having chronic disease is Body Friend by Katherine Brandon. Astute readers will love the nod to iconic literary and artistic women. It’s a book that really helped me to understand an experience which is unfamiliar to me, in a familiar cultural setting (Australia). Poetic and elegant.
Please include How to Walk Away by the wonderful Katherine Center. The War That Saved My Life and the sequel are fabulous books! Thank you for this list Anne!
Middle grade novels:
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Song for a Whale is another one!
I’d love to recommend another fiction book! Kissing Kosher is a super cute enemies to lovers romance about a young baker living with chronic pain from interstitial cystitis.
The War that Saved My Life is quite literally one of my absolute favorite books ever! Definitely one of the 3 I would list if I were on the podcast 😉. As the parent of a child who has club feet as just ONE of her many diagnoses (Spina Bifida being the main one), the treatment Ada receives from her mother is unfathomable, but Ada’s strength is amazing. I have recommended this book to so many people.
I have looked and looked for books with Spina Bifida representation to give my daughter with no luck. However, going into my 2nd year as a school librarian, I’ve been add more diverse disability representation in our collection, so I will definitely be checking out a few of these books. Thanks!
The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais was such a sweet and enlightening read for me and my middle grader. We both learned so much about the Deaf community and how to be a better ally to those who are deaf or hard of hearing.
i appreciate this list! Always looking to see the world from a different perspective than my own. I thoroughly enjoyed “Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus”, by Dusti Bowling. I read it last year as part of my personal reading challenge.
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