March is Disability Awareness Month, which makes it a great time to pick up a book featuring kids living with disabilities. Today I’ve got 8 suggestions for you from our Teen collection. Happy reading!
Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro. Also available on downloadable audiobook in the Indiana Digital Library. Struggling with panic attacks and grief over his father’s death, high school junior Moss, in the face of a racist school administration, decides to organize a protest that escalates into violence. If you like books that deal with social issues like The Hate U Give or Punching the Air, check out this book.
Breathe and Count Back from Ten by Natalia Sylvester. Also available on e-book and downloadable audiobook in the Indiana Digital Library. Verónica has had many surgeries to manage her disability. The best form of rehabilitation is swimming, so she spends hours in the pool, but not just to strengthen her body. Her Florida town is home to Mermaid Cove, a kitschy underwater attraction where professional mermaids perform in giant tanks . . . and Verónica wants to audition. But her conservative Peruvian parents would never go for it. And they definitely would never let her be with Alex, her cute new neighbor. She decides it’s time to seize control of her life, but her plans come crashing down when she learns her parents have been hiding the truth from her–the truth about her own body.
Disability Visibility: 17 First-Person Stories for Today edited by Alice Wong. Also available on e-book and downloadable audiobook in the Indiana Digital Library. The eye-opening essays in Disability Visibility, all written by disabled people, offer keen insight into the complex and rich disability experience, examining life’s ableism and inequality, its challenges and losses, and celebrating its wisdom, passion, and joy. This version is adapted for young adults and a perfect introduction to disability experiences.
A Face for Picasso by Ariel Henley. Also available on e-book or downloadable audiobook in the Indiana Digital Library. In this raw and moving memoir, Ariel Henley documents her childhood and teen years growing up with facial differences due to Crouzon Syndrome. She and her twin sister are the first known twins to survive the condition and it required multiple facial reconstruction surgeries throughout her childhood. If you found Wonder inspiring, check out this book.
The First Thing About You by Chaz Hayden. Also available on e-book and downloadable audiobook in the Indiana Digital Library. When his family moves from California to New Jersey, fifteen-year-old Harris is eager to prove he’s more than the kid in the powered wheelchair. But first he needs a nurse so his mom doesn’t have to escort him to school anymore. Young, beautiful, and confident, Miranda more than fits the bill. Harris’s new aide sees him for who he is-funny, smart, and totally worthy of Nory Fischer, a cute but enigmatic classmate who won’t name her favorite color. Soon Miranda has others interested in Harris, too. But with demons of her own, does she have his best interests at heart?
One for All by Lillie Lainoff. Also available on e-book or downloadable audiobook in the Indiana Digital Library. In 1655 France, Tania, a girl with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (or POTS) trains as a musketeer in this gender-swapped tale inspired by The Three Musketeers.
Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moscowitz. Also available on e-book and downloadable audiobook in the Indiana Digital Library. Isabel has one rule: no dating. It’s just easier that way without having to explain or ask for help with her rheumatoid arthritis. But when she meets another sick kid, all bets are off. This is a charming love story with wit and humor and it’s just a really fun read. Yes, it’s about two chronically ill kids. No, no one dies! (It says that on the cover.) It’s a realistic portrayal of chronic illness paired with a really sweet story of first love, including all the trials and tribulations that entails.
Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens. Also available on e-book in the Indiana Digital Library. This anthology explores disability in fictional tales told from the viewpoint of disabled characters, written by disabled creators. With stories in various genres about first loves, friendship, war, travel, and more, Unbroken will offer today’s teen readers a glimpse into the lives of disabled people in the past, present, and future.
