Celebrating Disability Pride Month With Books for All Ages
Updated 6/20/2024
Thank you to NYPL staff who contributed to this list including Alexandria Abenshon, Baksha Ali, Tunisia Craig, Ashley Dalle, Chancey Fleet, Joy Hariprasad, Alex Kohn, Ivy Kuhrman, Erica Parker, Jill Rothstein, Donnie Santana, Eva Shapiro, Laura Stein, Emily Wejchert, and Sue Yee.
Welcome to the second Pride Month of the summer—Disability Pride Month! Celebrated in July to commemorate the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law in July, 1990, it's a time to celebrate people with disabilities which is roughly 15% of the world’s population and 1 in 4 Americans. Not every disability is visible or obvious and anyone of any age can be disabled.
Growing up, many of us didn't have books that reflected our lives as disabled people, and the ones we did have were not written by someone who was actually part of the disabled community. Thankfully, this is slowly changing.
Maybe you yourself are disabled and want to finally see yourself in the books you read; maybe someone you love is disabled and you want to learn more to meet them where they are; maybe you’ve realized that you’ve never read a book by a disabled author and want to change that; or maybe you just want a book that reflects the diversity of the world around you. This booklist spans all age groups, genres, and formats, from children’s picture books and teen novels to adult poetry, nonfiction, memoirs, and more.
Happy Disability Pride Month and happy reading!
Jump to: Kids | Middle Grade | Teens | Adult
Kids
Can I Play Too? by Samantha Cotterill
Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah by Laurie Ann Thompson; illustrations by Sean Qualls
Every Body: A First Conversation About Bodies by Megan Madison and Jessica Ralli
Fighting For Yes! The Story of Disability Rights Activist Judith Heumann by Maryann Cocca-Leffler; illustrated by Vivien Mildenberger
print | e-book | talking book
Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You by Sonia Sotomayor; illustrations by Rafael López
print | e-book | talking book
King for a Day by Rukhsana Khan; illustrations by Christiane Krömer
Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, A Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion by Shannon Stocker; illustrated by Devon Holzwarth
print | braille | talking book | Bookshare
My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay by Cari Best; illustrations by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
Sam's Super Seats by Keah Brown; illustrated by Sharee Miller
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I Talk Like a River words by Jordan Scott; illustrations by Sydney Smith
print | e-audiobook | talking book
Temple Grandin by Lyn Miller-Lachmann; interior illustrations by Gillian Flint
We Move Together by Kelly Fritsch and Anne McGuire; illustrations by Eduardo Trejos
When Charley Met Emma by Amy Webb; illustrations by Merrilee Liddiard
I Will Dance by Nancy Bo Flood; illustrations by Julianna Swaney
Middle Grade
El Deafo by Cece Bell; color by David Lasky
Ellen Outside the Lines by A. J. Sass
print | e-book | e-audiobook | talking book | Bookshare
Fifty Four Things Wrong With Gwendolyn Rogers by Caela Carter
print | e-book | e-audiobook
Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen by Sarah Kapit
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Lila and Hadley by Kody Keplinger
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Normal: One Kid's Extraordinary Story (Young Reader's Edition) by Magdalena and Nathaniel Newman with Hilary Liftin; illustrations by Neil Swaab
print | e-book | braille | talking book | Bookshare
OCDaniel by Wesley King
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Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
print | large print | e-book | e-audiobook | talking book | Bookshare
Roll With It by Jamie Sumner
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Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez
print | e-book | e-audiobook | braille | talking book
Show Me a Sign by Ann Clare LeZotte
print | e-book | e-audiobook | braille | talking book
Stuntboy, in the Meantime by Jason Reynolds
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Tenacious: Fifteen Adventures Alongside Disabled Athletes by Patty Prevo Cisneros; illustrated by Dion MBD
Teens
The Breakup Lists by Adib Khorram
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Breathe and Count Back from Ten by Natalia Sylvester
Disability Visibility (Adapted for Young Adults): 17 First-Person Stories for Today edited by Alice Wong
print | e-book | e-audiobook | braille (adult version) | talking book (adult version) | Bookshare
Geek Girl: From Geek to Chic, Model Misfit by Holly Smale
Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino
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A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee
print | e-book | e-audiobook | talking book
Love's In Sight by Uoyama
The Making of Yolanda la Bruja by Lorraine Avila
print | e-book | e-audiobook | talking book | Español | Español Bookshare
The Many Half Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor
The Memory of Light by Francisco X Stork
print | e-audiobook | talking book
Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu
Notes from a Sickbed by Tessa Brunton
On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis
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One for All by Lillie Lainoff
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The Reckless Kind by Carly Heath
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Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moskowitz
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The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais
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Where You See Yourself by Claire Forrest
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The Words in My Hands by Asphyxia
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Adult
About Us: Essays From the Disability Series of the New York Times edited by Peter Catapano & Rosemarie Garland-Thomson
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Blue Skies by Catherine Anderson
The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun
print | e-book | talking book | Bookshare | Español
The Country of the Blind: A Memoir At the End of Sight by Andrew Leland
print | e-book | e-audiobook | braille | talking book
Crip Kinship: The Disability Justice and Art Activism of Sins Invalid by Shayda Kafai
Demystifying Disability by Emily Ladau
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Disability Intimacy edited by Alice Wong
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The Future is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes, and Mourning Songs by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
Hello Darkness, My Old Friend : How Daring Dreams and Unyielding Friendship Turned One Man's Blindness into an Extraordinary Vision for Life by Sanford D. Greenberg
print | e-book | talking book | braille
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
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Long Covid Survival Guide: How to Take Care of Yourself and What Comes Next: Stories and Advice from Twenty Long-haulers and Experts edited by Fiona Lowenstein
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My Sunshine by Catherine Anderson
The Perseverance by Raymond Antrobus
Phantom Waltz by Catherine Anderson
Places I've Taken My Body: Essays by Molly McCully Brown
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The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love With Me by Keah Brown
print | e-book | e-audiobook
Relating While Autistic: Fixed Signals for Neurodivergent Couples by Wendela Whitcomb Marsh
Resistance and Hope by Alice Wong
Sensory: Life on the Spectrum: An Autistic Comic Anthology edited by Bex Ollerton
There Plant Eyes: A Personal and Cultural History of Blindness by M. Leona Godin
print | e-book | e-audiobook | braille | talking book | Bookshare