I’m a teacher, and I’m disabled. I am passionate about disability-centered anti-oppressive pedagogy and want to teach a book either about disability or with disability representation. The tough part is finding one at grade level. Does anyone know of any YA books about disability? It feels like there are so few. Note: my principal never says no to books, so some foul language is okay.
by HeckinYes
9 Comments
What about Wonder?
There’s a deaf character in the Magnus Chase trilogy by Rick Riordan. And if I’m not mistaken the protagonist has clubfoot in Gathering Blue but I read that for middle school and hated it so ymmv.
Out Of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper.
It’s about a 5th grader so a little younger but very relatable.
Ellie Haycock Is Totally Normal by Gretchen Schreiber (VATER syndrome)
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (cancer)
On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis (autism)
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green (OCD)
This list has books with deaf characters, some of which are YA: [https://slacowan.com/2025/02/28/ranked-deaf-characters-in-fiction/](https://slacowan.com/2025/02/28/ranked-deaf-characters-in-fiction/)
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness has a main character with OCD, though the plot doesn’t center around it.
The American Library Association has been giving this award out for over twenty years. The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.
The Wikipedia page is easier to negotiate and see the winning and honor books:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schneider_Family_Book_Award
I love the book True Biz by Sara Novic, but I have absolutely no idea if it’s appropriate for the age group you need. There are definitely adult-ish themes, but one of the main characters is a HS age deaf girl.
So, I guess check it out to see if it’d be ok?
On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis. It’s 2035 and a comet is about to hit the earth. There’s one more “generation ship” launching into space, but it’s mostly full of the wealthy and “desirable” people. Main character is autistic and has a drug-addicted mother, and somehow has to prove their worth to get a spot. But it’s not really an ableist manifesto, as there are other disabled people onboard. It’s much more complex and thought-provoking about what defines worth and value among both abled and disabled people. [This is a great review](https://disabilityinkidlit.com/2016/03/24/review-on-the-edge-of-gone-by-corinne-duyvis/)
Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper. It might be a little easy for 9th graders, but it’s an excellent book!