The Disability in Kidlit Honor Roll is a list of young adult and middle grade novels we enthusiastically recommend. All titles have been thoroughly vetted by disabled readers.
For more information, please see our Honor Roll FAQ. You may also suggest novels that would be a good fit for the list. If you want to stay up-to-date on new additions to the Honor Roll, please subscribe to our newsletter.
We also have a list with UK editions only.
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History Is All You Left Me
Author: Adam Silvera
Publisher: Soho Teen (2017)
ISBN: 9781616956929
Griffin struggles with the death of his ex-boyfriend Theo and his relationship with Theo's new boyfriend Jackson. Told in dual timelines, History Is All You Left Me features a nuanced portrayal of OCD.Buy on Bookshop -
The Real Boy
Author: Anne Ursu
Publisher: Walden Pond Press / HarperCollins (2013)
ISBN: 9780062015075
This lush fantasy story stars an autistic protagonist whose portrayal is immersive and utterly believable.Read our review Buy on Bookshop -
Five Flavors of Dumb
Author: Anthony John
Publisher: Dial / Penguin (2010)
ISBN: 9780803734333
A deaf girl decides to become manager of a high school rock band whose members don't get along.Read our review Buy on Bookshop -
The Upside of Unrequited
Author: Becky Albertalli
Publisher: Balzer & Bray / HarperCollins (2017)
ISBN: 9780062348708
Molly – who is Jewish, fat, and has an anxiety disorder – has had twenty-six crushes and zero kisses. When her twin sister finds a girlfriend, she tries to set Molly up with a new guy.Buy on Bookshop -
El Deafo
Author: Cece Bell
Publisher: Amulet / ABRAMS (2014)
ISBN: 9781419710209
Author/illustrator Cece Bell recounts her experiences growing up deaf and seeking true friendship.Buy on Bookshop -
When Reason Breaks
Author: Cindy L. Rodriguez
Publisher: Bloomsbury (2015)
ISBN: 9781619634121
A thoughtful and important read about two teens girls experiencing depression in different ways.Read our review Buy on Bookshop -
Kinda Like Brothers
Author: Coe Booth
Publisher: Scholastic (2014)
ISBN: 9780545224963
Jarrett, who has asthma, is used to his mom bringing home foster babies – but now, she's taken in a kid Jarrett's age, and he's forced to share everything from his room to his school.Read our review Buy on Bookshop -
Otherbound
Author: Corinne Duyvis
Publisher: Amulet Books / ABRAMS (2014)
ISBN: 9781419709289
With Nolan’s every blink, he witnesses the life of a servant girl from another world. He's already lost his leg as a result of his constant distraction – and their inexplicable connection may soon lose the both of them far more.Read our review -
This Is Not a Test
Author: Courtney Summers
Publisher: St. Martin's Press / Macmillan (2012)
ISBN: 9780312656744
The apocalypse is supposed to be about survival – but what if you don't want to survive? This zombie horror novel features a deft portrayal of depression.Read our review Buy on Bookshop -
A Boy Called Bat
Author: Elana K. Arnold
Publisher: Walden Pond Press / HarperCollins (2017)
ISBN: 9780062445827
An adorable middle-grade novel about an autistic boy bound and determined to keep a skunk pet.Read our review Buy on Bookshop -
Not Otherwise Specified
Author: Hannah Moskowitz
Publisher: Simon Pulse / Simon & Schuster (2015)
ISBN: 9781481405966
A former ballerina in recovery for an eating disorder makes an unlikely friend in her therapy group.Buy on Bookshop -
The Iron Trial
Author: Holly Black & Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Scholastic (2014)
ISBN: 9780545522250
The main character in this adventurous middle grade fantasy has a limp that's realistically present yet never overtakes the story – a delicate balance.Read our review Buy on Bookshop -
Rage
Author: Jackie Morse Kessler
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2011)
ISBN: 9780547445281
A girl who self-injures is tapped by Death to become War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.Read our review -
Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Author: John Green & David Levithan
Publisher: Dutton / Penguin (2010)
ISBN: 9780525421580
Told through alternating points of view, two wildly different boys – both named Will Grayson – cross paths and find their lives becoming increasingly entwined.Buy on Bookshop -
Six of Crows
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: Henry Holt (2015)
ISBN: 9781627792127
A thief leads an unlikely group of criminals on an impossible heist in this fantasy adventure.Read our review Buy on Bookshop -
Two Girls Staring at the Ceiling
Author: Lucy Frank
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade / Penguin Random House (2014)
ISBN: 9780307979742
In this novel-in-verse, two girls with Crohn's bond over the course of a week while sharing a hospital room.Read our review -
The Wild Book
Author: Margarita Engle
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2012)
ISBN: 9780547581316
In early-1900s Cuba, young Fefa is diagnosed with dyslexia – "word blindness" – and is given a blank book by her mother to practice her writing in.Buy on Bookshop -
Handbook for Dragon Slayers
Author: Merrie Haskell
Publisher: HarperCollins (2013)
ISBN: 9780062008169
A fun, feminist fairy tale involving dragons, the wild hunt, and a librarian princess with a clubfoot.Read our review Buy on Bookshop -
The State of Grace
Author: Rachael Lucas
Publisher: Pan Macmillan (2017)
ISBN: 9781509839568
Grace, who's autistic, navigates her first relationship while trying to cope with her father's absence and her mother's strange behavior.Buy on Bookshop -
Don’t Touch
Author: Rachel M. Wilson
Publisher: HarperCollins (2014)
ISBN: 9780062220936
A complicated friendship, budding romance, and theater drama – and one teen girl's authentically depicted struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder.Read our review Buy on Bookshop -
Stranger
Author: Rachel Manija Brown & Sherwood Smith
Publisher: Viking / Penguin (2014)
ISBN: 9780670014804
A teen boy deals with PTSD and a damaged hand in this richly populated western/post-apocalyptic YA novel.Read our review Buy on Bookshop -
The Elementals
Author: Saundra Mitchell
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2013)
ISBN: 9780547853147
Los Angeles, 1917: a free-spirited girl sets out to become a film director, and a boy disabled after a childhood bout with polio is determined to succeed on his own, each with a wondrous ability to manipulate the world around them ...Read our review Buy on Bookshop -
Far From You
Author: Tess Sharpe
Publisher: Hyperion / Disney (2014)
ISBN: 9781423184621
A small-town girl with chronic pain and mobility issues searches for the killer of the girl she loved; this dual-timeline YA is part mystery, part doomed romance.Read our review Buy on Bookshop