Frequently Asked Questions

We will happily feature graphic novels, but we prefer standalones or limited series rather than ongoing titles. Although graphic novels aren’t always marketed as MG/YA, we’ll accept any GNs where the protagonist and content fit the correct age category.

You can use this suggestions form. Please do make sure that we haven’t already negatively reviewed your suggested title on our blog. You can check by searching for the book title or author name.

We’re open to suggestions from anyone (including the authors themselves!) but we’re especially interested in suggestions from disabled readers.

Various factors may lead us to decide against including a book on the Honor Roll, even if there’s other elements we’re wildly enthusiastic about.

• Messages about disability that we consider harmful. Of course, we’re not the sole authority on disability; books are often complicated, and whatever message they send may be up for debate. But this is a subjective list specifically compiled of books that we, the editors, endorse, so we end up having to make judgment calls that not everyone may agree with.
• Uncritical use of slurs. We understand that use of the R-word (for example) may be realistic in some situations, and that many disabled people have internalized ableism to the point where they may use slurs to describe themselves or others. These are complex situations; real-life discussion of reclamation, labels, and language are often fraught even within the disabled community. However, if usage of slurs is pervasive and never challenged or examined within a book, or if it feels wildly unnecessary and out of place, we don’t feel comfortable recommending that title.
• Negative or stereotyped depiction of marginalized character. If a portrayal of any marginalized group goes beyond microaggression into full-on stereotype or otherwise harmful portrayal, we’re not comfortable backing the book. We do not want to recommend books for their portrayal of disability at the expense of any other marginalized group.

This doesn’t mean we “blacklist” books that fall into these categories, or the authors who wrote them. We may even recommend these books in other circumstances. It simply means that this particular list isn’t the place for them.

This varies depending on several factors. In the past, we’ve occasionally gone months and months without new additions, only to then add several at once. Post-hiatus, we hope to maintain a steady pace.

If you wish to stay updated about new additions, please subscribe to our newsletter.

All books considered for the Honor Roll are initially read by the editors, who’ll determine various elements of the book: How prominent/explicit is the depiction of disability? Are there any grave inaccuracies? Is it in any way misrepresentative or harmful? How comfortable would we feel offering this book to someone with zero knowledge of the disability portrayed?

If a book makes it through that stage, we consider which identities portrayed in the book we’ll need outside readers for; after all, we’re a small team, and we can’t speak to every experience. We’ll find readers who share the disability (or other identity) portrayed in the book, and those readers – whom we are incredibly grateful to! – provide critical feedback on each book’s representation. The editors then make the final selections.

Any book we select falls into these categories:

• middle grade or young adult novel
  • please note that we don’t feature picture books or adult titles
• features a disabled protagonist
  • this means we do not consider books where only secondary characters are disabled, regardless of how disability-centric the plot may be
• available in physical format in the US or UK
• the Disability in Kidlit team feels comfortable enthusiastically recommending the title for its depiction of disability

We believe the books we selected are good picks both for people who share the condition and for those learning about it from the outside.

If it fits our other requirements, then yes, absolutely. If there’s a title you want to suggest, please do so using our form.

Disability is a complex thing. We try to be inclusive, rather than exclusive. Even if you don’t consider chronic conditions, neurological differences, or mental illnesses to be disabilities — the editors do, for the record — there are many commonalities in how they’re depicted in popular media and treated in real life, which makes them relevant to our website.

If you only want to see content relating to a certain disability, that’s your prerogative. Use the tags or search functions to your heart’s desire. However, we don’t take kindly to people disparaging our audience or their experiences.

We welcome every disability, and we’re always excited to consider titles featuring characters with disabilities we haven’t included yet, but it’s not always that straightforward. The following factors play a part:

• Certain disabilities (for example: mental illnesses, autism, blindness) are depicted in children’s literature far more often than others (for example: fibromyalgia, scoliosis, cystic fibrosis), which gives us a far wider range of books to choose from. The more titles, the higher the odds of finding one that matches our requirements.
• Due to our policies, if we can’t find a vetter with a certain disability, that book stands a low chance of being included on the Honor Roll. We don’t want to speak on behalf of other people’s experiences. We make an effort to reach out to people with underrepresented disabilities, but due to sheer variety in disabilities and our limited time — all editors work on this website in our spare time without compensation — we’re unfortunately limited in how proactive we can be in seeking out new vetters.
• Our website make no money, which means we can’t pay our vetters. We’re 100% dependent on the enthusiasm and goodwill of our vetters.

We’re actively trying to rectify any gaps in our Honor Roll. In the meantime, however, please believe us when we say that it’s purely because of circumstances, and not because we don’t care or are actively exclusionary.

We don’t want to comment on why specific titles weren’t included on our list. It’s likely to be one of these reasons:

• It doesn’t match our requirements; for example, the disabled character isn’t the protagonist, or it’s a picture book.
• We’ve heard so-so things from disabled readers, so it’s not high on our list of books to cover.
• We’ve considered the book and decided against it.
• We simply haven’t gotten around to considering it yet. The Honor Roll is an ever-growing list and we plan to regularly add both recent and backlist titles.

Sorry, but we make no exceptions. As much as we appreciate your interest in disability and willingness to help out, discussions of disability – and evaluations of disabled characters – are often dominated by non-disabled people. It’s important to us that we not add to that trend.

Absolutely! Thanks so much for asking.