Blog

Despite some reservations, our reviewer would recommend this contemporary novel about young Bat – and the reviewer’s ten-year-old goddaughter agrees.

Princess Tilda does not demonstrate the need to “overcome” her clubfoot, that word many of us in the disability community have come to loathe. To me, Tilda represents a new kind of heroine, who is strong and doesn’t need saving, but also acknowledges and shows her vulnerability and insecurities.

“How did you manage to capture that voice?” beta readers would ask. “How did you know to describe those particular feelings?” I was starting to have a few self-revelations about that.

Wonderstruck is wonderful. It is, to date, the most creative and ambitious novel about the d/Deaf experience in America I’ve ever come across.

Kayla Whaley talks with thirteen-year-old activist and author Melissa Shang about her recent middle grade debut.

Eli is a refreshing wheelchair-using character who regularly surprises and aids the protagonist with his skill set and mind.

Linette is more a convenient plot device than a protagonist, and disabled readers deserve more. Young Knights of the Round Table is a prime example of incidental disability done wrong.

From a mythology buff’s perspective, I was delighted with Odd and the Frost Giants. From a disability perspective, though, I was confused.

One of the more authentic reflections I have seen of what it can be like to grow up deaf — this is the kind of book I wish I could have had when I was younger.

We have so few stories — especially lighthearted ones — with wheelchair-using characters that I’d hoped I’d be able to recommend I Funny, but it’s a dangerous narrative wrapped up and presented as “good messages.”

Though I would have liked more disability details woven into the story, I relate to and applaud the author’s portrayal of cerebral palsy overall.

I could criticize the focus on “fixing” and of the correlation between unwantedness and disability, but the book is focused on unwantedness in a broader fashion; Ava is as challenged by her circumstances as she is by her clubfoot.

Hunt captures the inner confusion when you aren’t getting something everyone else grasps easily that is a pre-diagnosed dyslexic’s life. Ally’s situation conjured up so many memories at first that it was hard for me to read, but the reward was great.

Kinda Like Brothers is a pacey, touching look at foster care from an adolescent perspective, featuring an accurate and relatable look at asthma.

Although the author got some of the details about blindness wrong, she seems very committed to diversity, and I enjoyed this book a lot.

Although it lacks detail in its portrayal of spina bifida, this is a well-written, cute series featuring a very cool character with the condition.

Despite good ideas and wonderful writing, Brilliant falls flat when it comes to having any constructive meaning regarding depression.

Although several elements of Red’s autism are portrayed well and I’m eager to read the sequels, the character is often relegated to muttering statistics and nervously stimming in the background.

Paperboy is only one character’s experience of stuttering, but it’s an honest one. And in a world where so often these stories aren’t told, that comes across like a breath of fresh air.

The Categorical Universe of Candice Phee is a fun, well-written book, if an imperfect autism read.

Rogue is one of the rare novels about an autistic character written by an autistic author, and the book raises many intriguing questions to discuss.

The book ultimately provides a single-faceted understanding of autism and many of the painful interactions with Willem’s teacher and peers would likely hit too close to home for autistic students.

Like in real life, autism spectrum disorder alone is never the whole story, and Baskin does a good job balancing Jason’s autism with his writing life, family, school, and budding friendship. She’s succeeded in creating an authentic autistic character who is anything but stereotypical.

For all that there are moments when Rose’s voice is nuanced and shines, those nuances continuously pushed aside for a far more stereotypical narrative. This is not the story of an autistic character written for an inclusive audience; this is a story about an autistic character written for a neurotypical audience.