With J. K. Rowling’s recent harmful tweets rejecting trans* identity floating to the surface of the internet, we’ve been on the hunt for new authors to read instead of supporting the author best known for writing the Harry Potter series. In light of this, we’ve put together 10 disabled authors and their books that you can read this summer, instead of reading Harry Potter for the fifth time.
If you’re looking for YA…
1. Accidents of Nature by Harriet McBryde Johnson
Summary from Goodreads: Seventeen-year-old Jean has cerebral palsy and gets around in a wheelchair, but she’s always believed she’s just the same as everyone else. She goes to normal school and has normal friends. She’s never really known another disabled person before she arrives at Camp Courage. But there Jean meets Sara, who welcomes her to ‘Crip Camp’ and nicknames her Spazzo. Sara has radical theories about how people fit into society. She’s full of rage and revolution against pitying insults and the lack of respect for people with disabilities.
As Jean joins a community unlike any she has ever imagined, she comes to question her old beliefs and look at the world in a new light. The camp session is only ten days long, but that may be all it takes to change a life forever.
2. Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens by Marieke Nijkamp
Summary from Goodreads: This anthology explores disability in fictional tales told from the viewpoint of disabled characters, written by disabled creators. With stories in various genres about first loves, friendship, war, travel, and more, Unbroken will offer today’s teen readers a glimpse into the lives of disabled people in the past, present, and future.
The contributing authors are award-winners, bestsellers, and newcomers including Kody Keplinger, Kristine Wyllys, Francisco X. Stork, William Alexander, Corinne Duyvis, Marieke Nijkamp, Dhonielle Clayton, Heidi Heilig, Katherine Locke, Karuna Riazi, Kayla Whaley, Keah Brown, and Fox Benwell. Each author identifies as disabled along a physical, mental, or neurodiverse axis―and their characters reflect this diversity.
If you’re looking for a fantasy series…
3. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Summary from author website: Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha…and the secrets of her heart.
If you’re looking for classical poetry…
4. The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope (Read Canto 1 here!)
Summary from Goodreads: A satirical poem that intentionally over-dramatizes an incident in which a lock of a woman’s hair is cut without her permission.
If you’re looking for science fiction…
5. Waterbound by Jane Stemp
Summary from Goodreads: In a futuristic society sixteen-year-old Gem discovers that a group of handicapped people who call themselves the Waterbound live hidden beneath the City.
Author Stemp adds that “I was very, very clear from the start about one thing above all: There would be no “cure”, miracle or otherwise”
6. The Labyrinth’s Archivist by Day Al-Mohamed
Summary from Goodreads: Walking the Labyrinth and visiting hundreds of other worlds; seeing so many new and wonderful things – that is the provenance of the travelers and traders, the adventurers and heroes. Azulea has never left her home city, let alone the world. Her city, is at the nexus of many worlds with its very own “Hall of Gates” and her family are the Archivists. They are the mapmakers and the tellers of tales. They capture information on all of the byways, passages and secrets of the Labyrinth. Gifted with a perfect memory, Azulea can recall every story she ever heard from the walkers between worlds. She remembers every trick to opening stubborn gates, and the dangers and delights of hundreds of worlds. But Azulea will never be a part of her family’s legacy. She cannot make the fabled maps of the Archivists because she is blind.
The Archivist’s “Residence” is a waystation among worlds. It is safe, comfortable and with all food and amenities provided. In exchange, of course, for stories of their adventures and information about the Labyrinth, which will then be transcribed for posterity and added to the Great Archive. But now, someone has come to the Residence and is killing off Archivists using strange and unusual poisons from unique worlds whose histories are lost in the darkest, dustiest corners of the Great Archive. As Archivists die, one by one, Azulea is in a race to find out who the killer is and why they are killing the Archivists, before they decide she is too big a threat to leave alive.
If you’re looking for a graphic novel or comic book…
7. Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier
Summary from Goodreads: Catrina and her family are moving to the coast of Northern California because her little sister, Maya, is sick. Cat isn’t happy about leaving her friends for Bahía de la Luna, but Maya has cystic fibrosis and will benefit from the cool, salty air that blows in from the sea. As the girls explore their new home, a neighbor lets them in on a secret: There are ghosts in Bahía de la Luna. Maya is determined to meet one, but Cat wants nothing to do with them. As the time of year when ghosts reunite with their loved ones approaches, Cat must figure out how to put aside her fears for her sister’s sake – and her own.
If you’re looking for romance…
8. The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Summary from Goodreads: Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases — a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.
It doesn’t help that Stella has Asperger’s and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice — with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can’t afford to turn down Stella’s offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan — from foreplay to more-than-missionary position…
Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but to crave all the other things he’s making her feel. Soon, their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic…
If you’re looking for critical essays…
9. Beyond Ramps: Disability at the End of the Social Contract by Marta Russell
Summary from Goodreads: The Social Contract — Rousseau’s famous term concerning the bond between a government and it’s people — has been sold to the highest bidder. Freedom is reserved only for markets in a society increasingly strangled by corporate of power”.Empowerment” is the new definition of destitution. By looking at the struggles of the disabled faced with the end of social services, Ending the Social Contract as We Know It provides a powerful warning: the disabled are as canaries in a coal mine, and their maltreatment is a harbinger of things to come for the rest of us.
In a tightly woven argument, Marta Russell shows how the onslaught of corporate power facing the disabled — from issues like genetic screening, to restricted access to health care, to welfare reform — will shortly be faced by a much broader segment of society.
If you’re looking for autobiography…
10. The Pretty One by Keah Brown
Summary from author website: Keah Brown loves herself, but that hadn’t always been the case. Born with cerebral palsy, her greatest desire used to be normalcy and refuge from the steady stream of self-hate society strengthened inside her. But after years of introspection and reaching out to others in her community, she has reclaimed herself and changed her perspective.
In The Pretty One, Brown gives a contemporary and relatable voice to the disabled—so often portrayed as mute, weak, or isolated. With clear, fresh, and light-hearted prose, these essays explore everything from her relationship with her able-bodied identical twin (called “the pretty one” by friends) to navigating romance; her deep affinity for all things pop culture—and her disappointment with the media’s distorted view of disability; and her declaration of self-love with the viral hashtag #DisabledAndCute.
Be sure to add these books to your summer reading list, and comment down below what you thought of them! Anyone up for an online book club?
