15 Books For Your Reading List to Celebrate Disability Pride Month

So Lucky is an autobiographical thriller by Nicola Griffith. The book follows Mara Tagarelli, a committed, accomplished, and confident woman whose life is upended in one week after her wife leaves her and she receives a multiple sclerosis diagnosis.

Through a whirlwind of events, Mara must rebuild her own community. She learns how to fight through her newfound adversity, all the while a serial killer is targeting individuals with MS.

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True Biz: A Novel is a coming-of-age story by Sara Nović. The story is set at the River Valley High School for the Deaf, where we meet several significant characters. First, there’s Charlie, a rebellious transfer student. Then, there’s Austin, the golden boy with a new hearing baby sister. And, finally, we meet February, a CODA (child of deaf adult(s)) and headmistress of the school.

When a series of both political and personal crises bring them together, they find their lives changed forever, for better or for worse. This captivating story celebrates the Deaf community and universal human connection.

_{Image Credit: Penguin Random House Books}

Hunchback: A Novel by Saou Ichikawa is a dark satire about Shaka, a girl born with a congenital muscle disorder. She relies on an electric wheelchair to move around and a ventilator to breathe. Though she is physically limited, Shaka’s wit and mischievous nature know no bounds in the internet realm.

On a typical Twitter trolling spree, Shaka’s world changes when her new nurse accepts the dare of being her sperm donor, setting off a series of events that change Shaka’s sense of identity, womanhood, and autonomy.

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The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang stars Stella Lane, genius in everything-mathematic but clueless in everything-dating. As a woman with Asperger’s, the dating scene and physical intimacy have always been an intimidating thought.

Stella decides that all she needs is a little practice. She hires Micheal Phan, an escort, to help solve every equation from french kissing to foreplay. Before long, this partnership turns into something neither of them expected as they explore the intricacies of true love.

_{Image Credit: Penguin Random House}

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert is a contemporary romance about Chloe Brown, a computer geek who suffers from fibromyalgia. Chloe feels restricted in her everyday life and decides to create a bucket list of “rebellious” activities. Enter Redford “Red” Morgan, her new property manager.

Though they get off on the wrong foot, Red agrees to help Chloe check off items on her list in exchange for business advice. As their mutual irritation blossoms into something affectionate, the two must find comfort in vulnerability and overcome their insecurities.

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Reel: A Novel by Kennedy Ryan follows Neevah Saint, a Broadway understudy who successfully lands her first Hollywood breakout role. When an unexpected and intense romance stirs between her and the celebrated director, Canon Holt, the two struggle to keep things professional on set.

One day, Neevah faints on set. She’s diagnosed with systemic lupus and, to save her life, must undergo a kidney transplant. Worried how her diagnosis will effect her budding career and relationship, Neevah must find balance and acceptance in her new circumstance.

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Hardly Creatures by Rob Macaisa Colgate takes readers through a poetry collection in the form of an accessible art museum. With nine sections that act as gallery rooms looking in on the complex lives of the disabled community, Hardly Creatures asks readers to celebrate the community for all its imperfections.

_{Image Credit: Penguin Random House}

Mother Tongue: A Memoir tells the story of author Sara Nović, who failed her school’s mandated hearing test and told no one. Her facade eventually crumbled, but, despite her fears, she was warmly welcomed into the deaf community.

Nović’s personal story resonates with readers of all backgrounds. She touches on universal milestones and questions of the human experience, asking readers to recognize differences as sources of opportunity.

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In Disability Visibility, activist Alice Wong brings forth a collection of personal essays by contemporary disabled writers. These stories emphasize the vast disabled experience and invite readers to question their own ideas and understandings of what it means to be disabled. This hopeful anthology reminds us to celebrate progress and community, looking to the past and future for love and light.

_{Image Credit: Penguin Random House}

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez is an epic fantasy about an imprisoned Moon Goddess who escapes with the help of Jun, an exiled guard with a troubled past, and Keema, an outcasted one-armed warrior. The three embark on a five-day journey, searching for freedom and a way to end the reign of the Moon Throne forever.

However, the narrator is a grandmother passing this legend on to her grandson. This dangerous adventure story is a multi-layered tale of identity and legacy that will consume, transform, and transport readers.

_{Image Credit: Penguin Random House}

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo is a dark fantasy adventure starring Kaz Brekker and his crew: Jesper, Inej, Wylan, Nina, and Matthias. In the city of Ketterdam, Kaz is offered the reigns on a heist that could make him filthy rich. The team must break in to the fortified Ice Court of Fjerda and rescue a captive scientist who created a magic amplifying drug that could destroy the world.

Six of Crows explores multifaceted disability representation that thrills readers with it’s complex world-building and fantastic, quick paced heist plot.

_{Image Credit: Macmillan Publishers}

These Vengeful Gods by Gabe Coe Novoa follows Crow, one of the few surviving descendants of god of Death. Crow was born with godly powers strong enough to destroy society, and keeping it hidden from the government has taken a toll on their body.

When Crow’s uncles are arrested for harboring a Deathchild, Crow must enter and fight their way through the very world that threatens their existence if they want any chance of saving their family. This is a thrilling tale of fantastical drama, godly politics, social justice, and family above all else.

_{Image Credit: Penguin Random House}

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer is a dark, modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast. When Harper, a young girl with cerebral palsy from Washington, D.C., rushes to save a stranger, she is pulled into the enchanted kingdom of Emberfall. There, Prince Rhen relives the autumn of his eighteenth birthday again and again, doomed to become a beast at the end of every season unless someone falls in love with him. Enter Harper.

Harper and Rhen grow closer as the kingdom is threatened. The two must face what it means to love and sacrifice for a greater purpose.

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One for All by Lillie Lainoff is a gender bent retelling of The Three Musketeers. This riveting narrative is filled with secrets, sisterhood, and self-love.

Tania de Batz is a master with a sword and longs for adventure and independence. But, her near-constant dizziness makes others doubt her — everyone but her Papa. His dying wish was for her to attend L’Académie des Mariées, a secret Muskateer training ground disguised as a finishing school.

When Tania meets her first target, Étienne, his charming kindness leaves her torn between duty and the dizzying emotions of her heart.

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Until the Clock Strikes Midnight by Alechia Dow is a Cinderella fairy-tale remix full of cozy, romantic fantasy.

Darling is a Guardian, a fairy tasked to help mortals find “Happily Ever Afters.” Calamity is a Misfortune, a fairy who helps steer mortals away from risky “Happily Ever Afters” in favor of more logical, ordinary lives.

When Darling and Calamity are assigned to help Lucy Addlesberg, they confront questions about who they are, the lives they want to lead, and the unexpected feelings developing between them.

_{Image Credit: Macmillan Publishers}