Books by Disabled Authors (Updated Sept. 2023)

For this post, I wanted to take the time to highlight some disabled authors and their

work.

I want to preface this by stating that I have a physical disability called

Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). My disease is considered rare. It wasn’t until recent years that fundraising and education brought more awareness to SMA, along with life-saving treatments. It has now become more well-known in the medical community, and it’s even included in newborn screening tests.

SMA is a genetic disease that affects the central nervous system, peripheral nervous system, and voluntary muscle movement (skeletal muscle). The muscles do not receive signals from nerve cells in the spinal cord, and this results in “atrophy” or weakening of the muscles. There are types 1-4, each being less severe than the first. I won’t go into much more detail because this post is not just about me (I can save that for another time).

Why the Work of Disabled Authors Matters

I remember being a child and never seeing people like me represented on television or in books. I often felt like an outsider because I could not identify with the kids around me. There were times when I felt uncomfortable in my own body. It was a chore, always having to explain my limitations to those around me. I was a broken record with the same rehearsed speech over and over again.

The disabled community lacks true representation. We are a minority in a world made for everyone else but us. You may commonly see non-disabled individuals playing disabled characters in movies. You even have non-disabled authors writing books about a character with a disability. But they lack authenticity. They do not know the true physical and emotional struggles of disabled people.

It’s difficult to be part of a world that feels like it wasn’t meant for you. There is the constant anxiety of trying to adapt to everything around you instead of your surroundings being adapted to you.

Slowly, society has started to realize that we do exist and that we live our lives just like everyone else. It just looks a little different. But even now, in the year 2023, there is so much more that can be done for the disabled community. Something as small as a character in a book that accurately portrays our struggles can make all the difference.

I happened to be in the bookstore two weeks ago where for the first time in my 26

years of life I saw a book with a female in a wheelchair on the cover. I didn’t have to dig through shelves for it, instead, it was displayed right at the top. Not to mention it was at an accessible height for me, which was a plus. To anyone else that could be a silly

little book, perhaps an uninteresting memoir.

But to me, that was finally seeing someone like myself on the cover of their own work. That moment prompted me to dig a little deeper and find more works by disabled authors that you don't find among booktok recommendations. To come by a list like this is a true rarity in my opinion, you don't often see them on sites for book reviews or on lists of book recommendations for young adults.

This is a list I have curated with books I will add to my reading this year, starting with "Sitting Pretty" which was my first read and received 5 stars.

Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Body

Author: Rebekah Taussig

Description: This book is a memoir in the form of conversational essays from a disability advocate. Rebekah Taussig uses this piece to reflect on her life from childhood to motherhood. She illustrates the need for more stories and more voices to understand the diversity of humanity. Check out my review of this book!

So Lucky

Author: Nicola Griffith

Description: A fiction novel and a thriller by a disabled author is a hidden gem. So Lucky is about the character Mara Tagarelli who is the head of a multi-million-dollar AIDS Foundation. She is forced into a new reality when her wife leaves her and she is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the same week. So Lucky uses fiction to expose the savagery of America’s treatment of the disabled and chronically ill

Get a Life, Chloe Brown

Author: Talia Hibbert

Description: In this enemies-to-lovers romance Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost dying she comes up with a list to help her “Get a Life” and step-by-step guidelines on how she plans to accomplish this. Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. This is the man who is going to help her rebel.

Sick Kids in Love

Author: Hannah Moskowitz

Description: They don’t die in this one. This one is not about ill teenagers with a tragic end. Isabel has got rheumatoid arthritis and her one rule is no dating. Isabel meets another sick kid with a chronic illness she’s never heard of. He understands what it means to be sick. He understands her more than her friends and her father. In this young adult contemporary romance, Isabel considers breaking her one rule for him.

Laughing at My Nightmare

Author: Shane Burcaw

Description: Shane Burcaw is a twenty-one-year-old living with spinal muscular atrophy. In this memoir, he addresses the challenges he faces in life including awkward handshakes. This book showcases a humorous take on his struggles and he offers his perspective on what it is like living with a life-threatening disease.

Golem Girl: A Memoir

Author: Riva Lehrer

Description: This book is a memoir of Riva Lehrer’s struggle with spina bifida. In a time when children with this disease were not expected to survive. She lives through a childhood where her parents and doctors are determined to “fix” her reminding her that she is broken. Riva endures medical interventions in hopes to be cured. Although in adulthood she finds herself joining a group of writers, artists, and performers who are building a Disability Culture.

When I Grow Up I Want to Be a Chair: A Memoir

Author: Ryan Rae Harbuck

Description: This book is a memoir of Ryan Rae Harbuck's strengths and struggles in life after experiencing a paralyzing car accident during her teen years. She faces the new challenges brought on by

her limited mobility and embraces the new path life has carved out for her.

So there you have a mixture of fiction books to read and non-fiction books by disabled authors so you can dip your toes into some diverse reading. I will continue extending this list once I complete these and many more! I will provide book reviews on each of these in the future as well.

I hope you continue to come back for my book recommendations.

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