Sponsored by the audiobook edition of Flash Fire by TJ Klune, read by Michael Lesley.
Flash Fire is the explosive sequel to The Extraordinaries by New York Times and USA Today best-selling author TJ Klune, read by Michael Lesley!
Nick landed himself the superhero boyfriend of his dreams, but with new heroes arriving in Nova City, it’s up to Nick and his friends to determine who is virtuous and who is villainous. Which is a lot to handle for a guy who just wants to finish his self-insert bakery AU fanfic.
Hey YA Readers!
Where June is known as Pride month, honoring, celebrating, and understanding the history and lives of those in the queer community, Pride continues in a different way in July. The origins of the celebration have been linked to more than one place and time — Boston held the first Disability Pride Parade in 1990, while New York City declared July Disability Pride Month in 2015, in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act — but over the last few years, awareness and celebration of Disability Pride Month has grown.
The Disability Pride movement even has its own flag, designed by Ann Magill. You can see the influence other Pride movements have had in amplifying this celebration in it:
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In honor of Disability Pride Month, in addition to educating yourself about disability — both that which is visible and that which is not — it’s the perfect time to dig into YA books featuring disability. I’ve included a couple of forthcoming titles for your preordering as well.
YA Books Featuring Disability
Disability Visibility edited by Alice Wong (Young Reader Edition) — October 26
Wong’s incredible anthology featuring an array of disabled writers exploring life with disability hit shelves last summer for adults. This fall, young readers will get the chance to pick up this powerful and crucial anthology.
The Disturbed Girl’s Dictionary by NoNieqa Ramos
This voice-driven novel follows Macy as she navigates her own tumultuous home life—one with an inconsistent mother, a father in prison, and a younger brother in the foster care system because of repeat CPS visits—with understanding why it is her best friend has been pulling away from her. These are teens living hard, hard lives and still managing to get up every day and go through the motions, much as it leaves an impact on them physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Macy has a psychological, potentially neurological, disorder that impacts her daily life and the relationships with her best friend and family.
A Face for Picasso: Coming of Age with Crouzon Syndrome by Ariel Henley (November 2)
This memoir is the story of twins Ariel and Zan, who were diagnosed with Crouzon Syndrome — a condition where bones in the head fuse prematurely. Ariel talks about the numerous reconstructive surgeries they had growing up and more, the mental and emotional realities of living with facial disfigurement.
Finding Balance by Katy Gardner
Mari and Jase both attend Camp Chemo annually, where they get to be fully themselves as cancer survivors. Jase keeps this part of his life buried except for camp and his annual oncologist visit; Mari, who is an amputee, chooses to live openly about her survivorship. They’re close at camp, but when Mari transfers to Jase’s school, his cover might be blown.
Two Girls Staring At The Ceiling by Lucy Frank
There are very few characters in YA—and in fiction more broadly—who have Crohn’s Disease. Told through the voices of Chess and Shannon, this novel in verse is about two girls dealing with Crohn’s Disease, one who has been working with the illness for a long time and one who, after an unfortunate incident with a boy she was beginning to like, is newly diagnosed.
Unbroken: 13 Stories Featuring Disabled Teens edited by Marieke Nijkamp
This much needed, vital anthology featuring disabled characters by disabled authors includes stories from authors like Keplinger, Stork, and Duyvis named above, but also Heidi Heilig, Dhonielle Clayton, Kayla Whaley, and more.
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I’d be remiss not to also mention Body Talk: 37 Voices Explore Our Radical Anatomy, the anthology I edited, which features an incredible array of disabled voices, including Deafness, chronic illness, amputation, and so much more.
Likewise, some of these titles were pulled from a larger post on excellent YA disability books. Dig into this selection, as well as even more YA books about disability.
As always, thanks for hanging out, and we’ll see you on Thursday!
— Kelly Jensen, @heykellyjensen on Instagram.
Thank you to the audiobook edition of Flash Fire by TJ Klune, read by Michael Lesley, for sponsoring today’s newsletter.
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