16 Wonderful #OwnVoices YA Books About Disability

Jetta comes from a talented family of shadow puppet performers, and she’s continuing that legacy. But Jetta has a secret: she can bind the souls of the dead to her puppets. This practice has been forbidden since the colonial army conquered her country, so Jetta must keep her abilities a secret. Then her powers earn her and her family a place on the royal ship. The Mad King is rumored to have a spring that can cure what plagues you, and Jetta is still seeking treatment for her bipolar disorder. But as rebellion infects the ship and Jetta is drawn in by a young smuggler, she’ll have to face truths that will put everything she knows and loves in danger.

Content Warnings: mental illness (bipolar), blood use in magic, gun violence, war, colonialism, racism, descriptions of dead bodies, mention of reproductive coercion, mentions of torture, mention of suicide

This anthology contains 13 stories exploring disability with disabled characters, written by disabled authors. These stories span the past, present, and future as well as a wide range of genres. The contributing authors include: 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.

At 16, autistic Peta Lyre is used to following society’s expectations for how “normal” people behave. But when she falls in love with the new girl on a school ski trip, all of her carefully crafted routines start to crack under the pressure. When things shatter, Peta will decide what rules she’s willing to break to have the extraordinary life she wants.

Ricky’s parents are divorcing, her older sister is leaving for college, and, on top of all of that, she’s just been diagnosed with a chronic illness. She spends her days cursing at anyone possible, cutting class—which has become her own personal hell—thinking about her dreamy crush, Julio, and keeping the truth about how bad things have gotten from her parents. But it’s a lot to balance, and now she’s one suspension away from repeating 9th grade. She’ll do anything to move to 10th grade on time, so she begrudgingly lets her classmate, Oliver, lure her out of her prickly shell. Maybe asking for help isn’t the end of the world.

Grace is autistic. She’s got a horse and a best friend who gets her, and that’s really all she needs. But then Grace kisses the cutest boy in school, throwing everything off balance. And now her home life is changing too, and Grace is struggling to make sense of her new world. When everything starts to fall apart, will Grace be able to fix it on her own?

The half-demon Shadow is a member of one of New York’s famous superhero teams. Their traumatic past has left scars—scars they spend as much energy on masking as they expend on kicking villain butt. When they’re stranded on a distant planet, they meet Bean, a punky super heroine. While her personality is everything that Shadow needs, Bean’s talents put her in danger. As the two get closer, Shadow has to choose: keep their secrets hidden, or stay with their soulmate.

Charlie, Taylor, and Jamie, three best friends, head to SupaCon. Charlie is promoting her first movie and attempting to win her dream girl, while Taylor is navigating her more-than-a-friend feelings for Jamie and an autistic brain that really isn’t keen on change. This adorably queer, autistic as heck contemporary YA will warm the heart of anyone who’s ever called fandom home.

On January 29, 2035, a comet will crash down on Earth and cause massive destruction. To survive the impact, Denise, her mother, and her sister Iris have been assigned to a temporary shelter. But when the time comes, Iris is missing. Denise and her mother manage to find something better than temporary shelter—a ship fleeing Earth to colonize new worlds. When Denise discovers everyone on the ship has been chosen because of their usefulness, she’s scared. Will an autistic girl like her be allowed to stay?

When Deaf teen Maya moves across the country, she has to attend a hearing school for the first time, which is already pretty hard. Add onto that the adjustment to hearing culture and Maya is frustrated—and also surprised when a few of her classmates, including a boy named Beau, learn ASL. As Maya looks towards her future, she zeros in on her pursuits. Nothing will distract her, not even an unexpected romance.

Bo has a bad reputation, a mom with an alcohol problem, and a deadbeat dad. The whole town is wary of her family, but Bo doesn’t care what they think. Meanwhile Agnes doesn’t break her overbearing parents’ rules, doesn’t date, doesn’t anything. Because her parents make rules to protect their legally blind daughter—though Agnes isn’t sure from what. Despite their disparate backgrounds, the girls become best friends. And when Bo shows up at midnight with police on her tail and an itch to escape, Agnes takes off with her. But running away isn’t easy. They have to get a car, find Bo’s dad, evade the cops, and confront the ugly secrets that just keep chasing them.