10 Books To Introduce Readers to Disability Literature via Book Riot

While I am an advocate for diversifying our suggestions to readers at all times, I will admit, I am not great at including books featuring people with disabilities. 

But, that is what we have resources for, to help us do our jobs better. And as I say on my Ten Rules of Basic RA Service page [in the "5 Resources You Cannot Live Without" section after the rules], Book Riot is my favorite place to go for timely and diverse lists for all ages of readers.

Recently they had this excellent list of 10 Books to Introduce Readers to Disability Literature. Like all Book Riot lists, it is diverse in every way-- fiction and nonfiction, people with different disabilities and races. 

This post was also part of Disability Pride month in July, and the post has many more links to help you even more. So below, I have posted the introduction to this 10 book list with a link to the full article.

10 BOOKS TO INTRODUCE READERS TO DISABILITY LITERATURE

So far this Disability Pride Month, we talked about a book lover’s guide to Disability Pride Month, different things to keep in mind when reading disability literature, and various ways folks can be a good ally to disabled people on the internet. All of these things are important to keep in mind, but if you’re new to disability literature, you probably still have some questions. 

If this is your first time observing Disability Pride Month, I understand that it can feel overwhelming. “Disabled” is really just an umbrella term that refers to a wide range of conditions, lived experiences, and communities. How do you know what terminology to use when? What is the difference between deaf and Deaf? What’s the difference between disability rights and disability justice?

While you might feel flooded with disability lit recommendations at the moment, here are a few books that I think will help you learn some key points about the disability community. While disabled people write in every genre, I’ve chosen mostly nonfiction books to give you a baseline from which to start. But rest assured, there are always more great books by disabled authors out there just waiting for you to read them.

Click here to see the list.