Disabled Characters

[gali]

Another book with disabled characters is "Whip Hand" by Dick Francis. The main protagonist Sid Halley is crippled. It is a series of 5 books actually and I loved it.

Get out! I was going to name that book, but I didn't.

[ALynnPowers]

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time, by Mark Haddon
Loved this book!

Flowers for Algeron might be considered?

Also, one of my favorite books "Are You Alone on Purpose?" (by Nancy Werlin) contains a brother with autism as well as a young man who was paralyzed from a diving accident.

[hannahbm13]

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes is probably one of the best books I have ever read. It is about a girl who goes to work for a quadriplegic man. It is so refreshing and unique. It is one of the best books I have read in a very very long time and I highly recommend it.

[zjones99]

Well I know it isn't original but Fault in Our Stars is really good.

[stoppoppingtheP]

Electricity by Ray Robinson is about a girl with epilepsy. It attracted me as I suffer from it as well, and it was interesting to see how other people experience the same thing.

Alice is another book about a girl with epilepsy. I forgot who the author was.

-- 27 Jul 2015, 09:39 --

Electricity by Ray Robinson is about a girl with epilepsy. It attracted me as I suffer from it as well, and it was interesting to see how other people experience the same thing.

Alice is another book about a girl with epilepsy. I forgot who the author was.

[firecat88]

I have Spina Bifida. To this day, I have only read one book series (that wasn't medical texts) to feature a character with it. It was called the Sunny Sweet series by Jennifer Ann Mann. The books themselves were good, but I found the disabled character to be a bit...lacking. Like, there wasn't anything to her portrayal beyond the occasional mention of what she had and that she was in a wheelchair.

[MerryLove]

I agree that too often there are not disabled characters represented in books, particularly in children's and young adult fiction. It also seems that when they are, it is often a physical disability caused by some sort of accident, not some kind of disability that they are born with. There's this whole community of people that I'm sure have trouble finding relatable characters like them.

I recently read the book Eon by Alison Goodman, and one of the first things I noticed and silently applauded were the disabled characters in this book from the start. The main character has a physical disability from the start, and one of her friends in the household has a mental and speech disability. The main character comes to be appreciated and admired, and her very kind friend comes to earn some deserved respect. While there may have been some other elements to the book I wasn't a fan of, I loved the author's portrayal of these particular characters and their strong position within the plot.

[Ajayb8ker]

I recently retread A Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night-time. The main character is autistic. It is the first book focusing on a character with a limitation that I read where the character felt like he went beyond the stereotype. I think it is very easy for authors to limit their view of a person with a disability. It takes skill to do it well, and I haven't found many that accomplish this.

[alwaysdaddygirl]

If anyone wants a website where the authors write about there disability or their child, please let me know.

I understand it not books. This website is precious.


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[Lkhoward]

Ok, this was one of my favorite books. A memoir by Diana Morgan Hill called Love & Justice. I don't know if this really applies to this forum because she writes about herself not a character and how she endured after falling under a commuter train and losing her legs.

[ebeth]

Autism Belongs by Dr. Sharon A. Mitchell. It is in my bookshelves.

[alwaysdaddygirl]

Check out TheMighty. com


Sorry it not a book.
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[Gravy]

I've just remembered.

Feed, the first book in Mira Grant's Newsflesh series (which I am rereading), has an MC with a disability (albeit, a fictional, "can-only-happen-in-this-universe" one).

Secondarily, her newest release, Into the Drowning Deep, includes a side protag. with autism, one with severe nerve damage, and twin sisters who are deaf.

None of them are glossed over, and all are included in the plot throughout the book(s), so they aren't just thrown in to be diverse. They're part of the story, instead of being used when it's convenient, and disappearing when it's not.

To top it off, they are shown as functioning people, and not as their disability. The sisters are both scientists, the girl with autism is a nerd culture psuedo-celebrity, and the guy with nerve damage is in charge of the expedition.

[alwaysdaddygirl]

Aloha Gravy,

Mahalo for mentioning that! I will check that book out.

[em_el_di]

I disagree about the superiority aspect - but I DO think that representation is incredibly important, ESPECIALLY in children's/ya!!! I've been gravitating towards books that feature characters dealing with mental health, whether that's the focus or just a fact of their lives. Some of my recent favorites include Patrick Ness's The Rest of Us Just Live Here, Tamara Ireland Stone's Every Last Word, Becky Albertalli's The Upside of Unrequited, and Francesca Zappia's Eliza and Her Monsters (FAVORITE book of 2017!!!)