July is Disability Pride Month! One of the best ways to celebrate is to take some time to educate yourself on the disabled lived condition. Below, I have listed out 7 different disabled books, some fiction, and some non-fiction, to help you start your educational journey.
Inclusive representation is a new trend. Ensuring that the media we consume reflects the world we live in accurately has only really been on people’s minds for the last ten or so years. And, while improvements are being made, there are many places were representation is still severely lacking.
Before I dive into my review of Maternity Rolls, I just want to thank Disability Maternity Care for sending me this book! Disability Maternity Care is an amazing non-profit that helps support women with disabilities who want to become mothers. As a woman with a disability, their message resonates with me so deeply. I was over the moon when they reached out a couple months ago asking to work together on this partnership.
So, as you read this review and decide whether or not you’d like to read Maternity Rolls for yourself, know that by making a purchase using my affiliate links, you will not just be supporting me and my blog, but you will also be making an impact on the wider community!
I started to read this book slowly, and quickly realized that I wanted to make it my January book of the month for 2 reasons:
1. I think talking about the ways in which my disability has impacted the way I view money is important to the wider conversation of ableism and disability.
2. Everyone deserves to feel empowered to make the money they deserve after the hellish year we have all been put through.
Growing up, I learned to hate biographies, not necessarily because they were boring, but mostly because they were assignments. On top of that obvious barrier, I often found them difficult to relate to. Most of the ones I encountered were about people who lived during the 19th and 20th centuries. So, not only were the stories seemingly ancient to my teenage mind, but they also were written about older adults who had essentially finished their story.
In my eyes, Chosen Ones was the perfect mix of the real, soul-crushing truths of adulthood and wild, gripping the book too tightly, storytelling. It was exactly what I have been looking for. Could someone in their mid to late teens read this and enjoy it? Probably, but I think that adults will better understand and empathize with the main character, Sloane, as she struggles with her past, present, and future choices.
This book is outstanding. If you are at all interested in learning more about the disabled lived condition, it is simply a must-read. If you’re following me on social media or subscribe to my blog’s mailing list, I am so grateful for your support and interest in my story and experience. That said, my story alone is not going to change the world. Disability Visibility opens up conversations into topics I cannot cover, including cultural, racial, and gender intersectionalities with disability. As a white, average-sized, young, disabled woman, my privileges are vast compared to many others within the disability community. I am grateful for this book because it shed light on perspectives I hadn’t before considered.
You Are A Badass has been featured as a must-read in every book store I have walked into for the past 5 years. With its neon yellow cover, it’s already difficult to miss. When it’s placed on a stand at the front of the store, or on top of the shelf, it is completely impossible to avoid.
I purchased this book at Powell’s book store in Portland, Oregon last year. My friends and I were on our final spring break trip and had planned to spend a couple of hours perusing the massive store. As usual, it was easily spotted. The small colorful display overtook every other title in a 2 foot radius.
In the past when I encountered the book, I often only saw the brightness it exuded. As I sat in my wheelchair staring at it from across the room, I paused, allowed the discomfort in my eyes to settle as it adjusted to the background color, and read the title for the first time.
I am the queen of rereading my favorite books. When The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the prequel to The Hunger Games series, (my all-time favorite❤️), came out earlier this year, I immersed myself into the world of Panem for the 5th time. My preparation for THG’s prequel was very similar to my preparation for Midnight Sun, but the end results were much different.
After finishing The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, I actually contemplated picking up The Hunger Games again and starting from the top. Though I do prefer THG to Twilight, this reaction was driven by a desire to make further analytical connections with the new knowledge the prequel unleashed, not just an obsession with the series.
Reading Midnight Sun after rereading the Twilight series led me down the opposite path.
I spent the greater part of July reliving the romantic lives of vampires and werewolves as I reread the Twilight Book Series for the first time since I was 13 years old.
The Twilight Book Series was one of the most divisive stories of my generation. Team Edward or Team Jacob was more than a mere question of attraction. Your answer fundamentally defined who you were at your core and had the distinct ability to end even the strongest of friendships.
Middle school was intense, y’all. But, to be completely honest, I am still judging you Jacob lovers out there.