Books for children with disability and neurodiversity representation – updated for 2025
July is Disability Pride Month, a time to promote awareness and celebrate the identities and achievements of people with disabilities. Send your students on holiday with this fantastic list of inclusive books.
Readers flocked to our 2023 articles, which showcased books for children featuring characters with a variety of physical, psychological, and neurologically diverse conditions, so we spoke with bookseller Jessi Townley for an insight into why inclusive stories matter and an update on books for 2025 at the start of Disability Pride Month.
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For Jessi, books have never just been about words on a page. They’re about identity, connection, and the quiet power of being seen. As a 26-year-old queer, disabled, neurodiverse woman with lived experience of chronic illness, Jessi has worn many hats—social work student, youth advocate, bookstore manager, and now, future librarian. But across it all, her mission has remained steady: to make the world a little more accessible, inclusive, and understanding—one book at a time.
Related story: Why choosing diverse books isn’t enough: It’s all about the right representation
After facing systemic barriers, undiagnosed health conditions, and internalised ableism during her early education, Jessi found herself at a crossroads. Social work felt meaningful, but inaccessible. Books, however, offered her not only a career path but a platform.
“I still wanted to combine my love of advocacy, research and working alongside marginalised communities. After following many people online who promoted diverse books, it was kind of a lightbulb moment,” she says. “I thought—why don’t I do that for myself?” Today, through her work with the Youth Disability Advocacy Network (YDAN) and her bookstagram community @lezlibcard , Jessi uses her voice to promote stories that reflect the beautifully diverse reality of children and teens.
For Jessi, it’s not just about seeing yourself in a story—it’s about feeling safe, valued, and understood.
“What I try to achieve is ensuring a safe space for all communities—no matter if you’re a child, teen or an adult—a space to visit and explore to either help learn about themselves, or have their loved ones learn how best to support them.” Jessi Aiofe
“It’s crucial for kids to find solace through literature,” Jessi continues. “It helps them realise they’re not alone. That there are people out there advocating, supporting, and living just like them.” Being able to access stories where characters experience similar struggles can help children and teens learn about the barriers they may face and the challenges they may encounter. As Jessi says, all children deserve to access the knowledge and tools that will help them live their best life.
Related story: Novels for kids with neurodivergent characters
When it comes to educators, Jessi urges a deeper commitment: to seek out voices outside the textbook, learn from lived experience, and remember that no two children experience disability in the same way.
“While you should utilise the professional development you are given within your sector, it’s essential to also explore outside of those resources to learn and to understand what genuine disability allyship looks like,” Jessi says.
Every young reader deserves to find themselves in a story—and know they belong there.
We asked Jessi for her top reads and recommendations for various conditions.
Autism
Kind of A Spark by Ellie McNicoll (Contemporary Middle Grade)
Vivi Conway series by Lizzie Huxley Jones (Adventure Middle Grade)
Unseelie by Ivelisee Houseman (YA Fantasy)
Social Queue by Kay Kerr (YA Contemporary)
ADHD
Honestly Elliott by Gillian McDunn (Middle Grade)
Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan (Middle Grade)
Lover Birds by Leanne Egan (YA Romance)
Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal by Anna Whateley (YA)
Cerebral Palsy
The Amazing Edie Eckhart Series by Rosie Jones (Middle Grade)
Roll With It by Jamie Sumner (Middle Grade)
A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer (YA Fantasy)
Where You See Yourself by Claire Forrest (YA Contemporary)
You, Me and Our Heartstrings by Melissa See (YA Romance)
Dyslexia
Invisible by Christina Diaz Gonzalez (Middle Grade)
Fish In A Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson (YA Mystery)
A List of Cages by Robin Roe (YA Contemporary)
Dyscalculia
Very Bad At Math by Hope Larson (Graphic Novel)
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee (YA/adult)
Sensory Processing Disorder
Me and Sam-Sam Handle The Apocalypse by Susan Vaught (Middle Grade)
Tune It Out by Jamie Sumner (Middle Grade)
Meet Me In Outer Space by Melinda Grace (YA Contemporary)
Save Me A Seat by Sarah Weeks & Gita Varadarajan (Middle Grade)
Tourette’s Syndrome
Forget Me Not by Ellie Terry (Middle Grade)
A Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen (YA)
Epilepsy
Meena Meets Her Match by Karla Manternach (Middle Grade)
Stargazing by Jen Wang (Middle Grade Graphic Novel)
The Gentlemen’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee (YA)
Chronic Pain
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (YA Fantasy)
The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones (YA Fantasy)
Limb Difference
Insignificant Events In The Life Of A Cactus by Dusti Bowling (Middle Grade)
Stars In Her Eyes by Jessica Walton (YA)
Sixteen Souls by Rosie Talbot (YA)
Type 1 Diabetes
The Truth According To Blue by Eve Yohalem (Middle Grade)
Sugar by Carly Nugent (YA)
Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)
One For All by Lillie Lanioff (YA Historical Fiction)
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
Fight + Flight by Jules Machias (Middle Grade)
All The Right Reasons by Bethany Mangle (YA Romance)
Deaf/Hard of Hearing
Jessi’s Secret Language by Ann M. Martin (Middle Grade)
Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker & Wendy Xu (Middle Grade)
You’re Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner (YA)
Give Me A Sign by Anna Sortino (YA Romance)
Skyhunter by Marie Lu (YA)
Blindness/Vision differences
My Aunt Is A Monster by Reimena Yee (Middle Grade)
Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier (Middle Grade)
Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom
Anxiety
Thanks A Lot, Universe by Chad Lucas (Middle Grade)
Asking For A Friend by Ronnie Riley (Middle Grade)
Five Things About Ava Andrews by Margaret Dilloway (Middle Grade)
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson (YA)
Anger Is A Gift by Mark Oshiro (YA)
OCD
The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty (Middle Grade)
The Best At It by Maulik Pancholy (Middle Grade)
Turtles All The Way Down by John Green (YA Contemporary)
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert (YA Romance)
Depression
Breathing Underwater by Sarah Allen (Middle Grade)
How To Become a Planet by Nicole Melleby (Middle Grade)
Solitaire by Alice Oseman (YA)
Darius The Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorra, (YA)
Cronh’s Disease
Gut Reaction by Kirby Larson & Quinn Wyatt (Middle Grade)
The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet by Jake Maia Arlow (Middle Grade)
Will On The Inside by Andrew Eliopulous (YA Contemporary)
Two Girls Staring At The Ceiling by Lucy Frank (YA Contemporary)
Non-Fiction Resources for Teachers on Disability/Neurodiversity/Chronic Illness etc
Demystifying Disability by Emily Ladau
Growing Up Disabled In Australia by Carly Findlay
Care Work by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability and Making Spaces by Amanda Leduc
Occupational Therapy, Disability Activism and Me by Georgina T. Vine
