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Books with Disability Representation (Teen)

These YA books portray characters with physical disabilities, chronic illnesses, or psychological disorders.

The disability experience : working toward belonging by Hannalora Leavitt

"This nonfiction book for teens provides a history of disability, describes types of disabilities and examines the challenges faced by people living with disabilities"--

When my heart joins the thousand by A Steiger

Alvie Fitz is determined to keep pretending to be normal until she is eighteen and can be legally emancipated, but everything changes when she meets Stanley, the only person she has met who is stranger than she is.

The state of Grace by Rachael Lucas

Sixteen-year-old Grace has Asperger's, a horse, and a best friend who understands her, which is pretty much all she needs, but when she kisses Gabe and things start to change at home, suddenly everything threatens to fall apart, and it is up to Grace to fix it on her own.

You, me, and our heartstrings by Melissa See

Seventeen-year-olds Daisy, a talented violinist with cerebral palsy, and Noah, a great cellist with severe anxiety, plan to use the holiday concert to land a Julliard audition, but when they are chosen to play a duet, they worry their differences will sink their chances.

A curse so dark and lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Eighteen for the three hundred twenty-seventh time, Prince Rhen despairs of breaking the curse that turns him into a beast at the end of each day until feisty Harper enters his life.

Five feet apart by Rachael Lippincott

Stella Grant likes to be in control—even though her totally out of control lungs have sent her in and out of the hospital most of her life. At this point, what Stella needs to control most is keeping herself away from anyone or anything that might pass along an infection and jeopardize the possibility of a lung transplant. Six feet apart. No exceptions. The only thing Will Newman wants to be in control of is getting out of this hospital. He couldn’t care less about his treatments, or a fancy new clinical drug trial. Soon, he’ll turn eighteen and then he’ll be able to unplug all these machines and actually go see the world, not just its hospitals. Will’s exactly what Stella needs to stay away from. If he so much as breathes on Stella, she could lose her spot on the transplant list. Either one of them could die. The only way to stay alive is to stay apart. But suddenly six feet doesn’t feel like safety. It feels like punishment. What if they could steal back just a little bit of the space their broken lungs have stolen from them? Would five feet apart really be so dangerous if it stops their hearts from breaking too?

The silence between us by Alison Gervais

After moving to Colorado, deaf seventeen-year-old Maya is forced to attend a hearing school, where she must navigate a new life and prove that her lack of hearing will not stop her from pursuing her dreams. Includes an interview with the author.

You're welcome universe by Whitney Gardner

When Julia gets kicked out of the Kingston School for the Deaf for putting up an illegal mural, she is moved to a mainstream school in the suburbs where she starts putting up more art, but she soon finds that someone is showing off their skills by adding to her tags.

Wonder by R Palacio

Ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities and was not expected to survive, goes from being home-schooled to entering fifth grade at a private middle school in Manhattan, which entails enduring the taunting and fear of his classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another student

Unbroken : 13 stories starring disabled teens

An anthology of stories in various genres, featuring disabled characters and written by disabled creators, ranging from established best-selling authors to debut authors.

Loveboat reunion by Abigail Hing Wen

After their disastrous summer in Taipei, Sophie Ha and Xavier Yeh must come together once more to help each other pursue the futures they want.

All the right reasons by Bethany Mangle

As cast members of a reality dating show for single parent families Cara Hawn and her mother go to Key West where Cara meets Connor and now she must juggle her growing feelings while helping her mom pick a bachelor they both love.

The gentleman's guide to vice and virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Henry "Monty" Montague was bred to be a gentleman. His passions for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men, have earned the disapproval of his father. His quest for pleasures and vices have led to one last hedonistic hurrah as Monty, his best friend and crush Percy, and Monty's sister Felicity begin a Grand Tour of Europe. When a reckless decision turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt, it calls into question everything Monty knows,including his relationship with the boy he adores.

The summer of bitter and sweet by Jen Ferguson

"Lou has enough confusion in front of her this summer. She'll be working in her family's ice-cream shack with...her former best friend, King, who is back in their Canadian prairie town after disappearing three years ago...But when she gets a letter from her biological father...Lou immediately knows that she cannot meet him...While King's friendship makes Lou feel safer...when her family's business comes under threat, she soon realizes that she can't ignore her father forever"--

Love from A to Z by S Ali

Eighteen-year-old Muslims Adam and Zayneb meet in Doha, Qatar, during spring break and fall in love as both struggle to find a way to live their own truths.

Turtles all the way down by John Green

Aza Holmes, a high school student with obsessive-compulsive disorder, becomes focused on searching for a fugitive billionaire.

Sick kids in love by Hannah Moskowitz

When Isabel, who has rheumatoid arthritis, meets Sasha, a boy with a chronic illness, she considers breaking her no dating rule for him.

Cursed by Karol Ruth Silverstein

"Depicts young teen Ricky Bloom's struggles with her recent chronic illness diagnosis, which comes amid family upheaval and challenges at school."--Provided by publisher.

A taxonomy of love by Rachael Allen

From age thirteen to nineteen, Spencer experiences an ever-changing relationship with Hope, the girl next door who helps him cope with his Tourette syndrome, but likes his Neanderthal brother, Dean.

The edge of anything by Nora Carpenter

After a chance encounter, loner photographer Len and volleyball star Sage develop an unlikely friendship that enables them to begin facing their inner demons.

Darius the Great is not okay by Adib Khorram

Clinically-depressed Darius Kellner, a high school sophomore, travels to Iran to meet his grandparents, but it is their next-door neighbor, Sohrab, who changes his life.

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker

When teen witch Nova Huang discovers that her childhood crush, Tam Lang, is a werewolf, they team together to face dark forces who are eager to claim the magic of wolves.

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

In a near-future society that claims to have gotten rid of all monstrous people, a creature emerges from a painting seventeen-year-old Jam's mother created, a hunter from another world seeking a real-life monster.

Skyhunter by Marie Lu

Talin is a Striker, a member of an elite fighting force that stands as the last defense for Mara, the only free nation in the world, but when a mysterious prisoner is brought from the front to Mara's capital, Talin senses there is more to him than meets the eye.

Everything, everything by Nicola Yoon

"The story of a teenage girl who's literally allergic to the outside world. When a new family moves in next door, she begins a complicated romance that challenges everything she's ever known. The narrative unfolds via vignettes, diary entries, texts, charts, lists, illustrations, and more"--

How we roll by Natasha Friend

After developing alopecia Quinn lost her friends along with her hair and former football player Jake lost his legs and confidence after an accident, but the two help each other believe in themselves and the possibility of love.

The running dream by Wendelin Van Draanen

When a school bus accident leaves sixteen-year-old Jessica an amputee, she returns to school with a prosthetic limb and her track team finds a wonderful way to help rekindle her dream of running again.

Challenger deep by Neal Shusterman

"A teenage boy struggles with schizophrenia"--

Just breathe : you can't see the future yet, but It's there. just hang on by Cammie McGovern

Jamie is suffering from severe depression, and David manages to keep his cystic fibrosis under the radar, but when their paths cross during a hospital visit, the two develop a friendship over origami that soon begins to deepen.

Breathe and count back from ten by Natalia Sylvester

"Veraonica, a Peruvian-American teen with hip dysplasia, auditions to become a mermaid at a Central Florida theme park in the summer before her senior year, all while figuring out her first real boyfriend and how to feel safe in her own body"--

Happily ever afters by Elise (Elise M Bryant

Sixteen-year-old Tessa Johnson has never felt like the protagonist in her own life. She's rarely seen herself reflected in the pages of the romance novels she loves. The only place she's a true leading lady is in her own writing--in the swoony love stories she shares only with Caroline, her best friend and #1 devoted reader. When Tessa is accepted into the creative writing program of a prestigious art school, she's excited to finally let her stories shine. But when she goes to her first workshop, the words are just...gone. Fortunately, Caroline has a solution: Tessa just needs to find some inspiration in a real-life love story of her own. And she's ready with a list of romance novel-inspired steps to a happily ever after. Nico, the brooding artist who looks like he walked out of one of Tessa's stories, is cast as the perfect Prince Charming. But as Tessa checks each item off Caroline's list, she gets further and further away from herself. She risks losing everything she cares about--including the surprising bond she develops with sweet Sam, who lives across the street. She's well on her way to having her own real-life love story, but is it the one she wants, after all?

The many half-lived lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor

An autistic nonbinary eighteen-year-old moves to a new town and school with the support of their loving father and finds friends in an LGBTQ-plus club, but they all must come together to solve the decades-old murder of a teenage boy and confront the demons lurking in Sam's past.

One for all by Lillie Lainoff

In 1655 sixteen-year-old Tania is the daughter of a retired musketeer, but she is afflicted with extreme vertigo and subject to frequent falls; when her father is murdered she finds that he has arranged for her to attend Madame de Treville's newly formedAcadaemie des Mariaees in Paris, which, it turns out, is less a school for would-be wives, than a fencing academy for girls--and so Tania begins her training to be a new kind of musketeer, and to get revenge for her father.

The words in my hands by author Asphyxia (Novelist)

Near-future Australia is controlled by Organicore, a company that produces the "perfectly balanced" synthetic meals that have all but replaced wild food, but Piper McBride, sixteen, deaf, and cued white, begins to wonder if wild food is as dangerous as Organicore's propaganda says

Kat and Meg conquer the world by Anna Priemaza

When they are thrown together for a year-long science project, Kat, who has a social anxiety disorder, and Meg, who has ADHD, bond over their common obsession with a swoon-worthy online gaming star.

The love letters of Abelard and Lily by Laura Creedle

Lily, who has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Abelard, who has Asperger's, meet in detention and discover a mutual affinity for love letters--and, despite their differences, each other.

The bone houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones

"When risen corpses called 'bone houses' threaten Ryn's village because of a decades-old curse, she teams up with a mapmaker named Ellis to solve the mystery of the curse and destroy the bone houses forever"--

Recipient of the National Medal, the nation's highest honor for libraries.