What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
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Books with Disabled Main Characters/Protagonists
El Deafo - Semiautobiographical graphic novel of Cece Bell, who is Deaf!Hawkeye, Volume 5: All-New Hawkeye - Hawkeye graphic novel - he is usually depicted as deaf, but some writers don't include it. This volume definitely does! Similarly, the Marvel character Daredevil is blind.
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key - Joey is ADHD - a very relatable character too!
Sal and Gabi Break the Universe - Main character Sal is diabetic!
Five Flavors of Dumb - Main character is deaf
Cinder - Main character uses prosthetics!
The Iron Trial - Main character has an injured leg that never healed correctly
Challenger Deep - Main character has schizophrenia
Words on Bathroom Walls - Main character has schizophrenia
Ascendance of a Bookworm: Volume 1 - After being reincarnated into another world and another body, the main character has an unspecified chronic illness that prevents her from doing a lot of work - including walks around town, or even a lot of walking around the house.
Erika, are you looking for children's, teen, or adult fiction?There are lots of good suggestions here....
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
“An unsuitable heir” by K.J Charles. It’s the third in a trilogy but the main character in this one is in the other 2 books as a supporting character. It’s a m/m romance.
disable army veteran who happens to be a wolf shifter Freakn' Out https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
The Warrior's Apprentice - Epic science fiction. Technically, it's the second in the series, but you can read it as a stand-alone or as the first one. The earlier one, Cordelia's Honor, is about the main character's parents and goes up to his birth.
Out of My Mind you might like, although it is not fantasyMockingbird I never finished, it is about a girl with autism
There is a sequel to Light a Single Candle: Gift of Gold.
Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold has two central characters one of whom is missing a hand.And her The Curse of Chalion, the main character was a galley slave and was nearly fatally whipped and has some serious debilitating health issues as a result. There's also another physical condition but it's a plot element that's better not spoiled.
Both are great fantasy reads with equally good sequels.
In the Company of Others by Julie E. Czerneda is scifi, the main character has an unknown and disfiguring condition that causes him pain and also makes him a danger to anyone he touches.
Dean Koontz - Fear Nothing (xxexoderma pigmentosa)Stephen R Donaldson - the Thomas Covenant Chronicles (leprosy)
Elizabeth Moon - Speed of Dark (autism)
Mark Haddon - The Curious Case of the Dog in the Nighttime (Asperger’s)
And possibly Dean Koontz - Innocence
Apple Is My Sign by Mary Riskind/Troy Howell (deafness) Apple Is My SignThe Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson (blood disorder, hearing loss) The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
Fish in a Tree (dyslexia)Rain Reign (autism)
Forever, or a Long, Long Time (I think a speech disorder)
Again, none of these are fantasy but you might like them!
My Brother Made Me Do It MC has Juvenile ArthritisMockingbird MC has Autism
Colin Fischer MC has Autism
House Rules MC has Autism
When My Heart Joins the Thousand MC has Autism and the other MC has Osteogenesis Imperfecta
The Unquiet MC has Bipolar Disorder
Out of My Mind MC has Cerebral Palsy
These three books have the same MC who has Cerebral Palsy
Stuck in Neutral
Cruise Control
Life Happens Next
Alex: The Life of a Child This book is written by her dad and tells of Alex's very short life with Cystic Fibrosis
Five Feet Apart MC and two of her friends in the hospital have Cystic Fibrosis
You're Welcome, Universe MC is deaf
Deaf Child Crossing One of the MC's is deaf
Nobody's Perfect One of the MC's is deaf
The Man Who Loved Clowns MC talks about his uncle who has Downs Syndrome
What If They Knew? MC has Epilepsy
One by Sarah Crossan One of the MC's has a Bad Heart
A Night Without Stars MC has a Bad Heart and meets a boy who is deformed from a fire
The Symptoms of My Insanity MC is a Hypochondriac
Because You'll Never Meet Me One of the MC's is allergic to Electricity and the other MC has a Bad Heart
The Voice in My Head MC's twin is Terminally Ill
The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving MC takes care of a boy who has Muscular Dystrophy
Two Girls Staring at the Ceiling MC has Crohn's Disease
Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You MC has a Learning Disability
Girls Like Us MC has a Learning Disability
Flowers for Algernon MC has Mental Retardation
Of Mice and Men One MC has Mental Retardation
What's Eating Gilbert Grape MC's brother has Mental Retardation
Tru Confessions MC's twin has Mental Retardation
So B. It MC's mom has Mental Retardation
The Dollhouse Murders MC's sister has Mental Retardation
Deenie MC has Scoliosis
Roll with It MC uses a Wheelchair
Holding Up the Universe MC has Prosopagnosia
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden MC has Schizophrenia
A World Without You MC has Schizophrenia
Freaks Like Us MC has Schizophrenia
Breathless MC's brother has Schizophrenia
Total Constant Order MC has OCD
Not As Crazy As I Seem MC has OCD
Kissing Doorknobs MC has OCD
Every Last Word MC has OCD
Multiple Choice MC has OCD
The Goldfish Boy MC has OCD
Dirty Little Secrets MC's mom is a Hoarder
If you can find it, there's The Gray House by Mariam Petrosyan, which is set in a home for disabled children. It's basically a fantasy and I wouldn't call it too dark, only gorgeously surreal.The protagonist (I'm hiding this because the book doesn't spell out his precise disability until very long in and works around it perfectly) (view spoiler), the leader of the gang is blind, his sidekick is in a wheelchair, and so on.
I only read the original Russian so have no idea how good or findable is the translation.
I just read a very good one, I Have No Secrets! It’s about a 16-year old girl named Jemma and she has severe CP (Cerebral Palsy), and cannot communicate. But, she knows who the murderer is (because he told her). That’s all I can really say without a spoiler. I absolutely loved it though!
Another one I enjoyed was Out of My Mind. It’s also about a girl with severe CP. She is very intelligent, however, and has photographic memory. That’s also all I can say without spoilers.
I have read others but I cannot think of any right now...
Out of my mindCounting by sevens
The thing about jellyfish
Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but the MC of 'Love and First Sight' by Josh Sundquist is blind. The author himself is an amputee so he may have other books that fit this category, but this is the only one I have read.
"Izzy, Wlly-Nilly" is YA. A girl being driven back from a party by a drunken school-mate, is involved in a car accident and has to have her leg amputated. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo is one that gets overlooked on lists like this. Love the book and its sequel, Crooked Kingdom!
A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer is a fantasy beauty and the beast retelling and the heroine has cerebral palsy
*following
Mind Blind by Jennifer Roy. -AutisticThe baking life of Amelie Day by Vanessa Curtis -Cystic Fibrosis
M is for Autism by The Students of Limpsfield Grange School -Autistic
Me who dove to the heart of the world by Sabina Berman - Autistic
Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer -AutisticThe Half-Life of planets by Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin -Autistic
Marcelo in the Real world by Fransisco X. Stork -PDD-NOS
And my favorite,The Nikki Kill series by Jennifer Brown, Nikki, the MC, has synesthesia.
Braced by Alison Gerber -ScoliosisFocused by Alison Gerber -ADHD
And obviously! Percy Jackson! Who is Dyslexic
Tornado Brain by Cat Patrick. Frankie is neurodivergent.
Between a rock and a hard place by Alden R Carter -Diabetic
Characters with Prosopagnosiaace blind: A Mystery - Lance Hawvermale
When I find you - Emma Curtis
You don't look like anyone I know- Heather Sellers
Faces- Diane Winger
The Date- Louise Jensen
Dead Blind - Rebecca Bradley
Head Case-Ross Armstrong
Face Blind - Raymond Benson
The Blue- Scott Kelly
Shutter Man- Richard Montanari
Unseen- Jana Deleon
Everywhere to hide- Siri Mitchell
A crack in the Sea - HM Bouwman
Bone Gap- Laura Ruby
Anything but typical By Nora Raleigh Baskin-AUTISTIC
The Absolute Value of Mike- Mike ahs a math learning disability.
Get a Life, Chloe Brown - Chloe has fibromyalgia (The author, Talia Hibbert also has fibromyalgia.)Only When It's Us and Always Only You both have disabled protagonists.
historical: Never Seduce a Scot, Gallant Waif, Romancing the Duke
contemporary:
The Kiss Quotient, The Year We Fell Down, Furious and Devastated, Only When It's Us and Always Only You
Push Girl by Jessica Love! Based on a true story.
I have a few, not sure if you already read them. Blackbird by Lisa Shelby: hero is a war veteran who became deaf after an injury.
Building Bridges by Lia Fairchild: hero is a war veteran who misses a leg after an injury.
Silent Defender by Nikki Worrell: hero is an athlete who became deaf at a very young age due to the flu/fever complications.
Beyond Love by C.J. Pinard: hero (I think a war veteran) misses a leg after an injury.
Feed by Mira Grant has a character with a disability that affects her eyesight. Zombie novel. Lila and Hadley by Kody Keplinger Middle grade book, Lila is losing her vision and trying to adapt with a lot of things going on in her life.
St. Nacho's by Z.A. Maxfield romance, the main love interest is deaf.
Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant There is a deaf character and a wheelchair user. Horror novel.
Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John deaf character, YA and about a band.
Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall about a character with agoraphobia, which google was on the fence if it could/should be categorized as a disability since it's more in the neurodivergent realm, but it definitely limits her life and options.
What's the Name of That Book???
Books mentioned in this topic
Don't Touch (other topics)Confessions of an Alleged Good Girl (other topics)
Four Weeks, Five People (other topics)
OCDaniel (other topics)
One Carefree Day (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Michael Cisco (other topics)Harriet May Savitz (other topics)
Mira Grant (other topics)
Kody Keplinger (other topics)
Z.A. Maxfield (other topics)
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I'm not too picky since I know finding books where someone with a disability isn't simply filling the 'best friend' role, or is otherwise a secondary character can be difficult to begin with. The character's disability can be anything, blindness, deafness, amputee, ataxia etc. Literally ANYTHING! Don't be afraid to suggest stories that feature neurodivergent characters either.
I do want to reiterate that my one real requirement is that the character(s) with the disability MUST be the main character/protagonists. Not a secondary character.
As a small note, while you guys are free it suggest books from any genre, I'd especially love it if anyone has suggestions for fantasy type novels that fit these requirements!
Thank you.