Hello! Your blog is so lovely! I wanted to ask you if you have any recommendation on books featuring characters in a wheelchair and/or with some serious physical impairment. It's important for me because I'm in a wheelchair myself and I never find characters I can actually relate to... Thank you!
Thank you!
Good disabled representation is so important, and I wish I had even one recommendation to give you, but sadly I’ve only read one book featuring a character in a wheelchair (Angelfall by Susan Ee) and even though I enjoyed it, the one thing I really disliked about the book was Ee’s poor treatment of her physically and mentally disabled characters.
One book coming out soon featuring a character with a serious physical impairment (which actually handles disability well) is Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge. It’s a high fantasy retelling of Little Red Riding Hood and (genderbent) The Girl Without Hands, featuring a main character - and love interest! - with no hands.
I also recommend Far From You by Tess Sharpe - the protagonist is physically disabled after an accident which leaves her with a shattered leg and spinal problems, and although the story focuses more on her sexuality and her rehabilitation after a long period of substance abuse, I still thought it was a really good representation of a disabled character - Sophie isn’t defined by her disability, but Sharpe doesn’t dismiss her disability, either.
Another book that comes to mind is She Is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick. It’s a contemporary thriller about a blind girl searching for her father - I know it’s not what you’re looking for, but Sedgwick has some really powerful passages on the way our society treats people with disabilities, and the way disabilites are portrayed in our media.
If you haven’t already, I really recommend checking out disabilityinkidlit. It’s run by a group of authors who identify as disabled, and they’re really passionate about the representation of disability in MG and YA lit. I’m sure if you sent them an ask they’d be able to give you more (and better!) recommendations than me! :)
