685 words
5 minute read
6. The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle
Genre: Fiction
Disability Representation: Yes
Rating: 4 Wheels
Age Range: 18+
Excerpt of Goodreads Summary: A young widow raising two boys, Sarah Laden is struggling to keep her family together. But when a shocking revelation rips apart the family of her closest friend, Sarah finds herself welcoming yet another troubled young boy into her already tumultuous life...
What I Thought: Full disclosure: This is a book I reread once a year, and I have, since I first discovered it back around 2007. And honestly? I get more and more out of it every single time I read it. Very heavy subject matter. The disability representation here focuses on the effects of longterm child abuse and neglect. Things like trauma and dissociation.
7. Room by Emma Donaghue
Genre: Fiction
Disability Representation: Yes
Rating: 4 Wheels
Age Range: 18+
Excerpt from Goodreads Summary: To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits...
What I Thought: This is another book that I find myself returning to annually. Jack's perspective is so rich and real. And though the book stays with him throughout, we do get a sense that he has a very unique take on what's happening to him and his ma. Because, to him, it's normal. He does not know another life.
This is another book where the disability representation is more focused on invisible disabilities: trauma, depression, anxiety, etc.
8. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
Genre: Nonfiction
Disability Representation: Yes
Rating: 3 Wheels
Age Range: 18+
Excerpt from Goodreads Summary: As the United States celebrates the nation's "triumph over race" with the election of Barack Obama, the majority of young black men in major American cities are locked behind bars or have been labeled felons for life. Although Jim Crow laws have been wiped off the books, an astounding percentage of the African American community remains trapped in a subordinate status--much like their grandparents before them.
What I Thought: Educational and a necessary read, particularly for white people, like myself. I won't lie. This book took us 2.5 years to finish. It's dense and textbook-like. But Tara and I knew it was important. We knew we had to educate ourselves.
Disability representation here is focused again on mental health: depression, schizophrenia, etc.
9. What Happened by Hilary Rodham Clinton
Genre: Nonfiction
Disability Representation: No
Rating: 1 Wheel
Age Range: 18+
Excerpt from Goodreads Summary: “In the past, for reasons I try to explain, I’ve often felt I had to be careful in public, like I was up on a wire without a net. Now I’m letting my guard down.” —Hillary Rodham Clinton, from the introduction of What Happened
What I Thought: Not my favorite read. Not a book I'd read again. While I'm glad I read it for historical reasons, the only details I recall enjoying months after the fact? When Hilary detailed the food she ate. (Seriously. If the whole book had been that? I'd have been hooked.)
10. Mind Platter by Najwa Zebian
Genre: Poetry
Disability Representation: No
Rating: 1 Wheel
Age Range: 18+
Excerpt from Goodreads Summary:
To the heart in you, don’t be afraid to feel.
To the sun in you, don’t be afraid to shine.
To the love in you, don’t be afraid to heal.
To the ocean in you, don’t be afraid to rage.
To the silence in you, don’t be afraid to break.
What I Thought: I found this author by happening upon a post of hers about surviving trauma. Her thoughts were compelling enough that I went searching for her book. While I found it helpful and enjoyable at first, eventually it was hard to stay open when reading this book.
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