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Disability Pride Month is celebrated in July to commemorate the passing of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in July 1990. In response to discrimination and negative views on disability, Disability Pride is a movement that seeks to celebrate people with disabilities for who they are, as they are. Celebrate and elevate people with disabilities through reading!

 

KIDS

 

Bodies Are Cool by Tyler Feder

This picture book is a pure celebration of all the different human bodies that exist in the world. Highlighting the various skin tones, body shapes, and hair types is just the beginning in this truly inclusive book. With its joyful illustrations and encouraging refrain, it will instill body acceptance and confidence in the youngest of readers. 

 

Just Ask! by Sonia Sotomayor

In this creative non-fiction story, Sonia and her friends plant a garden, and each one contributes in his or her own special way, in a book that celebrates the many differences among humans. This warm and inclusive story by the U.S. Supreme Court Justice was inspired by her own childhood diagnosis of diabetes.

 

TEENS

 

Disability Visibility: Adapted for Young Adults edited by Alice Wong

The 17 eye-opening essays, all written by disabled people, offer keen insight into the complex and rich disability experience, examining life’s ableism and inequality, its challenges and losses, and celebrating its wisdom, passion, and joy. The accounts in this collection ask readers to think about disabled people not as individuals who need to be “fixed,” but as members of a community with its own history, culture, and movements. 

 

Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens edited by Marieke Nijkamp

This anthology explores disability in fictional tales told from the viewpoint of disabled characters, written by disabled creators. With stories in various genres about first loves, friendship, war, travel, and more, Unbroken offers today’s teen readers a glimpse into the lives of disabled people in the past, present, and future.

 

ADULTS

 

Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law by Haben Girma

This is the incredible life story of Haben Girma, the first deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, and her amazing journey from isolation to the world stage. Haben defines disability as an opportunity for innovation. She learned nonvisual techniques for everything from dancing salsa to handling an electric saw. She developed a text-to-braille communication system that created an exciting new way to connect with people. Haben pioneered her way through obstacles, graduated from Harvard Law School, and now uses her talents to advocate for people with disabilities. 

 

A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell

In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: “She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her.” The target in their sights was Virginia Hall, a Baltimore socialite who talked her way into Special Operations Executive, the spy organization dubbed Winston Churchill’s “Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.” She became the first Allied woman deployed behind enemy lines and–despite her prosthetic leg–helped to light the flame of the French Resistance, revolutionizing secret warfare as we know it.

 

Jen Pace Dickenson is the Youth Services Librarian for Polk County Public Libraries. For information about the library’s resources, programs, and other services, visit polklibrary.org or call (828) 894-8721.