Disability Awareness Middle Grade ReadsLike this list

45 items

• The Deadly Daylight

  An Alice England Mystery

  Harrier, Ash,

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  Twelve-year-old Alice England, who has muscular atrophy in her leg due to complications during birth that also killed her twin sister, lives alone with her father in a seaside town and helps tend her family's funeral home.

• The Lumbering Giants of Windy Pines

  Netz, Mo,

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  When Jerry’s mom disappears into the woods, it’s up to Jerry to find her. Jerry doesn’t let being in a wheelchair stop her from finding her mom. She rolls into the woods, following their car tracks.

• Invisible Isabel

  Pla, Sally J.

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  A quiet, anxious young girl finds her voice. Told in compelling free verse and peppered with black-and-white illustrations, this heartfelt and accessible tale showcases neurodivergence, specifically anxiety and autism.

• Red Bird Danced

  Quigley, Dawn

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• Shiny Misfits

  Zayid, Maysoon,

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  This humorous graphic novel, written by a comedian and disability advocate, focuses on Bay Ann and her desire to be noticed for her talent rather than her cerebral palsy.

• No Matter the Distance

  Baldwin, Cindy

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  Penny Rooney has cystic fibrosis, which means she has to do breathing treatments to help her lungs work. Some days, it seems like her CF is the only thing Penny knows about herself for sure. From her point of view, everyone around her can make sense…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Good Different

  Kuyatt, Meg Eden

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  Free verse poems explore middle school changes via the first-person viewpoint of an autistic 12-year-old. Selah Godfrey has always liked rules-oriented Pebblecreek Academy, where she knows exactly "what I'm/ supposed to do." But when she enters…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Farther Than the Moon

  Lackey, Lindsay

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  All his life, 13-year-old Houston has dreamed of becoming an astronaut. When he is selected for the prestigious Junior Astronaut Recruitment Program, he wants to include his younger brother, Robbie, who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, but camp…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Aniana Del Mar Jumps in

  Méndez, Jasminne

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  A novel-in-verse about a 12-year-old Dominican American girl who must keep her love of swimming a secret from her mother, is diagnosed with Juvenile Arthritis, and is forced to reimagine the person she is to become.

• Cut Loose!

  Stroker, Ali, 1987-

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  Cut Loose! follows Natalie into eighth grade at a new school and her second big production.

• Hear Me

  Cerra, Kerry O'Malley

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  This is the ultimately empowering story of Rayne, 12, who, as she loses her hearing, is made by her parents, without her consent, to get cochlear implants because they believe it will "fix her." Rayne, who's afraid the surgery won't work, is…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Frankie's World

  Dooley, Aoife

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  Frankie is different from everyone in her class, and she can't figure out why. She has trouble concentrating, and her classmates tease her for not having a dad at home. To try to make sense of the world, Frankie doodles her daily adventures in a…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Wildoak

  Harrington, C. C.,

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  Set in England in the 1960s, this is the story of Maggie, whose father threatens to send her away to a boarding school due to her stutter. When she goes to visit her grandfather at his rural home in Cornwall, she explores the woods and discovers an…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Hummingbird

  Lloyd, Natalie

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  Twelve-year-old Olive has been homeschooled since kindergarten because she has brittle bone disease. When she finally persuades her parents to allow her to attend traditional school, she can’t wait to make her first real friends and take part in…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Honestly Elliott

  McDunn, Gillian

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  Elliott is your typical kid dealing with his parents' divorce, his best friend moving away, a baby brother being born, not fitting in at his new school, nearly failing sixth grade--and on top of it all, Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorder.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Wonder

  Palacio, R. J.

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  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 taunts and fear of…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Ellen Outside the Lines

  Sass, A. J.

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  When Ellen Katz signed up for her Georgia private school's trip to Barcelona, she thought she would be spending time with her best friend, Laurel, the only person there who understands Ellen, who is autistic. But awkwardness with Laurel and an…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Many Mysteries of the Finkel Family

  Kapit, Sarah

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  Twelve-year-old Lara Finkel's determination to become as successful a detective as her literary heroine, Georgia Ketteridge, leads her to create her own agency, FIASCCO (Finkel Investigative Agency Solving Consequential Crimes Only). Lara isn't…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Ten Thousand Tries

  Makechnie, Amy,

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  Golden Maroni is an eighth grader who dreams of being a great soccer player like his idol, Lionel Messi. When his dad, who is also a soccer player and local hero, is diagnosed with ALS, Golden refuses to acknowledge his dad's mortality

• Marshmallow & Jordan

  Chau, Alina

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  This is an excellent graphic novel set in Indonesia about a basketball player named Jordan who had an accident that paralyzed her from the waist down. She meets an injured elephant (deity-in-training) who helps her find a new sport.