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Diverse Reads for All Ages Celebrating Disability Pride Month July 2026 |
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Disability Insurance Workshop
Saturday, July 11, 1:00-3:00PM
205 E. Olive St. Bloomington, IL 61701
At this free workshop presented by Chestnut Health Systems, participants will learn how to navigate the application processes for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Attendees will learn the differences between these two programs, what qualifies as a disability, and learn tips that may increase the likelihood of application approval. This program is intended for adults who are interested in applying for SSI/SSDI for themselves or an adult family member. A free disability starter kit will be provided to each attendee. Registration for this program is required and can be completed at bit.ly/disabilityins0711. Questions about this program can be emailed to Marcie at reference@bloomingtonlibrary.org.
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Wanda Hears the Stars: A Blind Astronomer Listens to the Universe by Amy S. HansenGrowing up in Puerto Rico, Wanda Dâiaz Merced wanted to study the stars. But when she lost her sight, she had to find a new way to work. Through the use of sonification, which turns data into sound, she was able to make a path for herself and other scientists with disabilities.
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A Day with No Words
by Tiffany Hammond
The #1 New York Times bestselling picture book by Tiffany Hammond, the creator of the popular Fidgets and Fries platform, invites readers into the life of an Autistic family who communicate without spoken language.
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Hummingbird
by Natalie Lloyd
When twelve-year-old Olive, who suffers from brittle bone disease and has been homeschooled all her life, finally attends school in person she soon discovers fitting in is not that easy, but if she can find the magical wish-granting hummingbird that supposedly lives nearby, and prove herself worthy, maybe her deepest wish will be granted.
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Aniana del Mar Jumps in by Jasminne MendezAniana del Mar belongs in the water like a dolphin belongs to the sea. But she and Papi keep her swim practices and meets hidden from Mami, who has never recovered from losing someone she loves to the water years ago. That is, until the day Ani's stiffness and swollen joints mean she can no longer get out of bed, and Ani is forced to reveal just how important swimming is to her. Mami forbids her from returning to the water but Ani and her doctor believe that swimming along with medication will help Ani manage her disease. What follows is the journey of a girl who must grieve who she once was in order to rise like the tide and become the young woman she is meant to be. Aniana Del Mar Jumps In is a poignant story about chronic illness and disability, the secrets between mothers and daughters, the harm we do to the ones we love the most--and all the triumphs, big and small, that keep us afloat.
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Mixed-Up by Kami GarciaNew York Times bestselling author Kami Garcia has returned with a middle grade graphic novel about the struggles of a game-loving girl who gets diagnosed with dyslexia and her loving support network that help her along in the journey. Stella knows fifth grade will be the best year ever. Her closest friends, Emiko and Latasha, are in her class and they all got the teacher they wanted. Then their favorite television show, Witchlins, announces a new guidebook and an online game but when the classwork starts piling up, Stella struggles to stay on top. Why does it take her so long to read? And how can she keep up with friends in the Witchlins game if she can't get through the text-heavy guidebook? It takes loving teachers and her family to recognize that Stella has a learning difference, and after a dyslexia diagnosis she gets the support and tools she needs to succeed. Mixed-Up has been lettered in Dyslexie to make reading as comfortable as possible for dyslexic readers.
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Chronically Dolores by Maya Van WagenenDolores Mendoza is not thriving. She was recently diagnosed with a chronic bladder condition called interstitial cystitis. The painful disease isn't life threatening, but it is threatening to ruin her life. Just when things seem hopeless, Dolores meets someone poised to change her fate. Terpsichore Berkenbosch-Jones is glamorous, autistic, and homeschooled against her will by her overprotective mother. After a rocky start, the girls form a tentative partnership. Beautiful, talented Terpsichore will help Dolores win back her ex-best friend, Shae. And Dolores will convince Terpsichore's mom that her daughter has the social skills to survive public school. It seems like a foolproof plan, but Dolores isn t always a reliable narrator, and her choices may put her in danger of committing an unforgivable betrayal.
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The Calculation of You and Me
by Serena Kaylor
Marlowe Meadows understands a lot of things. She understands that calculus isn't overwhelmingly beautiful to everyone and that it typically kills the mood when you try to talk Python coding over beer pong. She understands that people were surprised when golden boy Josh asked her out and she went from weird math-obsessed Marlowe to half of their school's couple goals. Unfortunately, Marlowe was the one surprised when Josh dumped her because he'd prefer a girlfriend who's more romantic. One with emotional depth. But Marlowe has never failed anything in her life, and she isn't about to start now. When she's paired with Ashton Hayes for an English project, his black clothing and moody eyeliner cause a bit of a systems overload, and the dissonant sounds of his rock band make her brain itch. But when she discovers Ash's hidden stash of love songs, Marlowe makes a desperate deal to unleash her inner romantic heroine: if Ash will agree to help her write some love letters to win back Josh, she'll calculate the perfect data-analytics formula to make Ash's band go viral. As the semester heats up with yearning love notes, a syllabus of romance novels, and late nights spent with a boy who escapes any box her brain tries to put him in, Marlowe starts to question if there's really a set solution to love. Could a girl who's never met a problem she can't solve have gotten the math so massively wrong?
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All the Noise at Once
by Deandra Davis
Winner of the William C. Morris Debut YA Book Award Three starred reviews A Black, autistic teen tries to figure out what happened the night his older brother was unjustly arrested in this propulsive (Jas Hammonds, award-winning author of We Deserve Monuments), moving story about brotherhood, identity, and social justice. All Aiden has ever wanted to do was play football just like his star quarterback brother, Brandon. An overstimulation meltdown gets in the way of Aiden making the team during summer tryouts, but when the school year starts and a spot unexpectedly needs to be filled, he finally gets a chance to play the game he loves. However, not every player is happy about the new addition to the team, wary of how Aiden's autism will present itself on game day. Tensions rise. A fight breaks out. Cops are called. Brandon interferes on behalf of his brother, but is arrested by the very same cops who, just hours earlier, were chanting his name from the bleachers. When he's wrongly charged for felony assault on an officer, everything Brandon has worked for starts to slip away, and the brothers' relationship is tested. As Brandon's trial inches closer, Aiden is desperate to figure out what really happened that night. Can he clear his brother's name in time?
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Whale Eyes: A Memoir about Seeing and Being Seen
by James Robinson
From Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker James Robinson comes [an] ... illustrated memoir for middle-grade readers (and adults, too), inspired by the viral, Emmy-nominated short film Whale Eyes. Told through an experimental mix of intimate anecdotes and interactive visuals, this book immerses readers in James's point of view, allowing them to see the world through his disabling eye conditions. Readers will get lost as they chase words. They'll stare into this book while taking a vision test. They'll hold it upside down as they practice 'pretend-reading'--and they'll follow an unlikely trail toward discovering the power of words--
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Stars in Their Eyes: A Graphic Novel by Jessica WaltonMaisie is on her way to her first fancon and she can't wait to meet her idol, an action star who had an above-the-knee amputation, just like Maisie. But then she meets Ollie. Ollie is a cute volunteer working the show, and they geek out about nerd culture, just as much as Maisie does. After spending the day together, Maisie notices feelings for Ollie that she's never had before. Could Ollie feel the same way?
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I Identify as Blind: A Brazen Celebration of Disability Culture, Identity, and Power by LachiWith style and straight talk, musician and changemaker Lachi flips disability and neurodivergence into an empowering identity, a cultural movement, and an innovation engine. Lachi is an award-winning singer and leader who awakens the world to this truth: Disability has long shaped our culture and is an identity worth brazenly reclaiming. In this book, Lachi reveals why dropping the stigma is the ultimate glow-up, and inspires readers to celebrate the boldest parts of themselves. Through magnetic storytelling and pop-culture deep dives, Lachi challenges mainstream views on disability and neurodivergence with humor and heart. The book features trailblazing figures like Senator Tammy Duckworth, Breaking Bad star RJ Mitte, Microsoft executive Jenny Lay-Flurrie, and so many more. Lachi even takes readers behind the scenes at Coldplay concerts, since after Chris Martin developed tinnitus, he transformed his concerts into some of the most accessible in the world. Each story reframes disability not as a deficit but as a wellspring of collective strength.
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Out on a limb : a novel by Hannah Bonam-YoungWinnifred "Win" McNulty has always been wildly independent and not one to be coddled for her limb difference. Win has spent most of her life trying to prove that she can do it all on her own. With some minor adjustments, she's done just fine. Then a one-night stand at a costume party with the incredibly charming Bo changes everything. Win finds herself pregnant--and decides to keep it. While Bo is surprisingly elated to step up to the plate, Win is unsure of whether she can handle this new challenge. Together, Win and Bo decide to get to know one another as friends and nothing more while they embark on this parenting journey together. But, as they both should know by now, life rarely goes according to plan"
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Mother Tongue: A Memoir by Sara NovicSara Novic's early years were steeped in music, Bible study, and a strong desire to fit in. But when she failed her school's mandated hearing test, her worldview was thrown into chaos. Desperate not to be marked as different, she told no one, staying in the hearing world for as long as she could by brute force. Eventually unable to ignore the fact that she was deaf, Novic sought out other deaf people and was welcomed into a tight knit community rooted in the beauty and joy of American Sign Language. Novic realized that rather than maintaining the facade of her old life or trying to straddle two worlds, she would need to cultivate an existence in the space between. Now the mother of two young sons--one, biological and hearing, the other, adopted and deaf--Novic reflects on her life both before and after parenthood. She's raising her children within the deaf world, offering them things her younger self needed, all the while knowing that as her children grow, their own paths will branch off from hers in ways she cannot fully predict or plan for.
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Unfit Parent: A Disabled Mother Challenges an Inaccessible World by Jessica SliceIn Unfit Parent, Slice debunks the exclusionary myths that deem disabled people unfit to care for their children, instead showing how disabled parents and disability culture provide valuable lessons for rejecting societal rules that encourage perfectionism and lead to isolation. Combining her personal experiences with interviews, research-backed evidence, and disability studies, Slice shares insight into what the landscape is like for disabled parents--one that is scattered with unpredictable obstacles and inaccessible barriers, including: How do you find adaptive baby equipment? How do two disabled parents creatively keep their children safe? How do you get reproductive care when the medical system assumes you aren't able to have kids? What is it like to be in public knowing that someone might call child protective services simply because a parent is disabled? In overcoming these challenges, she describes how disabled parents are oftentimes more prepared to adapt to the demanding nature of parenthood, including the uncertainty of losing control over bodily autonomy. Uplifting and powerful, Unfit Parent illuminates how disabled bodies and minds give us the hopeful perspectives and solutions we need for transforming a societal system that has left parents exhausted, stuck, and alone.
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My Name Means Fire: A Memoir by Atash YaghmaianWhen she was a child, Atash Yaghmaian's home life was unpredictable: a confusing mix of love and terror. Outside of her home, Iran was also on fire. Her reality of abuse, war, gender oppression, and religious superstition left her feeling unsafe everywhere. So, she left reality and disassociated into a place she called the House of Stone: a building in a magical forest full of peaceful creatures, kind talking trees, and volcanoes. Inhabiting this world are 9 beings, each different parts of Atash, who would be her salvation from the external horrors of her outer world. Set against the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini's regime, and the 8-year Iran-Iraq War, My Name Means Fire is Atash's story of survival as she experiences tragic events including sexual abuse, a mother who subjected her to superstitious rituals, and the horrors of war. In chapters alternating with what's happening in her outside world, her other parts--each named after a color--tell the story of her inner world, giving readers an understanding of what it's like to be inside the consciousness of someone who is multiple. Honest, powerful, and moving, My Name Means Fire is a bold narrative that challenges the stigma and misinformation around dissociative identity disorder (DID) and ultimately reckons with what it takes to survive.
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