Disability

It’s All or Nothing, Vale / Andrea Beatriz Arango

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It’s All or Nothing, Vale
By: Andrea Beatriz Arango
Genre: Middle Grade, Novel in Verse
Number of Pages: 272
Published: February 11, 2025
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Dates Read: March 16, 2025 - March 17, 2025
Format: Library Book / Hardcover

After months away from fencing after an accident, Valentina, Vale for short, is finally cleared to go back, but it’s much harder than before. Her body doesn’t move as it once did and some days’ pain is better than others, but what’s worse is the new girl, Myrka. Myrka is everything Vale once was and more. As Vale pushes herself to make up the lost ground, she realizes the injury isn’t the only thing holding her back. If she can’t get over her accident how will she ever move forward?

How do you explain pain to someone

when they can’t see it

when they can’t feel it

when a scale from one to ten feels useless

but metaphors and verbs like

stabbing

hammering

digging

scraping

feel like words I could shout til I run out of steam

but Papi and Mami and Manu

would never actually understand?

As someone who suffers from chronic migraines and who spent nearly five years trying to figure out what was causing them, I felt this passage above. Watching Val learn that her value does not equal what her body can and can’t do was something I needed when I was a lot younger. I started my migraine journey in my early-mid twenties and having to remind myself I wouldn’t always be able to do stuff was hard! I’m excited for younger children to see this story earlier in life so that they can have that already in their mind.

Overall, this is a great novel in verse – both for the younger generations as well as a small reminder for older generations that you may have injuries, or your body may not run like everyone else’s, but having to slow down, take your time with things, or modifying how to you do something is perfectly okay!

Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body / Rebekah Taussig

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Sitting Pretty
By: Rebekah Taussig
Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir
Number of Pages: 256
Published: August 25, 2020
Publisher: HarperOne
Dates Read: January 21, 2025 - January 26, 2025
Format: Hardcover / Library Book / Audiobook

Rebekah Taussig’s memoir-in-essay processes Taussig’s lifetime growing up as a paralyzed girl during the 90s and 2000s. As a kid, she only really saw disability as something monstrous, inspirational, or angelic – nothing that matched who she was. As she got older, she longed for more stories that show disability in everyday life.

In her memoir, Taussig reflects on everything from complicated kindness, living both independently and dependently, intimacy, and ableism. Sitting Pretty challenges the reader to look at how disability affects us all, directly and indirectly.

This is an excellent read that’s part memoir, part disability equality and justice manifesto. Taussig shines the light on what it means to be disabled and how that can change overtime (like when I fell down a flight of cement stairs with a trash bin on top of me and nearly broke my foot – I was on crutches for a while and my foot gets weird pain when turned in certain ways. It’s weird, but I wouldn’t call myself disabled) and throughout history (ex. If we didn’t have glasses, how many of us would technically be considered disabled?). 

Taussig is a native to the Kansas City area and I’m actually pretty curious about her take on a lot of our historical buildings around here. I’ve had this discussion with a patron of mine who is in a wheelchair and he has no access to specific buildings and due to the building being marked as “historical”, they won’t update their layout. He says it’s like yelling at a wall when talking to people about it.

Overall, I think a lot of abled bodied readers should pick this up so they can be challenged and maybe open their eyes up for a change in how they see disabled bodies. We as a society could be way more accommodating than we actually are.

Diet Soda Club / Chaz Hayden

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Diet Soda Club
By: Chaz Hayden
Genre: YA
Number of Pages: 320
Published: October 8, 2024
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Dates Read: November 3, 2024 - November 7, 2024
Format: Library Book / Hardcover

Trigger Warnings: Childhood sickness, parental abandonment, neglectful parents

Seventeen-year-old Reed Beckett’s little sister, Beatrice, has never woken up to an alarm for school, instead, for most of her ten years on Earth, it’s been hospital beeps and poking doctors. After their dad died when Bea was a baby, Reed stepped up and was there for his sister. But when their burned-out mom goes on an extended vacation with her new boyfriend, the siblings are only left with each other.

With no job prospects on the horizon, Reed begins making and selling fake IDs so he and his sister can survive. But the problems keep piling up: rent, medical bills, and food. As Reed expands his business and takes bigger risks, the consequences can get worse. But he’s making all the wrong choices, for all the right reasons, isn’t he?

I absolutely loved this book and the relationship between Reed and his sister, Bea. I’m also a big fan of characters who show resilience in the face of hardship and both of the Beckett siblings do that throughout the novel.

Two things that I would love to know more information on. One; I would love to know what software and printers Reed’s school is using to print those ID though, cause I did have a bit of a hard time believing he was printing legit looking ones (but I also wasn’t someone who ever had a fake ID, so who knows). Two; I never fully understood Bea’s schooling – it was mentioned here and there that she was homeschooled, or that Reed would give her his homework to redo (after he’s gotten a grade on it), but she wasn’t ever actively doing school. I’m sure when kids are fighting for their lives when they’re sick, they don’t have to worry about school, but I was just curious how that worked for her.

Another thing I really enjoyed about this book is the rekindling of Helena and Reed’s relationship and how they both addressed being friends once upon a time and what that looked like for them.

Overall, this is such an amazing book that I will be handing out as a recommendation left and right. It’s a contemporary YA about both caregiving and family – especially sibling – relationships.

*Thank you Candlewick Press and Edelweiss+ for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Deer Run Home / Ann Clare LeZotte

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Deer Run Home
By: Ann Clare LeZotte
Genre: Middle Grade / Novel in Verse
Number of Pages: 224
Published: October 1, 2024
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Dates Read: November 2, 2024
Format: Library Book / Hardcover

Trigger Warnings: Neglect, communication neglect, sexual abuse

Effie is Deaf and no one in her family can speak sign language – her own father communicates with her by stomping, pointing, and making thoughtless jokes. Even if they could understand each other, Effie doesn’t think she could share her biggest secret about what happened before moving in with him.

When Effie’s school interpreter, Miss Kathy, drops by the house with food during a surprise visit, she sees the poor conditions Effie and her sister Deja are living in (no food, dirty house, no clean clothes). Miss Kathy immediately asks for permission for Effie to live with her, and her father surprisedly agrees. Now, Miss Kathy is trying to figure out a more permanent solution.

I’ve picked up this novel because I’ve enjoyed Ann Clare LeZotte’s Show Me a Sign series and as an author who is Deaf, I know the experience of the d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing characters in the book will be more genuine. The story is actually based on a legal case back in the 90’s where an interpreter fought for custody of a student they worked with.

This novel in verse does an amazing job at putting everyday challenges of d/Deaf children into words – ranging from parents who refuse to learn ASL, to teachers not understanding the difference between English spoken grammar and ASL grammar (which is highly different!) and how to best accommodate d/Deaf students. 

Overall, this is a heartbreaking story, but with a beautiful ending. Even those who haven’t really read novels in verse before I think would enjoy this book because it gives even more insight to the d/Deaf culture with Effie’s experience.

Sugaring Off / Gillian French

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Sugaring Off
By: Gillian French, Caitlin Davies (narrator)
Genre: YA, Thriller
Number of Pages: 352
Published: November 1, 2022
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Dates Read: June 20, 2024 - June 23, 2024
Format: Library Book / Audiobook

Left partially deaf by an early childhood tragedy that ended with her father incarcerated, seventeen-year-old Owl lives with her aunt and uncle on their maple sugar farm. Owl and her aunt and uncle never speak of the attack that brought her to them, but Owl is perfectly content with hiking the steep forested acres surrounding their farm. After meeting a stranger trespassing among the maples, Owl’s sheltered life is blown wide open by Cody – the new farmhand hired to help with the sugaring off. 

Cody seems to see her, the real her, and the duo challenge each other. But, when Owl learns that Cody always seems to head towards self destruction, she must reevaluate their relationship at the same time her father is released from prison and requesting contact. When a motiveless murder draws attention to Cody, Owl realizes that Cody is in far more serious trouble than first realized – and he’s brought it up the mountain.

This book deals with a lot more than the description gives off truthfully (much like life), such as Owl trying to figure out how to best utilize both the help from her ASL tutor at school, and using ASL in general. The author also did an excellent job at showing how someone who is partially deaf might feel. Including how Deaf she is. Owl also deals with attempting to figure out how a new romance can teeter the balance of other relationships.

My only thing is – I wouldn’t really market this as a mystery. It can definitely be a thriller, but any “mystery” that was happening in the novel, I feel like readers were given enough information to piece everything together rather quickly.

I really enjoy Caitlin Davies as a narrator. I think she did an amazing job at the different voices and the pacing.

Overall, I loved being inside Owl’s head during this journey. I’ve got another book to add for my Rep: Deaf or Hard of Hearing character titles.

Give Me a Sign / Anna Sortino

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Give Me a Sign
By: Anna Sortino
Genre: YA, Romance
Number of Pages: 320
Published July 11, 2023
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Dates Read: July 8, 2023
Format: eBook / ARC

Lilah has always struggled with her identity; she has hearing loss but doesn’t feeling “deaf enough” to identify as Deaf, but she’s also not hearing enough to fit into the world’s expectations. But this summer, Lilah wants to change.

When she gets accepted to be a junior camp counselor at the Deaf and Blind Summer Camp she went to as a kid, she’s excited to brush up on her American Sign Language (ASL). Once there, she finds the community she’s been searching for, and then some. Like the two British lifeguards, an Interpreting Student YouTuber who’s just a little too desperate for views, the campers Lilah’s responsible for (including one who’s practically glues to Lilah’s leg), and the dreamy Deaf counselor helping Lilah with her signing.

Romance wasn’t ever on the agenda for the summer, especially since Lilah isn’t positive Isaac likes her the same way. Everything points to yes, but maybe Lilah is reading the signs wrong? 

I’m always curious to read books with Deaf or Hard of Hearing characters, especially written by authors within the Deaf Community. I’ve studied American Sign Language (I have a Minor in ASL), but I am nowhere near fluent, and unfortunately I don’t always have the ability to practice as much as I would like. There weren’t books with Deaf or Hard of Hearing characters as a main character while I was growing up, so I read them any chance I got.

This book gives a lot of insight to the Deaf Community and what it’s like for those with a range of hearing loss. Of course, cochlear implants were discussed for a variety of reasons, including someone from a Deaf family getting one (a lot within the community frown upon the procedure). There is also an incident with someone who is Deaf who has a confrontation with the police.

This book will be high up on my list for recommendations, especially those who enjoyed books like The Words in my Hands by Asphyxia, The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais, and True Bix by Sara Nović.

*Thank you G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Where You See Yourself / Claire Forrest

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Where You See Yourself
By: Claire Forrest
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Number of Pages: 320
Published: May 2, 2023
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Dates Read: April 30, 2023 - May 1, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

By the time Effie Galanos starts her senior year of high school, she’s been looking at colleges for what feels like forever; there’s a spreadsheet and everything. But she’s had to, because finding a college that’s not only the perfect fit, but also accessible enough for Effie to get around on her own in her wheelchair has created a lot more boxes to check off on her selection.

Effie hasn’t told anyone yet, but she already has her heart set on a school in New York City with a major in Mass Media & Society that would set her up on her dream dream. She’s never been to NYC, but she can picture herself on campus via the pictures she sees in the brochures. When she finds out her longtime crush, Wilder, is not only applying but getting accepted early admissions, she feels like it’s the best place.

But, everything isn’t always as simple as it seems, and the universe seems to have other plans. As Effie navigates through her senior year with college visits, senior class traditions, internal and external ableism, and a lot of firsts (and lasts), she learns that she needs to be open to the change being presented in front of her and that by doing so, dreams she never even knew were there could flourish.

The representation in this book is amazing and beautiful and I just loved it so much. Effie, who is a wheelchair user, is learning throughout this novel how to advocate for herself and which battles she wants to fight and what others she may have to either come back to, or leave alone. In the later part of the book, she sees other wheelchair users in relationships and she mentions how she’s always wondered how she would have ever do x,y, and z, but that the others that she sees are doing it and it gives her hope and reminds her to kind of reevaluate how she thinks of her capabilities.

The friendships in this story are so cute and adorable – even the romance between Effie and Wilder. It’s nothing super crazy, and not the main focus of the novel, but still cute nonetheless.

I will be highly encouraging quite a lot of people I know to read this book. It has great representation and deals with the scariness of being a senior in high school and trying to find out what and where you’ll be going the next year. I think a lot of people will feel seen while reading this book.

*Thank you Scholastic Press and Edelweiss+ for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review