By Tori R., Collection Development Librarian
Roughly 29% of American adults – including 1 in 4 Hoosiers! – have some type of disability. In 1987, President Reagan declared March as National Disabilities Awareness Month. Nationally, this has become a time to celebrate people with developmental disabilities. In Indiana, the Indiana Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities continues to use March to provide understanding and encouragement for all people with disabilities.
But how can the 3 in 4 Hoosiers who don’t live with a disability connect with these members of our community? The Indiana Disability Rights agency suggests, amongst other things, “Reading a book or listening to a podcast created by someone with a disability.” Storytelling and making space to hear other people’s stories are powerful ways of building bridges across different experiences! Beloved children’s author Malorie Blackwell, who herself lives with the condition sickle cell disorder, says that:
“Stories are so important in engendering empathy in people, they give you a chance to walk in someone else’s shoes for a while and see life through someone else’s eyes.”
Hamilton East Public Library celebrates the 1 in 4 Hoosiers who have a disability, and encourages all patrons to engage in stories that push the boundaries of their understanding. We’ve provided some titles below to get you started on your journey.
Schneider Family Book Awards
Schneider Family Book Awards are an annual honor to an author or illustrator for the artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences. HEPL features special shelves in the Children’s and Teen areas to highlight award-winning titles, including Schneider Family Book Awards.
Youth
A Little Like Magic, written and illustrated by Sarah Kurpiel (winner)
Ice festivals welcome guests to explore the beauty of sculptures, but the narrator is unsure. She nervously navigates this new setting in her wheelchair. After leaving, she discovers that she lost her horse figurine somewhere in the crowd. She returns to search and discovers magic emerging from the cold.
Monster Hands, written by Karen Kane and Jonaz McMillan, illustrated by Dion MBD (honor)
Two best friends use rhyming ASL to help vanquish their fear of the monster under the bed in this fun, interactive bedtime readaloud.
You’re So Amazing!, written by James and Lucy Catchpole, illustrated by Karen George (honor)
Joe, a boy with a limb difference, can’t win. When playing with his friends, adults constantly tell him he’s SO amazing, even for ordinary things. When he tries to let his friend take center stage, the refrain changes to “Poor Joe!” Joe just wants to be Joe—sometimes amazing, always normal, and everything in between.
Middle School
Popcorn, written and illustrated by Rob Harrell (winner)
It’s picture day. Through a humorously illustrated depiction of the day, Andrew journeys through the catastrophic ups and downs of middle school, while navigating his anxiety and OCD. His anxiety builds, erupts and eventually subsides with the help of his teachers and friends.
Louder Than Hunger written by John Schu (honor)
Revered teacher, librarian, and story ambassador John Schu explores anorexia—and self-expression as an act of survival—in a wrenching and transformative novel-in-verse.
Shark Teeth written by Sherri Winston (honor)
From National Book Award longlisted author Sherri Winston comes an important middle grade novel about a girl’s tumultuous journey to keep her family together, even when she’s falling apart.
High School
Chronically Dolores, written by Maya Van Wagenen (winner)
A diagnosis of interstitial cystitis and an embarrassing bathroom incident leaves Dolores with a cruel nickname and no friends. To regain her social status, she hatches a plan with the sheltered Terpsichore to fake a friendship. When it all goes awry, Dolores must confront what it really means to be a good friend.
Light Enough to Float, written by Lauren Seal (honor)
Evie has just barely acknowledged that she has an eating disorder when she’s admitted to an inpatient treatment facility. Now her days are filled with calorie loading, therapy sessions, and longing—for home, for control, and for the time before her troubles began. As the winter of her treatment goes on, she gradually begins to face her fears and to love herself again, with the help of caregivers and of peers who are fighting their own disordered-eating battles.
On the Bright Side, written by Anna Sortino (honor)
Ellie’s Deaf boarding school just shut down, forcing her to leave the place she considered home and return to her hearing family. But being mainstreamed into public school isn’t exactly easy. So her guidance counselor pairs her with Jackson, a student who’s supposed to help her adjust. Can the boy who tries to say the right things, and gets it all wrong, be the lifeline Ellie needs?
Adult
Disability visibility : first-person stories from the twenty-first century, edited by Alice Wong
A groundbreaking collection of first-person writing on the joys and challenges of the modern disability experience: Disability Visibility brings together the voices of activists, authors, lawyers, politicians, artists, and everyday people whose daily lives are, in the words of playwright Neil Marcus, “an art . . . an ingenious way to live.”
Sitting pretty : the view from my ordinary resilient disabled body by Rebekah Taussig
A collection of essays based on a lifetime of experiences in a paralyzed body, tackling themes of identity, accessibility, bodies, and representation.
A story of fighting to belong in a world that wasn’t built for all of us and of one woman’s activism–from the streets of Brooklyn and San Francisco to inside the halls of Washington–[this book] recounts Judy Heumann’s lifelong battle to achieve respect, acceptance, and inclusion in society.
Get a life, Chloe Brown : a novel by Talia Hibbert
Chloe Brown is a chronically ill, plus-size computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. A witty, hilarious diverse romantic comedy about a woman who’s tired of being “boring” and recruits her mysterious, sexy neighbor to help her experience new things.
Cassandra in reverse by Holly Smale
Cassandra Penelope Dankworth is a creature of habit. She likes what she likes (museums, jumpsuits, her boyfriend, Will) and strongly dislikes what she doesn’t (mess, change, her boss drinking out of her mug). Her life runs in a pleasing, predictable order — until now. She’s just been dumped. She’s just been fired. Her local café has run out of banana muffins. Then, something truly unexpected happens: Cassie discovers she can go back and change the past. Now, Cassie should be able to find a way to fix the life she accidentally obliterated. And with time on her side, how hard can it be?
Disability Awareness Month Events at HEPL
Notes on Blindness : A Virtual Reality Experience: For teens & adults
Tuesday, March 17 | 5:30pm – 6:15pm | Noblesville Library
Tuesday, March 17 | 6:30pm – 7:15pm | Noblesville Library
Autism 101 : A Disability Awareness Month Event: For adults
Thursday, March 19 | 6:30pm – 7:30pm | Fishers Library
Disabilities Awareness Exhibit
March 1-28 | Ignite Studio
Additional Hamilton County Events
Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month in Hamilton County, Indiana
Fishers March Disability Awareness Month Kick-Off
Monday, March 2 | 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM | 3 Municipal Dr., Fishers, IN 46038
Hamilton County Disability Resource Fair
Wednesday, March 4 | 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM | Noblesville High School
Additional Local Resources for Disability Awareness and Assistance
Noblesville Advisory Council on Disabilities