When I was a young child, I lived in stories. However, as I got older, I lost my connection to writing and imagining. It was through a late-identified diagnosis of autism that I was able to reconnect with my creativity. Now, through my work as a children’s publishing specialist and volunteer at children’s book festivals, I am a champion of kids being able to see themselves in the stories that are published and promoted. I believe that young readers can develop a love of reading and a kindness for others through books that show the diversity of humanity.
Maya lives and breathes musicals. When her chance to finally be a part of the summer musical program at the community theater comes up, Maya is convinced she will get the lead. After all, who knows The Drowsy Chaperone better than she does?
However, things don’t turn out exactly the way Maya planned, and the summer turns out to be jam-packed with problems: dealing with her best friend’s move, her parents’ busy jobs, and—since her autism diagnosis—the ongoing puzzle of how to be Maya in Public. But perhaps most important of all, Maya has to figure out how to play the part that truly feels like her own.
Tiffany Hammond has created a poetic and authentic window into the world of she and her family. I’ve never read anything else like this: from the way the words flow on each page to the gorgeous illustrations by Kate Cosgrove, I was blown away by this book.
With so many external, negative perspectives on the nonverbal autistic experience, it’s so important to see stories of nonverbal autistic individuals, told from their perspective, that show the depth of their experience. This book has stayed with me long after I closed the page at the end of the story’s “day.”
An instant #1 New York Times bestselling picture book and Dolly Gray Award winner! A Day With No Words invites readers into the life of an Autism Family who communicates just as the child does, without spoken language.
The American Library Association Booklist starred review boasts, “The story is written from the boy's first-person perspective, however—a clever choice in that it gives readers a direct look into his mind and reinforces the book's crucial statement that nonverbal people have as many words and as much intelligence as anyone else. Cosgrove's art, throughout, does an amazing job of transporting readers into…
Ellen Outside the Lines is the book I wish I had when I was a young person. Ellen is autistic and A.J. Sass writes her experience with authenticity and compassion.
I was completely drawn into the ups and downs that Ellen faced during the school trip: from the change in routine to friendship drama and questions of identity. I didn’t want the book or the adventure to end!
Thirteen-year-old Ellen Katz feels most comfortable when her life is well planned out and people fit neatly into her predefined categories. She attends temple with Abba and Mom every Friday and Saturday. Ellen only gets crushes on girls, never boys, and she knows she can always rely on her best-and-only friend, Laurel, to help navigate social situations at their private Georgia middle school. Laurel has always made Ellen feel like being autistic is no big deal. But lately, Laurel has started making more friends, and cancelling more weekend plans with Ellen than…
I’m a huge fan of graphic novels, and this one felt not only like a visual experience but also an auditory one. The sound effect bubbles used to describe Logan’s perspective and the illustrations depicting his inner world were evocative.
I loved getting to step inside his head and see the world from his perspective, rather than filtered through how someone else viewed him as a nonverbal, neurodivergent kid.
An action-packed superhero story about the power of imagination.
In this exciting graphic novel, Logan is thrilled when his parents tell him they’re all taking the train to see the Santa Claus parade. But Logan isn’t like most 11-year-olds - he can’t speak, and he mostly lives in his head. On this adventure, Logan must face some of his greatest fears: masks, dogs and the unknown. When he’s separated from his parents at the parade, Logan goes where he’s the bravest version of himself - his imagination. Transforming into superhero ThunderBoom, Logan is determined to stomp his way through any…
I feel like I am being hugged by a friend when I read Ronnie Riley’s work. The world within this book is so full of friendship and support, so focused on affirming language around both identity and neurodiversity, that I was grateful to have it in my hands.
Jude’s ADHD is written in a way that makes it easy for those without ADHD to understand and affirming for those who are living with it.
I don’t often reach for verse novels, but Good Different wouldn’t let me put it down. Meg Eden Kuyatt created a character in Selah that was so reflective of my own experience that I ached and rooted for her to succeed. Her desire to be seen and heard is one that I know so many young readers relate to and is such a strength of this work.
A debut novel-in-verse about understanding and celebrating your own difference. Selah knows her rules for being normal.
This means keeping her feelings locked tightly inside, despite the way they build up inside her as each school day goes on, so that she has to run to the bathroom and hide in the stall until she can calm down. Selah feels like a dragon stuck in a world of humans, but she knows how to hide it.
Until the day she explodes and hits a fellow student.
As her comfortable, familiar world crumbles around her, Selah starts to figure out more…
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