Health & Disability

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  My Friend Suhana

  Shaila Abdullah

  While volunteering with her mother at a community center, a seven-year-old girl befriends Suhana, also seven, whose cerebral palsy makes it difficult for her to communicate or control her movements. Includes facts about cerebral palsy.

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  My Name is Blessing

  Eric Walters

  Based on the life of a real boy, this warm-hearted, beautifully illustrated book tells the story of Baraka, a young Kenyan boy with a physical disability. Baraka and eight cousins live with their grandmother. She gives them boundless love, but there is never enough money or food, and life is hard--love doesn't feed hungry stomachs or clothe growing bodies, or school keen minds. Baraka is too young, and, with his disability, needs too much, and she is too old. A difficult choice must be made, and grandmother and grandchild set off on a journey to see if there is a place at the orphanage for Baraka. The story begins by looking at Baraka's physical disability as a misfortune, but ends by looking beyond the disability, to his great heart and spirit, and the blessings he brings.

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  My Pal, Victor / Mi amigo, Víctor

  Diane Gonzales Bertrand

  Two boys enjoy the summer doing all of the things that boys do despite one boy's disability. Full story in English and again in Spanish.

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  My Sister, Alicia May

  Nancy Tupper Ling

  Older sister Rachel tells the story of her relationship with Alicia, her younger sister who is very different and very special because she has Down syndrome.

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  My Special Needs Family

  Claudia Harrington

  Lenny follows Roxy for a school project and learns about her family life as someone with special needs.

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  Mysterious Traveler

  Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham

  Desert guide Issa finds the baby girl Mariama after a sandstorm, and raises her as his own daughter--until a young man and his protectors come seeking a guide for their dangerous journey through the Bitter Mountains.

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  My Tiki Girl

  Jennifer McMahon

  Fifteen-year-old Maggie, still grieving the loss of her mother in an accident that also gave her a limp, has turned her back on old friends but connects with a new student, Dahlia, who makes her part of her quirky family and plans their future together as roving musicians and lovers.

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  My Whirling Twirling Motor

  Merriam Sarcia Saunders

  Charlie feels like he has a whirling, twirling motor running inside him all the time and sometimes he just can’t settle. When his mom wants to talk to him, he figures he’s in trouble…but she has a surprise for him instead! Includes a Note to Parents, Caregivers, and Teachers with more information on ADHD, behavior management, and helping children focus on the positives.

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  Nate Expectations (Better Nate Than Ever #3)

  Tim Federle

  Desperate to turn his life from flop to fabulous, Nate takes on a huge freshman English project with his BFF, Libby: he's going to make a musical out of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations. But when Nate's New York crush ghosts him, and his grades start to slip, he finds the only thing harder than being on Broadway is being a freshman.

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  Nathan's Wish: A Story About Cerebral Palsy

  Laurie Lears

  A boy with cerebral palsy helps out at a raptor rehabilitation center and is inspired himself when an owl that cannot fly finds another purpose in life.

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  Newspaper Hats

  Phil Cummings

  A little girl, Georgie, visits her grandfather in the nursing home where he is suffering from memory loss, and manages to reconnect with him when they make newspaper hats for everyone.

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  Nice Wheels

  Gwendolyn Hooks

  The classmates of a new boy at school find that, although he is in a wheelchair, he can do what they do.

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  Noah Chases the Wind

  Michelle Worthington

  Noah is different. He sees, hears, feels, and thinks in ways that other people don't always understand, and he asks a lot of questions along the way. Noah loves science, especially the weather. His books usually provide him with the answers he needs, until one day, there's one question they don't answer—and that is where Noah's windy adventure begins.

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  No Way to Run

  Janice Greene

  A jewelry store robber discovers the amazing abilities of the disabled young woman who witnessed his crime.

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  Now Playing: Stoner & Spaz II

  Ronald Koertge

  High schooler Ben Bancroft, a budding filmmaker with cerebral palsy, struggles to understand his relationship with drug-addict Colleen while he explores a new friendship with A.J., who shares his obsession with movies and makes a good impression on Ben's grandmother.

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  Oddly Normal: One Family's Struggle to Help Their Teenage Son Come to Terms with His Sexuality

  John Schwartz

  A heartfelt memoir by the father of a gay teen, and an eye-opening guide for families who hope to bring up well-adjusted gay adults. Three years ago, John Schwartz, a national correspondent at The New York Times, got the call that every parent hopes never to receive: his thirteen-year-old son, Joe, was in the hospital following a suicide attempt. Mustering the courage to come out to his classmates, Joe's disclosure--delivered in a tirade about homophobic attitudes--was greeted with unease and confusion by his fellow students. Hours later, he took an overdose of pills. In the aftermath, John and his wife, Jeanne, determined to help Joe feel more comfortable in his own skin, launched a search for services and groups that could help Joe understand that he wasn't alone. This book is Schwartz's very personal attempt to address his family's struggles within a culture that is changing fast, but not fast enough to help gay kids like Joe.

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  Odd & True

  Cat Winters

  Trudchen grew up hearing Odette’s stories of their monster-slaying mother and a magician’s curse. But now that Tru’s older, she’s starting to wonder if her older sister’s tales were just comforting lies, especially because there’s nothing fantastic about her own life—permanently disabled and in constant pain from childhood polio. In 1909, after a two-year absence, Od reappears with a suitcase supposedly full of weapons and a promise to rescue Tru from the monsters on their way to attack her. But it’s Od who seems haunted by something. And when the sisters’ search for their mother leads them to a face-off with the Leeds Devil, a nightmarish beast that’s wreaking havoc in the Mid-Atlantic states, Tru discovers the peculiar possibility that she and her sister—despite their dark pasts and ordinary appearances—might, indeed, have magic after all.

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  On a Scale of One to Ten

  Ceylan Scott

  Tamar is admitted to Lime Grove, a psychiatric ward for teenagers, where the psychologists ask her endless questions. How did the self-harming start? Will you tell us what happened? How do you feel, on a scale of one to ten? But there's one question Tamar can't - won't - answer: What happened to her friend Iris?

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  On Being Sarah

  Elizabeth S. Helfman

  Twelve-year-old Sarah Bennett, a young victim of cerebral palsy, yearns to become a part of the "normal" world, and she gets her chance when she is mainstreamed into a regular school, makes a new best friend, and learns to come to terms with her special challenge.

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  One-Handed Catch

  Mary Jane Auch

  After losing his hand in an accident in his father's butcher shop in 1946, sixth-grader Norman uses hard work and humor to learn to live with his disability and to succeed at baseball, art, and other activities.

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  One-Third Nerd

  Gennifer Choldenko

  Fifth grade is not for amateurs, according to Liam. Luckily, he knows that being more than one-third nerd is not cool. Liam lives in the Bay area near San Francisco with his mom and two younger sisters. Dakota is fascinated by science and has a big personality but struggles to make friends; Izzy, a child with Down syndrome, makes friends easily and notices things that go past everyone else. Dad lives across town, but he's over a lot. And then there's Cupcake, their lovable German shepherd, who guards their basement apartment.

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  One TV Blasting and a Pig Outdoors

  Deborah Abbott and Henry Kisor

  What’s it like to have a deaf father? As Conan explains, it’s not so different—but it’s always interesting. Conan tells how his father Henry Kisor learned to read and speak, made his way through “regular” schools, and grew up to be a newspaper editor and author. Conan also describes the challenges of lipreading and the technological advances that have made communication easier for his dad.

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  Opposite of Always

  Justin A. Reynolds

  After falling for Kate, her unexpected death sends Jack back in time to the moment they first met. He soon learns that his actions have consequences when someone else close to him dies.

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  Out of My Mind

  Sharon M. Draper

  Melody is not like most people. She cannot walk or talk, but she has a photographic memory. She can remember every detail of everything she has ever experienced. She is smarter than most of the adults who try to diagnose her and smarter than her classmates in her integrated classroom, the very same classmates who dismiss her as mentally challenged, because she cannot tell them otherwise. Melody refuses to be defined by cerebral palsy, and she's determined to let everyone know it, somehow.

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  Owen Has Burgers and Drum: Helping to Understand and Befriend Kids with Asperger's Syndrome

  Christine M. Shiels and Frank R. Pane

  Cal befriends the new boy at school, Owen, and learns how Owen's behavior is affected by Asperger's syndrome, a part of the autism spectrum characterized by difficulties in social interaction.