Category Archives: Disability Lit

The Glass Castle by James Dashner

The Glass Castle by James Dashner

Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity was both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children’s imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn’t stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an “excitement addict.” Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sexual assault of a child
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Alcohol abuse

Arab, Australian, Other edited by Randa Abdel-Fattah and Sara Saleh

Arab, Australian, Other: Stories on Race and Identity edited by Randa Abdel-Fattah & Sara M. Saleh

Although there are 22 separate Arab nationalities representing an enormous variety of cultural backgrounds and experiences, the portrayal of Arabs in Australia tends to range from homogenising (at best) to racist pop-culture caricatures.

This collection explores the experience of living as a member of the Arab diaspora in Australia with contributions from Paula Abood, Nokomi Achkar, Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Rooan Al Kalmashi, Ryan Al-Natour, Rawah Arja, Hana Assafiri, Sarah Ayoub, Omar Bensaidi, Sara El Sayed, Asma Fahmi, Farid Farid, Ruby Hamad, Abdulrahaman Hammoud, Lamisse Hamouda, Amani Haydar, Miran Hosny, Lora Inak, Elias Jahshan, Nicola Joseph, Huna Amweero, Zainab Kadhim, Mohammad Awad, Wafa Kazal and Yassir Morsi

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Islamophobia
  • Gang rape discussed
  • Child abuse
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a father & mother
  • Murder
  • Gang violence
  • War themes
  • Deportation & displacement
  • Bullying

Fierce Fragile Hearts by Sara Barnard

Two years after a downward spiral took her as low as you can possibly go, Suzanne is starting again. Again. She’s back in Brighton, the only place she felt she belonged, back with her best friends Caddy and Rosie. But they’re about to leave for university. When your friends have been your light in the darkness, what happens when you’re the one left behind?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slut-shaming
  • Physical & emotional child abuse
  • Hospitalisation for attempted suicide mentioned
  • Depression

Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily R Austin

Gilda, a twenty-something, atheist, animal-loving lesbian, cannot stop ruminating about death. Desperate for relief from her panicky mind and alienated from her repressive family, she responds to a flyer for free therapy at a local Catholic church, and finds herself being greeted by Father Jeff, who assumes she’s there for a job interview. Too embarrassed to correct him, Gilda is abruptly hired to replace the recently deceased receptionist Grace. In between trying to memorize the lines to Catholic mass, hiding the fact that she has a new girlfriend, and erecting a dirty dish… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Homophobia & slurs
  • Anxiety, panic attacks, nightmares & intrusive thoughts
  • Depression & dissociation (protagonist)
  • Disordered eating including binging and purging
  • Suicidal ideation & attempted suicide
  • Sibling with alcoholism
  • Self-harm
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Emesis (multiple, on-page)
  • Death of a husband from cancer mentioned (secondary character)
  • Death of an estranged uncle by overdose mentioned
  • Housefire
  • Car accident resulting in injury (broken arm)
  • Animal death (rabbit, recounted & discussed)

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

When four classmates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they’re broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their centre of gravity. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Transphobia & misgendering
  • Paedophilia & child sexual abuse
  • Rape & rape of a child
  • Physical & emotional child abuse
  • Child neglect & abandonment
  • Intimate partner violence & abuse
  • Eating disorder
  • Graphic attempted suicide, suicidal ideation & self-harm
  • Drug abuse
  • Graphic death of a child

Wires and Nerve, Vol 1 by Marissa Meyer

Wires & Nerve, Vol. 1 by Marissa Meyer and illustrated by Stephen Gilpin

When rogue packs of wolf-hybrid soldiers threaten the tenuous peace alliance between Earth and Luna, Iko takes it upon herself to hunt down the soldiers’ leader. She is soon working with a handsome royal guard who forces her to question everything she knows about love, loyalty, and her own humanity.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Blood, gore & injury depiction
  • Global pandemic discussed
  • Death of a sister mentioned
  • Murder
  • Gun & knife violence

Stars Above by Marissa Meyer

Stars Above by Marissa Meyer

The enchantment continues . . . The universe of the Lunar Chronicles holds stories—and secrets—that are wondrous, vicious, and romantic. How did Cinder first arrive in New Beijing? How did the brooding soldier Wolf transform from young man to killer? When did Princess Winter and the palace guard Jacin realize their destinies?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Hallucinations (protagonist)
  • Forced adoption mentioned
  • Parent with alcohol abuse issues mentioned
  • Blood & injury depiction including a global pandemic, needles, surgery, non-consensual medical treatment, and non-consensual body modifications
  • Death of a father from gun violence mentioned
  • Murder including death from a snapped neck
  • Physical assault (fistfights, beating, military training)
  • Mentions of a character having a near-drowning incident in a oil vat after being hit by a crane
  • Loss of autonomy (mind control) including forced self-harm and mentions of a pregnant character dying from suicide after forced sex work
  • Fire recounted

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

All year the half-bloods have been preparing for battle against the Titans, knowing the odds of victory are grim. Kronos’s army is stronger than ever, and with every god and half-blood he recruits, the evil Titan’s power only grows. While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it’s up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Parental abandonment (theme)
  • Cheating recounted
  • Nightmares & hallucinations
  • Self-sacrifice (on-page) & suicidal ideation
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Pregnancy mentioned
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend & boyfriend
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Explosions
  • Fire
  • Death from a fall
  • Disappearance of a loved one
  • War themes & battle scenes (on-page)
  • Animal death

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson isn’t expecting freshman orientation to be any fun. But when a mysterious mortal acquaintance appears on campus, followed by demon cheerleaders, things quickly move from bad to diabolical. In this latest installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. 

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Cheating recounted
  • Nightmares & hallucinations
  • Suicide & suicidal ideation
  • Injury depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a sister recounted
  • Death of a brother (on-page)
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Explosion
  • Torture
  • Knife violence
  • Fire
  • Death from a fall recounted
  • Disappearance of a loved one
  • Imprisonment
  • War themes & battle scenes
  • Animal cruelty

The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan

When the goddess Artemis goes missing, she is believed to have been kidnapped. And now it’s up to Percy and his friends to find out what happened. Who is powerful enough to kidnap a goddess?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Parental abandonment
  • Nightmares
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse mentioned
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother recounted
  • Torture
  • Gun & knife violence
  • Disappearance of a friend
  • Kidnapping
  • Car accident mentioned
  • War themes