9 Magical Books With Disability Representation, Curated by Author Kelly Andrew

Perfect for spooky season and beyond.

Fact checked by Karen Cilli

For many people, reading is all about connection, and for Kelly Andrew, writing is, too. The author explains that her love of storytelling blossomed shortly after she lost her hearing due to an illness as a child.

“I became isolated from the hearing community I’d grown up in,” Andrew tells Parents. “As a result, I spent a lot of my time reading everything and anything I could get my hands on. Eventually, I pivoted to writing stories of my own.”

Andrew’s books feature deaf representation in a variety of ways; her debut novel, The Whispering Dark, is a dark academia urban fantasy centered around a Deaf college student with a peculiar connection to the afterlife. Her sophomore novel, Your Blood, My Bones, which releases on April 2, 2024, follows a trio of childhood best friends, a terrifying forest, and a destiny that could destroy them all.

"Your Blood, My Bones is a story about growing up and leaving the places and the people you’ve always called home,” says Andrew, adding that, at its core, her second novel is about self-love and healing. “I think there is something especially melancholic about that sort of uprooting, and I wanted to write a story where the protagonist is simultaneously examining her past and extracting herself from it.”

When it comes to Deaf characters in literature, Andrew explains that she wrote her first book, in part, out of a desire to see more than just “self-acceptance” narratives.

“I absolutely loathed these [types of stories], because I didn’t feel that there was anything about myself that I needed to accept—I just wanted to see a girl like me slaying dragons,” Andrew says. "In The Whispering Dark, Delaney Meyers-Petrov is both profoundly deaf and the chosen one. I like to say I wrote TWD as a love letter to the younger version of me, but I also wrote it for readers who may have never had any other insight into what it means to be deaf."

Indeed, Andrew hopes that all types of readers can find what they need in her books. “Another author once told me that young adult books are meant to be friends, not mentors,” she says. “They’re written to keep their readers company, even if just for a while.” Andrew adds this feels especially true for her upcoming book, noting that the main character’s feelings are reflective of her thoughts as a teenager, and recalls believing that no one else felt the way she did.

“I think there’s a particular comfort to be found in getting older and realizing that most other people have, at one time or another, felt the exact same way as you,” she says. “Growing up is universal. We all do it. If nothing else, I hope that young readers read [Your Blood, My Bones] and feel a little less lonely.”

While chatting with Parents, Andrew shared a reading list of spooky and magical books for young readers that also feature disability representation. You can check her picks out below and preorder Andrew’s eerie YA romance Your Blood, My Bones here. Her debut, The Whispering Dark, is available to buy wherever books are sold.

Related: 36 Gender Inclusive Books for Kids and Teens

Middle Grade Books

The Odds by Lindsay Puckett

Begonia is waiting to develop her Oddity, or a magical quirk—and if it doesn’t arrive by her 11th birthday, she’ll be exiled. Living in a nursing home with 53 magical grandparents and navigating chronic pain, Begonia already has a lot on her plate. So when she learns of an enchanted object that might help reveal her Oddity, she’ll do anything she can to obtain it. This magical book feels like a mashup of Scooby Doo and A Series of Unfortunate Events, and contains an exploration of disability for younger readers.

Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez

This magic-infused middle grade novel follows Sal Vidón, who just transferred to a school where he’ll be able to practice his magician skills. There, he meets Gabi Reál, student class president and extreme perfectionist. Though an unlikely pair at first, they wind up joining forces—until their abilities to manipulate time could end up posing a bigger problem than either of them thought. Hernandez’s novel is a fun adventure for young readers that also navigates themes like Sal’s type 1 Diabetes, family, and growing up.

Handbook for Dragon Slayers by Merrie Haskell

13-year-old Princess Matilda, who was born with a clubfoot, doesn’t really like being a princess. She’d rather evade the responsibilities that come with being royalty, and she surely hasn’t given much thought to dragons. But when her kingdom is stolen, she finds herself pairing up with two dragon-slayers in efforts to save her land—and ends up learning more about herself than she ever thought possible.

Young Adult Books

The Call by Peadar O’Guilin

Set in a version of Ireland that’s been isolated from the rest of the world by faeries, O’Guilin’s spooky novel follows a group of teenagers desperately trying to avoid being kidnapped during what is known as “the call.” During the ritual, the unlucky teens are taken for just a few hours, but it’s a full day in faerie time, and many of them return forever changed or worse. Nessa, one of the book’s protagonists, is determined to survive her call, despite using crutches as a result of her polio diagnosis. Together with her companions, Nessa races against time to avoid being taken by the faeries, before it’s too late.

A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

This Beauty and the Beast retelling puts a girl with cerebral palsy at the center of the fairy tale. A Curse so Dark and Lonely tells the story of Prince Rhen, who has been fated to repeat the autumn of his 18th year for the rest of his life unless he can get a girl to fall in love with him, and Harper, an 18-year-old girl who is transported from Washington D.C. to the magical world of Emberfall. There, Harper learns that there’s an even bigger danger than curses and beasts, and it might be up to the two of them to save the entire kingdom.

Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman

Unseelie centers around a “changeling” named Seelie, who feels that she doesn’t quite fit into the human or faerie worlds. An autistic girl who is trying to grasp hold of her magic, Seelie finds herself on the run along with her twin sister, Isolde, after a heist gone wrong. With different goals (and different personalities), Seelie and Isolde end up untangling a mystery that runs deeper than both the faerie and human worlds combined.

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd Jones

Perfect for fans of Holly Black and V.E. Schwab, The Bone Houses follows 17-year-old Ryn and her siblings who work as gravediggers in a remote village at the bottom of a dangerous and mystical mountain range. The problem is, the corpses don’t always stay that way, thanks to an ancient curse that forces dead bodies to rise and become “bone houses.” The supernatural activity only worsens when Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker, arrives in town. Together, Ryn and Ellis must unravel the mystery of the curse—along with secrets about each other. In addition to the perfect combination of magic and horror, The Bone Houses also integrates chronic pain rep.

Sixteen Souls by Rosie Talbot

Talbot’s spooky, queer ghost story follows Charlie Frith, a teen who uses a blend of prosthetics and a wheelchair, who can not only see ghosts, but is friends with them, too. When one of his spirit pals vanishes at the hand of a dark force, Charlie teams up with Sam, a new seer in town, along with a ghostly squad. Together, they have to work to solve the mystery behind the disappearances, all while Charlie navigates his newly developing feelings for Sam.

Even if We Break by Marieke Nijkamp

This multi-POV young adult novel follows five friends, including a physically disabled teen and an autistic teen, who take a last-hurrah trip together to a remote cabin before going their separate ways. There, they plan to play their special murder mystery RPG...but when pretend blurs with reality and leads to deadly consequences, the friends have to work together before it’s “game over”—permanently.

Related: Alternate Summer Reading List: Dahlia Adler's LGBTQIA+ YA Book Recommendations

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