Disability Pride Month has been celebrated since 1990 as an opportunity to celebrate the disability community. It is celebrated in July to coincide with the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26, 1990. This law is a groundbreaking policy that broke barriers that prevented millions of people with disabilities from participating in society. However, while the impact of this law is great, there is still much work to be done, especially for disabled people of color. As of 2023, more than 6.1 million Latinos in the United States, or 10% of the community’s population, are disabled and face significant challenges, including higher unemployment rates, higher high school dropout rates, and reduced access to assistive devices, mainly due to language and health insurance barriers. It is very important for our community to have access to resources to learn more about disability and its intersections with race and ethnicity within our community. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of books with disability themes and books that feature disabled characters. We’ve compiled a list of books across a variety of genres for all ages. So there’s sure to be something for everyone to enjoy. Read on to learn more about the 12 books by Latino authors you should read starting this month and all year long.
What the Wind Teaches by Sarah Marie Jett
Photo: Island Port Press
Mexican-American author Sarah Marie Jett’s debut novel, What the Wind Can Tell You, follows Isabel, a young girl who becomes fascinated with the wind and builds a wind turbine. With the help of her brother Julian, who is severely epileptic and uses a wheelchair, Isabel is determined to use the turbine to win her middle school science fair. When Julian has a seizure, Isabel is suddenly granted entry to Las Brisas, a magical world where Julian’s physical disabilities disappear, and she visits there every night. As she explores Las Brisas deeper, she not only discovers potential for Julian and herself, but also realizes how at odds she is with her parents. Told with insight and humor, this is the story of a family struggling to love each other without fear or shame.
“Marcelo in Real Life” by Francisco X. Stork
Photo: Arthur A. Levin Books
Mexican-American author Francisco X. Stork’s “Marcelo in the Real World” tells the story of protagonist Marcelo Sandoval, who can hear music that no one else can. No doctor has been able to pinpoint the cause of his autism-like condition. Meanwhile, his father doesn’t believe in the music Marcelo can hear, nor in his disability. Instead, he encourages Marcelo to work in the mailroom of his law firm for the summer so he can participate in the “real world.” There, Marcelo meets Jasmine, a beautiful and unexpected co-worker, and the son of another partner at the firm. Marcelo learns about competition, jealousy, anger, and lust. When he finds a photo of a girl with half of her face in the file, Marcelo truly connects to the “real world” and its suffering, injustice, and what he can do to fight for better days.
“Featherless” by Juan Felipe Herrera
Photo: Lee & Low Books
Chicano poet Juan Felipe Herrera’s “Featherless/Desplumado” is a children’s picture book about Tamsisto, a soccer-loving boy in a wheelchair. One day, Tamsisto’s father gives him a pet bird to cheer him up, but it soon becomes clear that this bird is not like other birds. Over time, they become a dynamic team, scoring goals and winning on and off the soccer field. Featuring acrylic paintings by Ernesto Cuevas Jr., this beautiful book is about self-empowerment, confidence, love and friendship. Also available in a bilingual version in English and Spanish, it makes a great keepsake.
My Brain Doesn’t Float / My Brain Doesn’t Float by Annette Perez
Photo: Campanita Books
My Brain Won’t Float Away by Annette Pérez tells the story of eight-year-old Annie growing up with hydrocephalus, a condition in which fluid from the spine builds up in the brain, increasing pressure in the head and causing a large, bulging head that can lead to headaches, double vision, and poor balance. Annie experiences the condition through having different sized hands and frequent falls. When she finally finds the courage to ask her mother about her disability, a beautiful story of self-discovery and triumph ensues, told with humor, honesty, courage, and compassion. Based on Pérez’s own childhood, the book is available in bilingual formats in English and Spanish.
Baldomero’s Birthday Party by Isabel Febles
Photo: La Editorial UPR
Baldomero’s Birthday Party by Isabel Febres tells the story of a boy named Baldomero’s family who is throwing a birthday party. They want to invite everyone from school, but are unsure if they should invite their classmate Tito, who is deaf. Baldomero doesn’t know how to communicate with Tito through sign language, or if Tito will be able to attend and enjoy the party. But when Tito brings Baldomero some paints, the boys realize they have more in common than they thought, and they learn to communicate through painting, art, and fun.
Disability, Intersectional Agency, and Latino Identity by Alexis Padilla
Photo: Routledge
Disability, Intersectional Agency, and Latino Identity by Chicana scholar Alexis Padilla is an interdisciplinary and intersectional examination of disability from a Latino perspective. A blind Latino scholar and activist, Padilla critically explores the relationships between race and ethnicity, diasporic culture, socio-politics, and disability in the context of the Global North while also incorporating epistemologies from the Global South. Drawing from the methodological tradition of critical race theory, the book is deeply concerned with intersectional analysis and decolonial approaches to research, opening up possibilities for intersectional solidarity and spaces for radical transformative learning. Ultimately, this is a book that is perfect for readers interested in academic approaches to disability identity and intersectional disability justice.
(Ma)mothering Labeled Children: Bilingualism and Disability in the Lives of Latina Mothers by Maria Cioe Peña
Photo: Multilingual Matters
(M)othering Labeled Children, by María Cioe Peña, is another academically-centered book, this time exploring the experiences of Latino mothers raising bilingual and disabled children. Featuring the latest research and first-hand accounts from Latino mothers, this book illuminates the impact of education and school on children’s experiences with disabilities, including family dynamics, language, and academic placement and performance. Mothers also discuss their relationships with their children, disabilities, and perceptions of bilingualism. Readers will learn how generations of matriarchal knowledge can be applied to education today, and how to balance children’s academic and socio-emotional needs with the financial, physical, and emotional costs.
Just Ask!: Make a Difference, Be Brave, and Live Your Life, by Sonia Sotomayor
Photo: Philomel Books
“Just Ask!” is a bestselling picture book written by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who is of Puerto Rican descent. Drawing on her own experience of being diagnosed with diabetes as a child, Sotomayor focuses on children who, while facing various challenges, are also born with special powers and abilities. As the children in the book work together to create a community garden, they ask each other questions along the way, encouraging readers to do the same whenever they meet someone different from themselves. As Sotomayor writes, just as different plants and flowers make a garden more beautiful, different people make our world more vibrant and wonderful. After publication, the book won the Schneider Family Book Award, an American Library Association award that recognizes outstanding authors and illustrators who have portrayed disability experiences in literature for young people.
The invisible Adriana Procida
Photo: Adriana Procida
“Invisible” is a young adult novel by Adriana Procida that follows Ohashi Makoto, a blind boy living in Japan, as he struggles with his mental condition. Alone for most of his life, he struggles to make friends and is isolated, spending his high school years alone. Then he meets a popular boy named Shinjiro, who introduces Makoto to his best friends Hanako and Naoyuki. Only time will tell if Shinjiro is what Makoto needs in order to find new friends, or if the cruelty of life will only worsen their relationship. Procida used her lifelong experience with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome as inspiration for the story. The disease causes her immense chronic pain, yet her disability is invisible to others.
Ana Paula Barbosa-Forman, Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Bioethics and Disability in Latin America
Photo: Springer
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Bioethics and Disability in Latin America by Ana Paula Barbosa-Forman provides a broad interdisciplinary overview of people living with intellectual, physical and psychosocial disabilities in Latin America. Throughout the book, readers gain a deeper understanding of the philosophical, ethical, legal, political and social issues surrounding disability, as well as an outside perspective from the global scientific community that considers the role of disability in the Global South and the Global North. Blending philosophy, neuroethics, law and politics, the book argues against psychiatric institutionalization and inhumane treatment, and calls for the expansion of rights for people with disabilities.
The Wild Book by Margarita Ingle
Photo: Clarion Books
Cuban-American author Margarita Engle’s The Wild Book is a rhyming novel about a young girl named Fefa who suffers from dyslexia. Fefa’s doctor tells her she will never learn to read and write, because every time she tries to, the letters scramble and fly off the page, leaving her feeling hopeless and frustrated. But one day, her mother has the idea to give Fefa a blank notebook, into which Fefa begins to sprinkle words like a seedling. Each day, the seedling grows stronger and more confident. But when her family is threatened, only Fefa remains hopeful, and she decides to use what she has learned from the Wild Book to save them. Based on the true story of Engle’s Cuban grandmother, this is a glorious and powerful story of obstacles and triumph.
Like Water by Rebecca Pods
Photography: Balzer + Bray
Like Water by Mexican-American author Rebecca Podoz is a young adult novel about Savannah “Vanni” Espinoza, who lives in a small town in New Mexico where the kids have to leave when they graduate from high school or be trapped there forever. Vanni has plans to leave and a swimming scholarship lined up, but then she finds out her father has been diagnosed with Huntington’s disease, an incurable neurodegenerative disorder that can cause a lack of coordination, speech difficulties, and the need for full-time care. Instead of getting a degree, Vanni spends her time living at home, helping her mother care for her father, working as a mermaid at the water park and at her family’s restaurant, and flirting with boys. But everything changes when she meets Lucas and his sister Lea, who have just moved to town. Lea is genderqueer and disillusioned with life in her small town, wanting something more, and above all, something different from anyone Vanni has ever met. The two become fast friends and then soon something more, as Vanni questions his sexual identity and breaks down the walls he’s carefully built to protect himself. This is a moving love story about sacrifice, queerness, and the things we’ll do to protect the people we love.