As an author who started writing after my child was born with a brain malformation resulting in autism, young neurodivergent/disabled characters who simultaneously possess some brilliant quality became literary gold for me. Readers are oftentimes blinded by the character’s disability. How can this inherently limited person possibly cope with whatever conflict kicks their story into gear? But because these quirkier characters tackle issues in nonconforming ways, they become leaders/heroes not by overcoming disabilities but by leaning into their true brilliance. There’s a heartfelt shift for me when this happens in a story, because those characters are more than their disability, exactly how I view my son.
Everyone suffers a disability after a genetic plague has separated society into two interdependent groups – sickly yet super-intelligent Subterraneans who live underground to protect their health, and healthy but weak-minded Omniterraneans who live on the surface.
Light-blind, nineteen-year-old Zuzan Cayan who develops brilliant scientific skills is tasked with repairing the genetic code to reunite the Subter and Omnits in future generations. But when a newer plague turns fatal for the only humans able to reproduce, Zuzan must address this more immediate threat or humanity won’t simply remain divided, it will become extinct. Except the fragile trust between Subters and Omnits has frayed to the point of breaking and it will take more than genius to repair – it will take heart.
Owen Meany is born abnormally short-statured to parents who don’t love him, though he finds a best friend who appreciates his spunk.
Not even his best friend, though, can explain why Owen believes he is destined to become a hero, going through crazy lengths to prepare. The crazier his actions became, though, I found myself simultaneously hoping for and dreading the day he would have to use his over-practiced skills. The way this intricate story unfolds still blows my mind, following Owen and his friend John from childhood to adulthood.
'Marvellously funny . . . What better entertainment is there than a serious book which makes you laugh?' Spectator
'If you care about something you have to protect it. If you're lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.'
Summer, 1953. In the small town of Gravesend, New Hampshire, eleven-year-old John Wheelwright and his best friend Owen Meany are playing in a Little League baseball game. When Owen hits a foul ball which kills John's mother, their lives are changed in an instant.
How does ten-year-old August Pullman go about getting everyone to overlook his severe facial malformation, so they can get to know him as an otherwise normal kid?
Auggie’s charm grew on me a lot faster than it did with his classmates, setting Auggie up for disappointments and betrayal. I loved how other brilliant characters, like the English teacher with the precepts, Auggie’s amazing family, or his best friend, help him through some dark times. It was touching to see how Auggie’s very rare condition impacts everyone who cares for him.
I believe that the brilliance of this story should be appreciated by middle graders on up to the wisest of adults.
9
authors picked
Wonder
as one of their favorite books, and they share
why you should read it.
This book is for kids age
9,
10, and
11.
What is this book about?
'Has the power to move hearts and change minds' Guardian
'Tremendously uplifting and a novel of all-too-rare power' Sunday Express
'An amazing book . . . I absolutely loved it. I cried my eyes out' Tom Fletcher
Read the award-winning, multi-million copy bestselling phenomenon that is WONDER in this new tenth anniversary edition.
'My name is August. I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.'
Auggie wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things - eating ice cream, playing on his Xbox. He feels ordinary - inside. But ordinary kids don't make other…
Willow Chance is an adopted twelve-year-old genius who can diagnose an inordinate number of medical conditions.
To ease her anxiety, she counts by sevens. After her adoptive parents die in a car accident, Willow’s neurodivergence doesn’t allow her to deal with the trauma in typical ways which surprise people around her. As other characters in this multiple-point-of-view story emerge and get to know Willow, they find her entirely endearing and would do anything for her. I found it satisfying to see how Willow processes through her grief in her own way.
This story is beautifully written, and I wanted to swoop in and protect Willow.
In the tradition of WONDER and TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD this award-winning New York Times bestseller is an intensely moving, lyrically-written novel.
COUNTING BY 7S tells the story of Willow Chance, a twelve-year-old genius who is obsessed with diagnosing medical conditions and finds comfort in counting by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn't kept her from leading a quietly happy life . . . until now.
Suddenly Willow's world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a…
After a freak accident when he’s eleven, Samuel Masur is left with a lame foot, leading him to use video games to escape his problems.
Even without the accident, I experienced him as a high-functioning neurodivergent boy with sensory issues. Sam rarely complains about the constant pain from his never-healing foot, and his emotional wounds are equally painful and unhealing.
The story follows Sam and his two dearest friends over twenty years, where he makes more than his fair share of poor decisions. Still, I felt a deep sense of empathy with Sam, always hoping for him to see the amazing things he already accomplished and that he is indeed loved.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow takes us on a dazzling imaginative quest, examining identity, creativity and our need to connect.
This is not a romance, but it is about love.
'I just love this book and I hope you love it too' JOHN GREEN, TikTok
Sam and Sadie meet in a hospital in 1987. Sadie is visiting her sister, Sam is recovering from a car crash. The days and months are long there, but playing together brings joy, escape, fierce competition -- and a special friendship. Then all too soon that time is…
Eighteen-year-old Harper Lacy has cerebral palsy and worries when her mother falls sick with cancer and her brother lands into trouble working with thugs to make ends meet.
One day Harper is tricked into helping a stranger on the street who whisks her away to an alternative world. As a Beauty and the Beast retelling, I loved how this story showcases a young woman with CP as a smart, exceptionally tough heroine. Despite her turmoil, Harper remains a kind soul. Her kidnappers hope she breaks a long-standing curse by falling in love with the prince; but when love is involved, nothing is that simple.
Besides, she already has a life back home. Oh, and did I mention it’s part of a young adult trilogy?
A New York Times bestseller!
"Has everything you'd want in a retelling of a classic fairy tale." - Jodi Picoult
In a lush, contemporary fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Brigid Kemmerer gives readers another compulsively readable romance perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer.
Fall in love, break the curse.
It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the…
Looking for clean romantic suspense with spiritual undertones?
Look no further than the Acts of Valor series by Rebecca Hartt. With thousands of reviews and 4.7-5.0 stars per book, this 6-book series is a must-read for readers searching for memorable, well-told stories by an award-winning author.
A dead man stands on her doorstep.
When the Navy wrote off her MIA husband as dead, Eden came to terms with being a widow. But now, her Navy SEAL husband is staring her in the face. Eden knows she should be over-the-moon, but she isn’t.
Diagnosed with PTSD and amnesia, Navy SEAL Jonah Mills has no recollection of their fractured marriage, no memory of Eden nor her fourteen-year-old daughter. Still, he feels a connection to both.
Unfit for active duty and assigned to therapy, Jonah knows he has work to do and relies on God, who sustained him during captivity, to heal his mind, body, and hopefully his family.
But as the memories lurking in his wife's haunted eyes and behind his daughter's uncertain smile begin to return to him, Jonah makes another discovery. There is treachery in the highest ranks of his Team, treachery that not only threatens him but places his new-found family in its crosshairs.
Presumed Dead, Navy SEAL Returns Without Memory of His Ordeal in the Christian Romantic Suspense, Returning to Eden, by Rebecca Hartt
-- Present Day, Virginia Beach, Virginia --
A dead man stands at Eden Mills' door.
Declared MIA a year prior, the Navy wrote him off as dead. Now, Eden's husband, Navy SEAL Jonah Mills has returned after three years to disrupt her tranquility. Diagnosed with PTSD and amnesia, he has no recollection of their marriage or their fourteen-year-old step-daughter. Still, Eden accepts her obligation to nurse Jonah back to health while secretly longing to regain her freedom, despite the…
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