Excellence in Disability Literature
By David-Elijah Nahmod
The children’s book Reese Has a Halloween Secret, written by Jo Meserve Mach and Vera Lynne Stroup-Rentier, with photographs by Mary Birdsell, is short and sweet — clocking in at just forty pages. The book tells the true story of Reese, a young boy with a disability who, with the help of his loving dad, creates a Halloween costume that includes his wheelchair. Continue reading “Children With Disabilities Can Celebrate Halloween Too”
By David-Elijah Nahmod
Poet Flower Conroy has been creative since her childhood. While growing up in New Jersey, she was always making arts and crafts, such as Christmas ornaments and jewelry. She would also draw, making up stories to go along with her pictures, which she stapled into little books. Eventually, she realized that her stories were more like poems, and so she began writing poetry. Continue reading “Poet Flower Conroy on the Poetry of Caregiving”
By David-Elijah Nahmod
Eight books have been chosen to be honored in the 2022 Schneider Family Book Awards — a prize that acknowledges the artistic expression of disability by authors or illustrators who created their work for child or adolescent readers. The awards are administered by the American Librarian Association, and were announced on January 24, 2022, during the association’s LibLearnX, which was held virtually from January 21-24. Continue reading “8 Award-winning Disability Children’s and YA Books to Read in 2022”
By Christi Furnas
I’m an artist living with schizophrenia. I’ve been open about my illness since it began. I’ve painted my hallucinations, spoken on panels and with the press. Since I gravitate to drawing my experiences, the progression to creating a graphic novel felt natural to me. Still, for many writers with disabilities, the process of adding illustrations to prose could feel like a daunting task. While putting a graphic novel together takes time and dedication, with a little planning, it can be done. Here are a few tips to consider if you are contemplating this form of storytelling. Continue reading “8 Tips to Writing a Disability Graphic Novel”
By Mannette Morgan, Author of Finding Your Voice: A Path to Recovery for Survivors of Abuse
As a little girl, I knew I wanted to be a writer “when I grew up.” The problem was, I couldn’t read or write. I realized at a young age that I didn’t learn like everyone else. I felt stupid, different, and disconnected from others. I struggled to read, write, and spell for the entirety of my childhood. Continue reading “How I Found My Voice and Learned to Thrive”
By Annette Bay Pimentel
Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins has been a disability advocate almost her entire life. At age 6, she had already been excluded from her neighborhood elementary school in Phoenix because of her wheelchair. Her family was unsure how to fight the exclusion. Continue reading “How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything”
By Belo Miguel Cipriani
The California Gold Rush attracted many unique and memorable characters to the West Coast. From farmhands who wanted to make it rich to crooks who were looking for their next prey, they all came to the Golden State to secure their slice of the pie. One of the most infamous names of that era was six-horse stagecoach driver Charley Parkhurst — who is more commonly remembered by the moniker “One-Eyed Charley.” Continue reading “One-Eyed Charley and Gender Identity in the Old West”
By Belo Miguel Cipriani
Not quite seeing or hearing artist and author Terry Galloway ambled through early childhood with mixed emotions. On one end, she was arrogant. In fact, she would even describe herself as “a little shit,” yet she also sought physical approval from the people around her. Continue reading “An Interview with Mean Little deaf Queer Author Terry Galloway”
Oleb Books author Andrew Gurza recently published an article on HuffPost that we wanted to share with our readers. Click here to read all about his latest coming out story on HuffPost!
By Belo Miguel Cipriani
Some books become classics because they bring to the forefront new ideas, while others are imprinted in our consciousness because they shine light on a little known world.
Resistance and Hope: Essays by Disabled People, edited by Alice Wong, is one of those rare anthologies that both highlights new ways of examining disability, as well as raises the profile of the disability community. Wong, a San Francisco-based disability rights activist and journalist, has gathered 16 essays from some of the leading voices in disability advocacy, to shed some light onto disability issues in the Trump era. Continue reading “Book Review: Resistance and Hope, Edited by Alice Wong”