Books with autistic representation 📚 #autismacceptancemonth

Hello fellow bookworms ❤ It’s April, which means that it’s #autismacceptancemonth and I really wanted to talk about and highlight books with autistic representation on my blog, as this isn’t something I have been wanting to do. I have to admit that I haven’t read that many books featuring autistic characters, but this is a thing I definitely want to change in the future, which is why I’m introducing you to 10 books with autistic rep that I’m really looking forward to reading 🥰 I have quite a few resources for you as well with further recommendations if you want to add some other books to you TBR!

✨ Note ✨ As far as I’ve checked all the books except Things I Should Have Known and When My Heart Joins the Thousand are written by autistic authors.

Helpful Resources

➽ Anniek @ anniekslibrary has a Tag on their blog for autismacceptancemonth posts and as well as a GR shelf for books with autistic representation! I especially liked their review for The KC Warlock Weekly by M.N. Jolley, as it made me add this book to my TBR.

➽ Cait @ paperfury has two greats posts about how to tell if a book has good autism rep and what it’s like to write an ownvoices book! I also recommend checking out her reviews, e.g. for Please Don’t Hug Me by Kay Kerr, which is mentioned later in this post.

➽ Esmée @ servillasspeaks has a lot of great resources for finding autistic authors and good representation, such as a list of autistic authors and autistic creators to support, things to DO and NOT to do during autismacceptancemonth, an informative Twitter Thread and an ownvoices autistic rep shelf on Goodreads.

➽ You can find even more recommendations for books with autistic characters on Ada Hoffman’s autistic book list or Lizzie Huxley-Jones’ Essential Autistic Reading List!

➽ Here are three wonderful videos with even more recommendations for books by autistic authors!

Books with autistic representation I want to read

 

The Boy Who Steals Houses (C.G. Drews) ➽ This is Cait’s second book and I need to finally read it!! I know when this book was still a NaNo Project, so it makes me so happy to see that the story got published 🥰 The book is about a boy and his brother who are breaking into empty houses when the owners aren’t home and getting pulled into a found family which is one of my favorite tropes! I hope to secure a copy very soon ❤

On the Edge of Gone (Corinne Duyvis) ➽ Truth to be told, I have been eyeing this book for a while, as I’m still eager to read certain dystopian stories, despite the burnout this genre has gone through. On the Edge Of Gone is a pre-apocalyptic story, set right before a meteor is supposed to hit Earth and with a desperate teen trying to secure a spot for herself on a spaceship bound to escape. This sounds sounds very emotional and suspenseful, so I hope to read it soon 😄

A Kind of Spark (Elle McNicoll) ➽ Recently I’ve seen a lot of love for Elle McNicoll’s newest release – Show Us Who You Are – which got me intrigued to check out the author and her books! Normally I don’t read much Middle Grade but the author’s debut book – A Kind of Spark – really appealed to me. It’s about a young girl trying to campaign for a memorial for the witch trials held in her hometown, which sounded really interesting to me! 😊

Please Don’t Hug Me (Kay Kerr) ➽ I saw that Cait really loved this book, which encouraged me to add it to my TBR as well! It’s a book about an autistic teen who is trying to cope with things not going according to plan. It’s told in the letters the main character writes to her brother, which is great as I love when books make use of this format! 🥰 (I also ADORE this cover, it’s so fresh and looks delicious )

A Girl Like Her (Talia Hibbert) ➽ Talia Hibbert has so many books out, and I’m determined to make my way through them soon! I already have the first two books in the Brown Sisters Trilogy on my Kindle and I’m looking forward to reading them! The third book – Act Your Age, Eve Brown – just came out and features two autistic main characters. I’ve also heard that A Girl Like Her – part of the Ravenswood series – has autistic representation and I’m eager to read it, especially as it also promises a small town and neighbors to lovers 😊

Even If We Break (Marieke Nijkamp) ➽ Marieke Nijkamp’s books have been around for a long time, yet never read any of them, something I want to change now. I have been looking for more YA books that fall into the thriller, mystery and/or horror genre since I’m trying to read more outside of my comfort zone. That’s why Even If We Break appealed to me as it seems to be a mystery/horror book about five friends that spend the weekend at a cabin, when things go wrong 👀😱

The KC Warlock Weekly: Book One: Accused (M.N. Jolley) ➽ This book hadn’t been on my radar at all but Anniek’s review convinced me to add it to my TBR! The KC Warlock Weekly has many of my buzzwords, namely witches/wizards, crime-solving and lots of paranormal creatures, which is why I have a feeling that I’ll really like this book! Even better that I immediately could get the e-book as it was on Kindle for under 1 € for me! 🥰

Can You See Me? (Libby Scott, Rebecca Westcott) ➽ This is a Middle Grade story about Tally, who has to navigate the changes of starting sixth grade and all the expectations that come with that. It’s inspired by Libby Scott’s personal experience with autism and I can already feel that this is going to be a very emotional story all about growing up and finding your place with family and friends 🥺

Things I Should Have Known (Claire La Zebnik) ➽ This book has been on my TBR for quite some while and I’m making an effort to finally get around to reading it! It’s about two sisters – one of them autistic – trying to find romance, even though it turns out to be more complicated than they thought. I heard good things about this book, especially about the loving sister relationship, so I’m excited to get around to reading this! 🥰

When My Heart Joins the Thousand (A.J. Steiger) ➽ This is another book that I saw Cait recommend and that I had to add to my TBR as well! When My Heart Joins the Thousand is about an autistic girl who falls for a boy with a severe disability & deals with each of them trying to find their happiness. This seems to be a slower, more-character driven story, so I’ll read it when I’m in the mood for this type of contemporary 😊

Have you read any books on my list or are any of them on your TBR as well? Do you have recommendations for books with autistic characters? 📚