Looking back at the books I read last year and loved, I was pleasantly surprised to find so much disability representation. True, I do tend to seek out these books, but it definitely seemed like there were a lot available to reach for. The titles that blew me away were also predominantly written by authors writing, at least in part, from their own lived experience. Sweet!
As recently as six years ago, when my own based-on-lived-experience debut YA Cursed came out, there were not as many disability-themed kid lit titles to choose from. The titles that were available were largely written by and featuring cis/het white folks and often weren’t written by authors who identify as disabled or neurodivergent. Both of those statistics are beginning to change—but very slowly. Still, it’s great to see progress happening.
Interested in reading more #DisLit? Here’s bit about the books I’ve read recently and recommend to get you started:
Published in 2024
2024 was a BANNER year for disability rep in kid lit!
Joined at the Joints by Marissa Eller. A swoony romance featuring a main character with juvenile arthritis and anxiety.
Chronically Delores by May Van Wagenen (2025 Schneider Family Book Award winner). Delores, who has interstitial cystitis, launches a mutually beneficial partnership with new autistic friend Terpsichore, from which both teens hope to benefit.
Light Enough to Float by Lauren Seal (2025 Schneider Family Book Award honor book). Painfully real depiction of living with anorexia, told in verse.
Bitsy Bat, School Star by Kaz Windness. Described as “from an autistic perspective” by the autistic author, Bitsy finds school way too stimulating for comfort but nevertheless finds a way to shine.
Next Level: A Hymn in Gratitude for Neurodiversity written by Samara Cole Doyon and illustrated by Kaylani Juanita. A joyful book that invites readers to “level up” and witness our shared humanity.
Published in other years but read by me in 2024:
GREAT disability rep! GREAT reads!
Good Different by Meg Eden Kuyatt(2024 Schneider Family Book Award honor book). A novel-in-verse about a neurodivergent girl who comes to understand and celebrate her differences. (2023)
No Matter the Distance by Cindy Baldwin. A novel-in-verse about a kid with cystic fibrosis who forms a special bond with an ill dolphin. (2023)
How it Feels to Float by Helena Fox. One of the most illuminating and empathetic depictions of schizophrenia I’ve ever encountered. (2019)
Lover Birds by Leanne Egan—a sapphic enemies-to-lovers story set in Liverpool featuring a powerful portrayal of ADHD. (2025)
Note: You may have noticed a lot of novels-in-verse in the list above. Not only do I love the form, but my current work-in-progress is a verse novel.
Wish me luck—and happy reading!
KAROL RUTH SILVERSTEIN is an award-winning children's book author and disability activist. She lives in West Hollywood, CA with two impossibly fluffy cats.
Did you know that in many ancient cultures, the ocean was described as "wine" colored because they didn't have a word for blue? I was gob-smacked by that, and amazed to learn that the way we perceive colors is so relative to what other colors are around them.
If you do not know what color relativity is, and color theory more broadly, let me endeavor to explain it as well as I am able. Essentially, our eyes do a lot of adjusting as we look at the world. Our brains want to see a full spectrum of colors like you see under white light/sunlight and will change our perception of what we look at to achieve that. The first time that I actively noticed and engaged with this in my life was with ski goggles (though sunglasses, blue light glasses, or any other tinted eyewear have a similar effect). I remember the first time my dad buckled me into little kid skis, strapped a helmet to my head, and snapped on a pair goggles, so tiny that I was still young enough for free lift tickets (I wonder if they still do those). I whined when my goggles came on because they turned the world orange. How could I have a beautiful snowy day if everything was orange?! My dad told me to just wait because, in no time, I wouldn’t notice it anymore and things would look normal. To my surprise, he was right. Soon enough, the world appeared the almost same as it would have if I was just seeing it under white light, despite the fact that what I was actually seeing could only be the orange light that passed through the lens of my goggles. And then, when I took my googles off, the world was so eye-searingly blue and bright that I could hardly look at it! Transfixed, I remember taking my goggles on and off, waiting for my eyes to adjust and then immediately switching back. I did not understand it at the time, but what I was witnessing was color theory (along with some optics, but I am artist, not a physicist).
It's fascinating reading (and by reading I mean spending time with both the words and the illustrations.)
What I’ve come to learn—in life as well as in my creative endeavors—is that my head can be an unreliable narrator at best and a bully at worst. It will present False Evidence Appearing Real (FEAR) and taunt me with Shoulda Already Mastered Everything (SHAME). It’s sometimes an unsafe neighborhood to hang out in, which is challenging for me because it’s where all my best ideas, characters, scenes, snarky quips and plot twists live.
Due to a number of factors (some in my control, others not), I likely write less than the average professional author. But I DO write, stringing words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, paragraphs into pages, and pages into full manuscript drafts, long and short. Regardless of what my head would have me think, I’m not lazy, I do get a lot of writing done, and I am a real writer.
My head can be relentless, though, so I needed a way to reassure myself and to provide clear evidence of all the work I was doing. To that end, I developed a new practice after a casual conversation with my mom. (Moms are special that way, aren’t they?) She was telling me about a composer she liked who’d mentioned in an interview that he puts a checkmark in his calendar for every day he worked on his music.
Oct 2021 creative accountability calendar page
Checkmarks seemed a bit dull for me, so I used colorful star stickers I had on hand, “awarding” myself a star for every day I wrote. Before long, I thought why stop at merely marking writing days? How about days with author activities, artist’s dates, drawing for fun? Heck, I stuck swim days and social activities in there too, as both contribute to my mental health and ability to re-fuel creatively.
Add in the occasional hand-drawn doodle or mini-photo, and these creative accountability calendars started being not only really fun—but opportunities for additional creativity!
My min-sticker collection
I upped my sticker game too, using super cute pencils, books, hearts and more—all purchased on Etsy, so I’d be supporting indie artists.
Now when my brain tries to tell me I’m lazy, I need only to glance at my Creative Accountability Calendar right beside my desk to prove my head wrong. I share photos of my calendar on line, at first worrying that it would seem like I was bragging or something, but being reassured by friends that it was fun and inspiring.
April 2024 creative accountability calendar page
I urge you to give this a try if you have a bully brain like mine—or if you just like keeping track of work in a fun, arty way. There’s no right way to do it, no rules. Maybe the simple checkmarks work for you? Or maybe you want to draw your own symbols or make your own stickers? Just have fun with it.
Personally, I love looking at all the stickers I’ve “earned” in a given month, and I bet you will too!
KAROL RUTH SILVERSTEIN is an award-winning children's book author and disability activist. She lives in West Hollywood, CA with two impossibly fluffy cats.
Shared by our friends at Authors Against Book Bans, here's the scoop on the Rally for Inclusive Education, happening Tuesday April 22, 2025 from 8am-2pm Eastern:
On April 22, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear arguments in Mahmoud v. Taylor, a case brought by a group of parents in Montgomery County, Maryland, who sued the school district for the right to opt their children out of using certain books in school they argue are against their religious beliefs. The books all have LGBTQ+ characters and themes.
To support inclusive education, the Coalition for Inclusive Schools and Communities and the Montgomery County Pride Family are planning a rally on the steps of the US Supreme Court on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 from 8am-2pm ET. “The opposition seeks to erase LGBTQIA+ identities from the classroom!” say the organizers. “Now is the time to stand together and defend diverse, affirming learning environments that uplift and empower all students.” Anyone who is able to attend is encouraged “to join the rally, share stories, and send a clear message: We will not be silenced. We will not be erased.”
Lee's editorial thoughts on this:
This issue goes far beyond these nine lovely, inclusive, and very age-appropriate picture books. (Truly, if you're not sure, read them. Full list below.) If parents can opt their children out of stories of LGBTQ+ lives and characters, with the humiliation and othering that would entail, and the messaging to ALL kids that there's something wrong with Queer lives and identities, it will not stop there.
It is not hard to imagine the next series of communities that would be scapegoated in this way. Parents wanting to opt their children out of books that share the stories of Black and African American People. The stories of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander people. The stories of Disabled People,. The stories of Latino/a/e people. The stories of women. The stories of Muslim people. The stories of Jewish people... The list would be endless, and damage immense.
As the organizers of the rally say, "now is the time to stand together."
Illustrate, Translate, and Write on! Lee
Here are the nine books in this case:
Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope by Jodie Patterson, illustrated by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow
IntersectionAllies: We Make Room For All by Chelsea Johnson, LaToya Council , and Carolyn Choi, illustrated by Ashley Seil Smith
Jacob’s Room to Choose by Sarah Hoffman and Ian Hoffman, illustrated by Chris Case
Love, Violet by Charlotte Sullivan Wild, illustrated by Charlene Chua
My Rainbow by DeShanna Nealand Trinity Neal, illustrated by Art Twink
Pride Puppy by Robin Stevenson, illustrated by Julie McLaughlin
Prince & Knight by Daniel Haack, illustrated by Stevie Lewis
Uncle Bobby’s Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen, illustrated by Lucia Soto
What Are Your Words? by Katherine Locke, illustrated by Anne Passchier
Ever catch someone identifying as a “spoonie” in a social media bio? Confused? Curious? Allow me to explain.
There’s an essay that’s become well known among disabled people called The Spoon Theory, written by Christine Miserandino for the But You Don’t Look Sick blog. In it, she creates a metaphor wherein spoons represent one’s physical and mental energy. Having lunch with a friend who’d asked what it’s really like to be disabled, she explained that when you’re disabled, you have a limited number of spoons. On any given day, you have figure out how many spoons you expect to have and how many spoons each activity you have planned might take. If you have way too much planned for the available spoons, you need to adjust your plans accordingly.
It’s basically time and energy management, and while some people can get away with “winging it”—pushing through exhaustion or adjusting their schedules on the fly—that approach can spell disaster for others, particularly many disabled people. Personally, I find the analogy extremely helpful for explaining to able-bodied friends why it's so difficult for me say yes to spur-of-the-moment plans. Sometimes these invites feel like my buddies are suggesting I defy gravity! I often direct friends to the spoon theory essay to help them understand me more fully.
I’ve also found an understanding of the limited spoons I might have on a given day helpful in combatting the feeling that my notdoingenough is some kind of moral failing. I can’t paint a whole house with one gallon of paint. That’s just math. But I might be able to tackle one room, and by setting a more feasible goal, I’m practicing gentle self-care and avoiding any mental-energy-sapping moral judgement that stands to derail me.
Recently an able-bodied artist friend was struggling with her own moral judgement around not accomplishing enough. This friend has a husband, a dog, a home needing routine maintenance and a day job—all of which require time and energy, i.e. a certain number of spoons. I could see that her mental energy, or bandwidth, was a real factor for her. I introduced her to The Spoon Theory and suggested she use it to make a more realistic goals and let go of unrealistic shame. Creating takes focus! Sometimes we may have physical strength leftover but our minds need rest.
Try the following exercise:
Start with maybe 15 spoons for a given day and breakdown how many are needed for the various things on your schedule. Remember to consider both physical and mental energy. Tackle the “must do” agenda items first, and see how many spoons you have left for the rest. Do you have enough spoons for your art? If not, can you rearrange your schedule a bit? Maybe you can and maybe you can’t, but please remember: not getting to your art (or only getting to a little) on a day chock full of unavoidable activities isn’t a moral failing. It’s you being human.
Have fun—and now I gotta go. I’m totally out of spoons!
KAROL RUTH SILVERSTEIN is an award-winning children's book author and disability activist. She lives in West Hollywood, CA with two impossibly fluffy cats.
I was impressed by this breakdown in How I Sell More Books at Live Events about how Ben approaches the author-potential customer interaction at live events:
What’s the best way for authors to maximize sales without coming across as a jerk?
When you’re selling books, you have to simultaneously hold two principles in your head:
1. I’m here to sell books.
2. I’m here to connect with readers.
They may seem contradictory at first, but if you do them both correctly, they harmonize nicely with each other.
My approach is a straightforward, repeatable process that I endeavor to control from the beginning to the end. When I see someone has taken notice of my books or my display, I greet them and ask, “What kind of books do you like to read?” This question serves as an invitation to 1. connect with me and 2. take a closer look at the books I’m selling.
Once they reply, I hand them a book (connecting) that is closest to their stated interests or genre preferences, and I begin to tell them (selling) about the books.
Ben goes into more detail in the article over at BookBub Partners -- it's well-worth reading.
Illustrate, Translate, Write, Connect and Sell on! Lee
Growing up, I had this Bozo the Clown punching bag toy. Tube-shaped and made of hard rubber, it stood about four feet tall and had a weighted bottom. It was painted with Bozo’s likeness, with 3D orange clown hair sticking out on either side of his head, a honkable red-ball nose, wide eyes and an exaggerated smile. The idea was to sock Bozo right in the face—possibly not a toy today’s parents would embrace—making him flail backward. But he’d always bounce right back up due to the weighted bottom, and always with that same goofy grin.
Thank you Universe. May I have another?
Stealing scenes as Dolly
Throughout my life, I’ve felt a kinship with these Bozo toys—getting knocked down but always bouncing back up, my undying willingness to try again intact. In my sixth grade graduation play, I was not cast as the lead in Annie Get Your Gun as I’d hoped, but instead tagged for the comical supporting role of Dolly. After a good sulk, I decided I’d be the best darn Dolly I could be and went on to steal most of the scenes I was in.
Okay Universe. Watch me now.
My journey to becoming a published author began with a mostly unsuccessful attempt at a screenwriting career. After being knocked down countless times by near-misses and consolation prizes, I shifted my focus (i.e. bounced back) to writing books for kids. Guess what? I continued to get knocked down and had to continue bouncing back up. Somewhere along the line, I realized this was sort of my thing. I would not give up, would not lose hope. There would always be a different approach or another angle I could try. And I did—again and again.
Howdy Universe! Guess who?
Luckily, after signing with an agent whose resiliency rivaled my own and a new series of bounce-backs, we sold my debut YA novel, Cursed. I had a great experience working with my editor and publisher, and the book went on to win a big award. Whew! I’d made it!
Alas—the punches to the face did not cease. Life generally doesn’t work that way, particularly for artists. There will always be hurdles, crushing near-misses, confidence-rattling disappointments. So what’s a tired punching bag clown to do? Keep writing. Keep bouncing back up. Keep relying on that weighted bottom to provide the momentum and balance needed to try again, to believe that a victory is not only possible but might be right around the next corner.
My metaphoric weighted bottom consists of a mix of encouragement in my early childhood, my innate stubbornness, a host of supportive friends who believe in me and the determination gained and strengthened by my managing life with a disability. It hasn’t failed me yet. But what if your weighted bottom feels lacking in heft?
How might you build it into the gargantuan glutes necessary for an artist in an exceptionally difficult field? Give it a think, take any necessary actions and keep bouncing back.
Watch out Universe. Here we come…
KAROL RUTH SILVERSTEIN is an award-winning children's book author and disability activist. She lives in West Hollywood, CA with two impossibly fluffy cats.
We Need Diverse Books Day was created to commemorate a decade of WNDB’s efforts to diversify the publishing industry. This holiday is intended to highlight the importance of reading books that reflect our beautifully diverse world.
WNDB is committing to donate 10,000 diverse titles in 2025 to schools and libraries. We believe that diverse books ought to be read and celebrated, especially as book bans disproportionately target them.
To celebrate We Need Diverse Books Day, we invite you to read and share a diverse book on social media. Tell us what book you’re reading and why you picked it!
There's lots more suggestions of ways to celebrate We Need Diverse Books Day on WNDB's website here.
I wrote a picture book manuscript as LA burned. When the fire broke out on January 7, it had been a wonderfully blustery day due to the Santa Ana winds. I spent the morning with my kindergarten students, flying kites. Children chasing and laughing. Pure joy.
Then, on a dime it changed. By lunchtime, the principal called us all back into our classrooms. As it turned out we were 3.7 miles from the evacuation line. We watched helplessly as the smoke plumes rose from the nearby mountains, then continued to burn for days.
Our community experienced trauma. After the fires were extinguished, students from an affected school began enrolling in our school. The students arrived in my classroom and school confused, unstable, and affected. Their entire school community had been torn apart. We welcomed them into our community paying special attention to the fact that they were most likely experiencing trauma and most importantly needed a community and sense of belonging. As a class, we gave them a place to belong.
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t know someone who lost their home in one of the two fires that burned simultaneously. Both UCLA and Yale University have noted that climate change contributed to the conditions that fueled the fires. And yet, we don’t talk about it. I suspect climate anxiety plays a big part. And so, as a kindergarten teacher and kidlit author, I believe that we must be the ones to start the conversation. This last post from me explores Using Picture Books to Mitigate Climate Anxiety.
I have the deepest respect for children and believe that they are capable, curious, and creative thinkers. I worry that as adults, our own climate anxiety prevents us from having open and honest conversations with them about this growing existential threat. Not having these conversations will not make the problem go away. So, how can we push through our own anxiety to engage our young people in discourse that can mitigate their anxiety and support their capacity to engage in climate activism. How can we lead by example? I believe picture books are a valid portal to enter past our own resistance. As kidlit authors, we can write stories that lead children past the fear of the adults around them and into discourse that can leads them to be changemakers.
I like to read stories to my kindergarten students to provoke discourse. I don’t care what their conclusions are. I just want them to connect and engage. I find that stories, rather than affirmation books or books where adults tell children how and what to think keep my students riveted.
Stories and experiences in nature help students build relationships with the outdoors which I believe builds the conditions for conservation to emerge. We can’t expect children to want to push beyond climate anxiety through to climate activism if they have no reason to.
I often begin with picture books like Sea Bear written and illustrated by Lindsay Moore about a lone polar bear’s journey across sea ice in the Arctic, The Octopus Escapes written by Maile Meloy and illustrated by Felicita Sala about an octopus who escapes from an aquarium and returns back to its natural home, and my picture book Hello, Little One: A Monarch Butterfly Story illustrated by Fiona Halliday about a fictional intergenerational friendship between a monarch caterpillar and a monarch butterfly.
As I’ve written in my previous blog it’s important that stories are not only told through the lens of the white dominant culture (which often include animal stories) but rather offer multiple perspectives from diverse protagonists. I include Fatima’s Great Outdoors about a family's first camping trip written by Ambreen Tariq illustrated by Stevie Lewis and We Are Water Protectors about the Dakota Access Pipeline protests written by Carole Lindstrom illustrated by Michaela Goade. I lean heaviest on No World Too Big edited by Lindsay H. Metcalf, Keila V. Dawson and Jeanette Bradley illustrated by Jeanette Bradley with non-fiction stories about youth climate activists.
As picture book authors, we are tasked with the opportunity to move beyond our own climate anxiety and support our youth with the picture books we write. Our children need your books as they make their way in a world where climate change is impacting where we live in different ways. Our books can help children make sense of their world and move beyond their anxiety to better cope with our changing world. Our books can make a difference. We owe it to this next generation.
By Zeena M. Pliska
Zeena M. Pliska spends her days immersed in the joy of 5-year-olds. She is a public school kindergarten teacher by day and a children’s book author by night in Los Angeles, California. A progressive public-school educator, she believes that the most important aspect of teaching is listening to children. A social justice activist and organizer for over 30 years, she brings race, class, and gender analysis to everything she does. She is half Egyptian and half Filipino. A lifetime storyteller, she has facilitated stories as a theater director, visual artist, photographer and journalist and most recently as a short film screenwriter/producer/director. Her debut picture book, Hello, Little One: A Monarch Butterfly Story from Page Street Kids came out May 12, 2020. Her second picture book Egyptian Lullaby from Roaring Brook Press came out April 18, 2023. Two board books in the Chicken Soup for Babies series from Charlesbridge came out in the fall and winter of 2023. Egyptian Lullaby was awarded the 2024 CABA award from Howard University.
Her blog posts can be found at www.teachingauthors.com and on social media, Instagram @zeenamar, X (formerly Twitter) @zeenamar1013, Bluesky @zeenamar, and on Facebook @Zeena M. Pliska or Zeena Mar. For more information you can go to www.zeenamar.
So instead of asking authors and paying for the rights to use our books to train their AI system, Meta evidently just used books and articles held in Library Genesis -- a "pirate" site.
"Meta and other AI companies knew exactly what they were doing but they did it anyway. Why? Because they needed books for their quality writing, style, expression, and long-form narration and would rather steal them than ask and pay for them as they do for all of the other necessary components of their AI, such as electricity and programming."
When I've used words like "Stolen" to describe the action of taking something without permission and without compensation and using it to create something else that is then sold, I've heard the response that I'm exaggerating.
I've also heard some folks say that the AI companies couldn't possibly afford to do it any other way. Except, for 2024 Meta reported, as Yahoo Finance explained, revenue of $164.5 billion -- and a profit of $62.4 billion.
Billion.
And there are companies who are licensing works for AI training (in fact, the Authors Guild is working with one.) Note: Consent of the creators is key.
Bydonmartin at Instagram (ironically enough, as it is a Meta-owned platform) summed up their creator perspective here. It's well-worth watching.
It's all pretty upsetting, but helpful to stay informed. And maybe, as the Authors Guild suggests in their list of five things authors can do right now, taking some action can help. Here's their first suggestion:
Send a formal notice: If your books are in the LibGen dataset, send a letter to Meta and other AI companies stating they do not have the right to use your books. Here is a template you can use.
Writing the letter took me two minutes (just added my info and my stolen book info) -- I've copied the text of my letter below. Did it make me feel a bit better? Yeah, a little. And if enough of us do it, maybe it will have an impact. You can draft your own letter here.
Illustrate, Translate, and Write On, Lee
--
To: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Subject: You Do Not Have the Right to Use My Work
My Message:
I am writing to you as an author who is extremely concerned about your misuse of my creative work. It has come to my attention that you have used my books, Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill, A Different Kind of Brave, and No Way, They Were Gay? Hidden Lives and Secret Loves, in the training of your generative AI models without permission from me, and in violation of my rights under copyright.
This letter is to put you on notice that you do not have the right to use my work to train your AI models. You must obtain express permission and provide reasonable licensing terms for authors’ works.
I hope you will set an example of responsible, legal, ethical AI use by obtaining permission before using authors’ and journalists’ works going forward and compensating us for the use you have already made.
.png "Disability Rep had a BANNER year in 2024!")
.png "Disability Rep had a BANNER year in 2024!")
.PNG)
