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Disabled or Different Ability Characters (Teen)

These teen books offer stories displaying illnesses, disabilities and different abilities.

The disturbed girl's dictionary by NoNieqa Ramos

Fifteen-year-old Macy, officially labeled "disturbed" by her school, records her impressions of her rough neighborhood and home life as she tries to rescue her brother from Child Protective Services, win back her overachieving best friend after a fight, and figure out whether to tell her incarcerated father about her mother's cheating.

The gentleman's guide to vice and virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Henry "Monty" Montague was bred to be a gentleman. His passions for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men, have earned the disapproval of his father. His quest for pleasures and vices have led to one last hedonistic hurrah as Monty, his best friend and crush Percy, and Monty's sister Felicity begin a Grand Tour of Europe. When a reckless decision turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt, it calls into question everything Monty knows,including his relationship with the boy he adores.

Love from A to Z by S Ali

Eighteen-year-old Muslims Adam and Zayneb meet in Doha, Qatar, during spring break and fall in love as both struggle to find a way to live their own truths.

Lovely, dark, and deep by Justina Chen

Teenager Viola Li and her sister Roz are selling bean buns at a science fiction gathering in Seattle when she suddenly collapses--she wakes up in the hospital to find that somehow she has developed an extreme case of photosensitivity (so bad that even ordinary lights can cause blisters), and somehow, in her senior year of high school, she has to craft a new life that will still include journalism school, activism, and the new guy who caught her as she fell.

A mango-shaped space : a novel by Wendy Mass

Afraid that she is crazy, thirteen-year-old Mia, who sees a special color with every letter, number, and sound, keeps this a secret until she becomes overwhelmed by school, changing relationships, and the loss of something important to her

Pinned by Sharon Flake

Adonis is smart, intellectually gifted and born without legs; Autumn is strong, a great wrestler, and barely able to read in ninth grade--but Autumn is attracted to Adonis and determined to make him a part of her life whatever he or her best friend thinks

Run by Kody Keplinger

Bo Dickinson is a seventeen-year-old girl from a bad family, but she is also over-protected, legally blind, Agnes Atwood's best friend--so when Bo calls in the middle of the night, desperate to get out of town, Agnes helps her to steal the Atwoods' car and the two girls go on the run, even though Agnes is not sure exactly what they are running from.

The silence between us by Alison Gervais

After moving to Colorado, deaf seventeen-year-old Maya is forced to attend a hearing school, where she must navigate a new life and prove that her lack of hearing will not stop her from pursuing her dreams. Includes an interview with the author.

Unbroken : 13 stories starring disabled teens

An anthology of stories in various genres, featuring disabled characters and written by disabled creators, ranging from established best-selling authors to debut authors.

You're welcome universe by Whitney Gardner

When Julia gets kicked out of the Kingston School for the Deaf for putting up an illegal mural, she is moved to a mainstream school in the suburbs where she starts putting up more art, but she soon finds that someone is showing off their skills by adding to her tags.

The oracle code : a graphic novel by Marieke Nijkamp

"After a gunshot leaves her paralyzed, Barbara Gordon enters the Arkham Center for Independence, where Gotham's teens undergo physical and mental rehabilitation. Now using a wheelchair, Barbara must adapt to a new normal, but she cannot shake the feelingthat something is dangerously amiss."--

The speed of falling objects by Nancy Richardson Fischer

An exceptional new novel about falling down, risking everything and embracing what makes us unique. Danger "Danny" Danielle Warren is no stranger to falling. After losing an eye in a childhood accident, she had to relearn her perception of movement and space. Now Danny keeps her head down, studies hard, and works to fulfill everyone else's needs. She's certain that her mom's bitterness and her TV star father's absence are her fault. If only she were more--more athletic, charismatic, attractive--life would be perfect. When her dad calls with an offer to join him to film the next episode of his popular survivalist show, Danny jumps at the chance to prove she's not the disappointment he left behind. Being on set with the hottest teen movie idol of the moment, Gus Price, should be the cherry on top. But when their small plane crashes in the Amazon, and a terrible secret is revealed, Danny must face the truth about the parent she worships and falling for Gus, and find her own inner strength and worth to light the way home

A curse so dark and lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Eighteen for the three hundred twenty-seventh time, Prince Rhen despairs of breaking the curse that turns him into a beast at the end of each day until feisty Harper enters his life.

How we roll by Natasha Friend

After developing alopecia Quinn lost her friends along with her hair and former football player Jake lost his legs and confidence after an accident, but the two help each other believe in themselves and the possibility of love.

A taxonomy of love by Rachael Allen

From age thirteen to nineteen, Spencer experiences an ever-changing relationship with Hope, the girl next door who helps him cope with his Tourette syndrome, but likes his Neanderthal brother, Dean.

Not if I see you first by Eric Lindstrom

"Blind sixteen-year-old Parker Grant navigates friendships and romantic relationships, including a run-in with a boy who previously broke her heart, while coping with her father's recent death"--

Girl, stolen by April Henry

When an impulsive carjacking turns into a kidnapping, Griffin, a high school dropout, finds himself more in sympathy with his wealthy, blind victim, sixteen-year-old Cheyenne, than with his greedy father.

100 sideways miles by Andrew Smith

Finn Easton sees the world through miles instead of minutes. It's how he makes sense of the world, and how he tries to convince himself that he's a real boy and not just a character in his father's bestselling cult-classic book. Finn has two things going for him: his best friend, the possibly-insane-but-definitely-excellent Cade Hernandez, and Julia Bishop, the first girl he's ever loved. Then Julia moves away, and Finn is heartbroken. Feeling restless and trapped in the book, Finn embarks on a road trip with Cade to visit their college of choice in Oklahoma. When an unexpected accident happens and the boys become unlikely heroes, they take an eye-opening detour away from everything they thought they had planned-and learn how to write their own destiny

Because you'll never meet me by Leah Thomas

Ollie, who has seizures when near electricity, lives in a backwoods cabin with his mother and rarely sees other people, and Moritz, born with no eyes and a heart defect that requires a pacemaker, is bullied at his high school, but when a physician who knows both suggests they begin corresponding, they form a strong bond that may get them through dark times.

Out of my mind by Sharon M Draper

Melody is not like most people. She cannot walk or talk, but she has a photographic memory; she can remember every detail of everything she has ever experienced. She is smarter than most of the adults who try to diagnose her and smarter than her classmates in her integrated classroom - the very same classmates who dismiss her as mentally challenged because she cannot tell them otherwise. But Melody refuses to be defined by cerebral palsy. And she's determined to let everyone know it - somehow.

Freak the Mighty by W Philbrick

At the beginning of eighth grade, learning disabled Max and his new friend Freak, whose birth defect has affected his body but not his brilliant mind, find that when they combine forces they make a powerful team

Recipient of the National Medal, the nation's highest honor for libraries.