Category: Sensory disability

Viral Airwaves

By Claudie Arseneault

Publisher’s Description:

Henry Schmitt wants nothing more than a quiet life and a daily ration of instant noodles. At least until he learns the terrible secret that drove his father away—the Plague that killed his mother and ravaged his country was created by those now in power. He has one chance to help expose the conspiracy: a ragtag band of rebels needs a pilot for their hot air balloon, where they can launch a broadcast revealing the truth. If Henry accepts, he can experience his dream of flight. But he would have to leave his safe, tranquil life behind … and bring the wrath of a corrupt government upon his head.

Genre: Science Fiction

Representation:
Gender:
Cis boys: Henry, Seraphin, Vermen
Cis girls: Maniel

Sexual and Romantic Orientation:
Henry is asexual and heteroromantic.
Seraphin is bisexual and biromantic
Vermen is gay and homoromantic
Maniel is bisexual and biromantic

Race/Ethnicity:
Black: Maniel
Multiracial: Henry
White: Seraphin, Vermen

Trigger Warnings: From the author, “murder, abuse, firearms, suicide, illness, casual homomisia, police brutality, riots, torture.”

Additional Notes: Seraphin has albinism.

Ownvoices: Asexual

City of Betrayal

By Claudie Arseneault

The whole city is searching for Hasryan—some for revenge and justice, others to save their friends. Yet no one knows where to find him except Lord Arathiel Brasten, who vanished 130 years ago only to magically return.

Lord Diel Dathirii’s struggle to free his city from the neighbouring imperialistic enclave is far from over. Enemies gather around him, and without allies in Isandor’s upper spheres, he must place his fate in Lower City residents. Little does he know, the city he’s trying to save might well save him in return

Author’s Description:

The whole city is searching for Hasryan.

Lord Allastam wants to take bloody, ruthless revenge for the murder of his wife. Inspector Sora Sharpe wants to bring him to justice for his crimes against the city. Yet no one knows where to find him except Lord Arathiel Brasten, who vanished 130 years ago only to magically return.

While the city’s eyes are turned to these two, no one is willing to help Lord Diel Dathirii free Isandor from the influence of the Myrian Enclave and their vengeful leader, Avenazar. High Priest Varden Daramond could help Diel, except Varden has been imprisoned. Lord Dathirii’s only hope of rescuing Varden is Arathiel. An alliance with him, however, would invoke the wrath of the Golden Table… and Lord Allastam himself.

With enemies gathering around him, Diel is left without allies in Isandor’s upper spheres and must place his fate in Lower City residents. But little does he know, the city he’s trying to save might well save him in return.

Representation:
Gender:
Cis boys: Cal, Hasryan, Arathiel, Diel, Nevian,
Cis girls: Branwen
Trans woman: Sora
Genderqueer: Vellien

Sexual and Romantic Orientation:
Cal is asexual and aromantic.
Hasryan is heterosexual and demiromantic.
Larryn is gray-asexual and panromantic.
Nevian is sex-repulsed and biromantic.
Branwen is bisexual and biromantic.
Arathiel is gay and homoromantic
Sora is heterosexual and heteroromantic
Diel is a polyamorous, bisexual gay man.
Vellien is pansexual and panromantic

Race/Ethnicity:
Sora is Asian
Arathiel is Black
Cal, Nevien, Diel and Branwen are White
Hasryan is a PoC. He is from a fantasy race that does not have a comparable real-world counterpart.

Trigger Warnings: From the author’s website: “Abuse (verbal, physical), violence, fire/burns, torture, racism, mind control.”

Ownvoices: Asexual, aromantic

Additional Notes: Second in a series. Arathiel has sensory disabilities.  Vellien has anxiety.

City of Strife

By Claudie Arseneault

Check out this book and more on our best of list for books with asexual characters.

Author’s Description:

Isandor, City of Spires.

Bickering merchant families vie for power through eccentric shows of wealth and brutal trading wars. Unspoken rules regulate their battles, but when an idealistic elven lord provokes the powerful Myrian Empire, all bets are off. They are outsiders, unbound by local customs, and no one knows how far they’ll take their magic to dominate the city. Nobles and commoners alike must fight to preserve their home, even if the struggle shatters friendships, destroys alliances, and changes them irrevocably.

Representation:
Gender:
Cis boys: Cal, Hasryan, Arathiel, Diel, Nevian,
Cis girls: Branwen
Trans woman: Sora

Sexual and Romantic Orientation:
Cal is asexual and aromantic.
Hasryan is heterosexual and demiromantic.
Larryn is gray-asexual and panromantic.
Nevian is sex-repulsed and biromantic.
Branwen is bisexual and biromantic.
Arathiel is gay and homoromantic
Sora is heterosexual and heteroromantic
Diel is a polyamorous, bisexual gay man.

Race/Ethnicity:
Sora is Asian
Arathiel is Black
Cal, Nevien, Diel and Branwen are White
Hasryan is a PoC. He is from a fantasy race that does not have a comparable real-world counterpart.

Trigger Warnings: From the author’s website: “abuse (physical, emotional, mind control — seriously, if depictions of abuse trigger you, please be very careful when approaching this novel/avoid it.), torture, homelessness, child abandonment, police brutality, racism, family death, memory loss, death by fire (mention) and hanging.”

Additional Notes: First in a series, Arathiel has sensory disabilities.

Ownvoices: Aromantic, Asexual

Little & Lion

By Brandy Colbert

Black, Jewish, bisexual Suzette returns home to Los Angeles from boarding school and ends up in a love triangle as she begins dating an old family friend while finding herself falling for the same girl as her stepbrother, who has bipolar disorder. Emil, is Korean/African-American and hard of hearing; another is Latina and pansexual.

Check out this book and more on our best of list for books with Black characters.

Publisher’s Description: 

“When Suzette comes home to Los Angeles from her boarding school in New England, she’s isn’t sure if she’ll ever want to go back. L.A. is where her friends and family are (as well as her crush, Emil). And her stepbrother, Lionel, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, needs her emotional support.

But as she settles into her old life, Suzette finds herself falling for someone new…the same girl her brother is in love with. When Lionel’s disorder spirals out of control, Suzette is forced to confront her past mistakes and find a way to help her brother before he hurts himself–or worse.”

Genre: Contemporary

Representation:

Gender:
Cis boys: Lionel, Emil
Cis girls: Suzette, Raphaela

Sexual and Romantic Orientation
Suzette is bisexual.
Raphaela is pansexual
Lionel and Emil seem to be heterosexual

Race/Ethnicity:
Suzette is black
Emil is Korean/African-American
Raphaela is Latinx

Disability:
Lionel has bipolar disorder
Emil has Ménière’s disease and is hard of hearing

Religion
Suzette and Lionel are Jewish

Additional Notes: Suzette is bisexual and in a love triangle with a boy and a girl.

Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle, #3)

By Maggie Stiefvater

Told from Blue Sargent’s perspective, the third book of the Raven Cycle follows the Raven Boys and Blue as they search for Glendower, the sleeping Welsh king.

Publisher’s Description

The third installment in the all-new series from the #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater!

Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs.

The trick with found things, though, is how easily they can be lost.

Friends can betray.
Mothers can disappear.
Visions can mislead.
Certainties can unravel.

Genre: Fantasy

Representation:
Gender:
Cis boys: Ronan, Adam

Sexual  Orientation:
Gay/Queer: Ronan Lynch
Bisexual: Adam

Romantic Orientation:
Homoromantic: Ronan Lynch
Biromantic: Adam

Race/Ethnicity:
White:Ronan, Adam

Disability: 
Sensory disability: Adam is deaf in one ear
PTSD

Trigger warnings: PTSD, suicide/suicidal ideation

The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #3)

By Rick Riordan

In book three of The Gods of Asgard, Magnus Chase, formerly homeless child of the Norse god Frey and now resident of Valhalla and his friends – hijabi Valkyrie Sam, dwarf Blitz and deaf ASL-signing elf Hearth, and genderfluid Alex – travel to stop the escaped Loki from triggering Ragnarok, the end of the world. Includes a slow burn romance.

One of our Best of Trans Books: “Alex’s gender identity is crucial to the plot, but doesn’t rehash any clichéd narratives about coming out or overcoming oppression; Alex’s gender fluidity saves the day.”

Publisher’s Description: 

“Magnus Chase, a once-homeless teen, is a resident of the Hotel Valhalla and one of Odin’s chosen warriors. As the son of Frey, the god of summer, fertility, and health, Magnus isn’t naturally inclined to fighting. But he has strong and steadfast friends, including Hearthstone the elf, Blitzen the dwarf, and Samirah the Valkyrie, and together they have achieved brave deeds, such as defeating Fenris Wolf and battling giants for Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. Now Magnus and his crew must sail to the farthest borders of Jotunheim and Niflheim in pursuit of Asgard’s greatest threat. Will they succeed in their perilous journey, or is Ragnarok lurking on the horizon?”

Genre: Fantasy

Representation:
Gender:
Cis boy: Magnus Chase
Cis girls: Samirah
Gender fluid: Alex

Sexual and Romantic Orientation
Magnus loves Alex through all genders, and could be described as pansexual
Samirah is straight

Race/Ethnicity:
Samirah is Arab-American

Disability:
Hearthstone is deaf and uses ASL.

Religion:
Samirah is Muslim and wears a hijab

Additional Notes:

The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #2)

By Rick Riordan

In the second book of this series, protagonist Magnus Chase, formerly homeless child of the Norse god Frey and now resident of Valhalla, continues his adventures with hijabi Valkyrie Sam, dwarf Blitz and deaf ASL-signing elf Hearth. They are joined by genderfluid Alex to find the missing sword of Thor.

One of our Best of Trans Books: “Alex’s gender identity is crucial to the plot, but doesn’t rehash any clichéd narratives about coming out or overcoming oppression; Alex’s gender fluidity saves the day.”

Check out this book and more on our best of list for books with trans characters.

Publisher’s Description:

Thor’s hammer is missing again. The thunder god has a disturbing habit of misplacing his weapon–the mightiest force in the Nine Worlds. But this time the hammer isn’t just lost. It has fallen into enemy hands. If Magnus Chase and his friends can’t retrieve the hammer quickly, the mortal worlds will be defenseless against an onslaught of giants. Ragnarok will begin. The Nine Worlds will burn. Unfortunately, the only person who can broker a deal for the hammer’s return is the gods’ worst enemy, Loki–and the price he wants is very high.

Genre: Contemporary, Fantasy

Representation:
Gender:
Cis boy: Magnus Chase
Cis girls: Samirah
Gender fluid: Alex (Alex uses she/her and he/him pronouns.)

Sexual and Romantic Orientation
Magnus loves Alex through all genders, and could be described as pansexual
Heterosexual: Samirah
Alex never defines her sexual orientation.

Race/Ethnicity:
Samirah is Arab-American
Magnus is White

Disability:
Hearthstone is deaf and uses ASL.

Religion:
Samirah is Muslim and wears a hijab

My Most Excellent Year

By Steve Kluger

The funny and moving story of three friends, Al, T.C. and Augie, and the year they spend together, forming their bond, growing up, falling in love and realizing truths about themselves that challenge their assumptions of who they are.

Publisher’s Description:

Best friends and unofficial brothers since they were six, ninth-graders T.C. and Augie have got the world figured out. But that all changes when both friends fall in love for the first time. Enter Al‚. She’s pretty, sassy, and on her way to Harvard. T.C. falls hard, but Al‚ is playing hard to get. Meanwhile, Augie realizes that he’s got a crush on a boy.

Genre: Contemporary

Representation:
Gender:
Cis boys: Augie

Sexual Orientation:
Gay/Queer: Augie

Romantic Orientation:
Not explicitly addressed.

Race/Ethnicity:
Asian: Augie

 

 

Beauty Queens

By Libba Bray

A hilarious novel of 50 beauty pageant contestants whose plane crashes on an island. They survive and thrive, discover and foil a plot to start a world war, and challenge both capitalism and their own ideas about themselves and each other.

Check out this book and more on our best of list for books with trans characters.

Love in the Time of Global Warming

By Francesca Lia Block

When Pen’s home is destroyed in the Earth Shaker, she must venture out into a post-apocalyptic world full of weirdness and magic to find her family. Along the way she finds a rag-tag crew, falls in love, and discovers powers of her own. This book is poetic, bizarre, and is inspired by The Odyssey.

Publisher’s Description: 

“Her life by the sea in ruins, Pen has lost everything in the Earth Shaker that all but destroyed the city of Los Angeles. She sets out into the wasteland to search for her family, her journey guided by a tattered copy of Homer’s Odyssey. Soon she begins to realize her own abilities and strength as she faces false promises of safety, the cloned giants who feast on humans, and a madman who wishes her dead. On her voyage, Pen learns to tell stories that reflect her strange visions, while she and her fellow survivors navigate the dangers that lie in wait. In her signature style, Francesca Lia Block has created a world that is beautiful in its destruction and as frightening as it is lovely. At the helm is Pen, a strong heroine who holds hope and love in her hands and refuses to be defeated.“

Genre: Science Fiction

Representation:
Gender:
Cis girls: Pen (main character)
Trans boys: Hex
Cis boys: Ash, Ez

Sexual Orientation:
Pen and Hex are bisexual
Ash is gay
Ez’s sexuality  is never specified, but he is queer

Romantic Orientation:
Biromantic: Pen, Hex
Homoromantic: Ash
Ez’s romantic orientation is never specified, but he is queer.

Race/Ethnicity:
White: Pen, Hex, Ez
Black: Ash