Disability Books for Teens and Kids

Bell’s graphic memoir rethinks himself as a superhero alter ego and rabbit. Young Seko is worried about starting with a new school, especially as she has to wear hearing aids tied to her chest due to her deafness. In her old school, everyone was deaf. But now she is the only deaf child in her class.

To combat her anxiety, she imagines herself as El Dieff, a deaf superhero. El Deafo helps deaf people feel seen and understood. Seko lives her life with her disability, so she is more approachable than she finds her inner courage. El Deafo won the Vermont Golden Dome Book Award, a Newbery Medal winner, and is currently an Apple+ animated series.