Activists and Advocates: Disability Awareness Month 2025
To celebrate this year's Disability Awareness Month, we put together a collection of books to highlight pioneers, activists, role models, and some legendary fictional characters that inspire us all to champion inclusiveness.
I Am Not a Label
Cerrie Burnell
This powerful picture book tells of the unique experiences of disabled artists, athletes and trailblazers, from Beethoven to Lady Gaga, Stephen Hawking to Lil Wayne. A fascinating collection that breaks stereotypes and challenges assumptions.
Vivi Conway and the Sword of Legend
Lizzie Huxley-Jones
A hilarious fantasy romp that combines Welsh mythology with science. Featuring neurodivergent heroes and characters with disabilities, this book is a contemporary classic for children aged 8-12.
Owning It: Our Disabled Childhoods
Various Authors
Twenty-two celebrated authors in the disabled community share some of their autobiographical stories of their experiences in growing up with a disability. An anthology designed to inspire young people, their caregivers, and adults alike.
Sitting Pretty
Rebekah Taussig
At the junction between essay and memoir, Sitting Pretty considers representation, role models, and living in a body in the face of the predominant ableism of everyday media. An intimate, practical and kind plea for understanding diversity.
The Quiet Ear
Raymond Antrobus
More than just a memoir, this is the story of Hackney poet Raymond Antrobus’s upbringing at the intersection of race and disability. This urgent examination of deafness is at once personal and a rallying call to action.
Ramping Up Rights
Rachel Charlton-Dailey
A one hundred year journey through the history of activism in the UK to discover how disability rights were fought and won. This book is a celebration of the campaigners and the protests that shaped the discourse on disability, and an inspiring call to action.
Mad Girl
Bryony Gordon
This cult memoir on life with OCD and depression is a funny, raw and thought provoking tale of life with mental illness. It covers the onset of OCD in her teenage years and the toll it takes on Gordon’s everyday life now.
See Me Rolling
Lottie Jackson
See Me Rolling is a witty and heartfelt memoir that explores how underrepresented disabled people effectively are in our society, illustrating both the joys and the pitfalls of everyday life, urging us to redefine what it means to be disabled.
Who Wants Normal?
Frances Ryan
Frances Ryan is one of the most influential voices for people with disability. Her new book looks at life in Britain today as a disabled person, focusing on the themes of education, careers, body image, health, relationships and representation.
Year of the Tiger
Alice Wong
Alice Wong is the self-described ‘disabled oracle’ and author of the groundbreaking Disability Visibility. Year of the Tiger is part memoir and part essay on her quest to find community and to keep pushing for disability justice.