There's a Book for That: Disability Pride Month
In July we celebrate Disability Pride Month to mark the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act(ADA), which was the world’s first comprehensive civil rights law for people with disabilities. The landmark legislation was passed on July 26, 1990. At Penguin Random House, we publish a range of excellent titles that honor the history, achievements, and experiences of the disability community, including the following:
The much-anticipated follow up to the groundbreaking anthology Disability Visibility: another revolutionary collection of first-person writing on the joys and challenges of the modern disability experience, and intimacy in all its myriad forms.
FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZE
A witty, winning, and revelatory personal narrative of the author’s transition from sightedness to blindness and his quest to learn about blindness as a rich culture all its own. Thought-provoking and brimming with warmth and humor, The Country of the Blind is a deeply personal and intellectually exhilarating tour of a way of being that most of us have never paused to consider.
One of the most influential disability rights activists in US history tells her personal story of fighting for the right to receive an education, have a job, and just be human…From the streets of Brooklyn and San Francisco to inside the halls of Washington—Being Heumann recounts Judy Heumann’s lifelong battle to achieve respect, acceptance, and inclusion in society.
In her own words, the legendary American icon who overcame adversity to become a brilliant writer and powerful advocate for the disabled: The Story of My Life, The World I Live In, plus a dozen revealing personal letters, public speeches, essays, and more
Kim E. Nielsen, Keller’s biographer and the author of A Disability History of the United States, introduces the volume, which includes a 16-page portfolio of photographs and a newly researched chronology of Keller’s life, along with authoritative notes and an index.
Meg Zucker was born with one finger on each hand, shortened forearms, and one toe on each misshapen foot, caused by a genetic condition called ectrodactyly. She would eventually pass this condition on to her two sons, and, along with her husband, raise them and their adopted daughter, who has her own invisible differences. Born of the family’s hard-won experiences, this book offers invaluable advice on raising confident, empathetic, and resilient children who succeed, not despite but because of their differences.
A revealing portrait of the diverse disability community as it is today, and how disability attitudes, activism, and representation have evolved since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Beautifully written, without anger or pity, Disability Pride is a revealing account of an often misunderstood movement and identity, an inclusive reexamination of society’s treatment of those it deems different.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Scholar, activist, and rabbi Julia Watts Belser is all too familiar with this question. What’s wrong isn’t her wheelchair, though—it’s exclusion, objectification, pity, and disdain. Loving Our Own Bones is a transformative spiritual companion and deep dive into disability politics that reimagines disability in the Bible and contemporary culture. Loving Our Own Bones is an essential read that will foster and enrich conversations about disability, spirituality, and social justice.
FOR YOUNGER READERS
The seventeen eye-opening essays in Disability Visibility, all written by disabled people, offer keen insight into the complex and rich disability experience, examining life’s ableism and inequality, its challenges and losses, and celebrating its wisdom, passion, and joy.
Ellie’s Deaf boarding school just shut down, forcing her to leave the place she considered home and return to her hearing family. But being mainstreamed into public school isn’t exactly easy. So her guidance counselor pairs her with Jackson, a student who’s supposed to help her adjust. Can the boy who tries to say the right things, and gets it all wrong, be the lifeline Ellie needs?
Sometimes people act like having a disability means you’re from another planet, even though over a billion people in the world have disabilities. So how do you talk about disability? How do you talk to people with disabilities? This book helps kids and grownups approach disability as a normal part of the human experience. This is one conversation that’s never too early to start, and this book was written to be an introduction for kids on the topic.
Coming in August:
“The Boys of Riverside is another example of how anyone can achieve their dreams, making what appears impossible, possible.” —Marlee Matlin, Academy Award winner
The Boys of Riverside looks back at the historic 2021 and 2022 seasons in which the California School for the Deaf chased history, following the personal journeys of Keith Adams (their dynamic deaf head coach), a student who spent the majority of the season sleeping in his father’s car parked in the Target lot, a fiercely committed player who literally played through a broken leg in order not to miss a crucial game, and myriad heart-wrenching and uplifting stories of the players who had found common purpose. Through their eyes, New York Times reporter Fuller reveals a portrait of high school athletics, and deafness in America.
For more on these and related titles visit Disability Pride Month
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