Unbroken

Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens (2018) edited by Marieke Nijkamp

Unbroken is a collection of short fiction (some realistic, some historical, some fantastical!) featuring disabled/differently-abled characters, written by disabled creators. These teens are navigating familiar territory (high school, crushes, family issues, friendships) while offering readers new, or at least unique, perspectives. A non-binary student with chronic pain joins the theatre department, a girl who writes love advice and struggles with IBS goes on a first date, a wheelchair-bound teen follows her best friend into an abandoned carnival because she’s in love, another with debilitating anxiety works through a panic attack as she tries to save her family — this is just a brief sampling of the variety of stories to be found within the anthology.

The disabilities of these characters are never portrayed as “something to overcome” or even necessarily something to “learn from,” which I found refreshing and genuine. I appreciated that many of these stories were intersectional; the characters were also people of color, or queer, etc. an element of storytelling that is finally shining through, or at least becoming more common. I chose a short story collection because, as far as I can recall, I wasn’t exposed to them as a teen! I think they are underrated sources of quick entertainment. Maybe they can appeal to the (shortening) attention spans of teen readers.

LOOKING FOR MORE? (OR SOMETHING ELSE?)

Why don't you... 

- Check out the Ability Center’s list of books that embrace disability

- Watch a few Netflix shows that feature disabled/differently-abled characters, or this riveting documentary: