Favorite Books with Neurodivergent Representation

Feb 07, 2023

I’ve read A LOT of books featuring neurodivergent characters. Why? First, to find good books for my own kid. Second, to see what else was out there when I set out to write my own neurodivergent characters. Third, because I volunteered to be a reader/reviewer for our Just Books club at the school where I work. One of our categories for the book club was neurodiversity. Having waded through these waters, I thought I would make a list of my favorites. There are a lot of great books not on this list. Some are in my TBR pile. Others just didn’t appeal to me personally but might be good for others. This is my list though so I get to write about my favorites.  

Chapter Book/Early Reader

• Boy Called Bat Series by Elana K. Arnold. I particularly like the first book in the series. Bat is just a great character–richly and empathetically drawn by Arnold. His approach to the world feels very familiar to me.
• Dogman Series by Dav Pilkey. None of the characters in this graphic novel series are specifically labeled with any diagnoses. Still, I want to add it to this list. The author is open about his own ADHD and Dyslexia. There’s that robot named 80HD. I asked my kid which of the characters in Dog Man he thinks are neurodivergent. His answer: “Pretty much all of them.” The Petey/Little Petey narrative arc in these books is masterful.

MG

• Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen by Sarah Kapit. Just a sweet book, beautifully written as an epistolary novel, with great representation.
• Honestly Elliott by Gillian McDunn. Great book about a middle school ADHDer trying to figure out how to keep it all together.  
• Rogue by Lyn Miller-Lachmann. This book is really heartbreaking and raw. It’s probably the best middle grade portrayal of an autistic character I’ve read.  
• The Real Boy by Anne Ursu. The is a really innovative fantasy novel with a richly developed world. The protagonist is not labeled autistic in the book (because it’s a fantasy novel and that label doesn’t exist in the world it depicts) but he is clearly autistic. This is another heartbreaker of a book but masterful and beautiful at the same time.  
• Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mulally Hunt. A powerful book about a dyslexic girl coming to accept herself with the help of really great teacher.  
• A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll. This is a great book about an autistic 11 year old in Scotland who leads a campaign to create a memorial for the witches who were burned at the stake in her village. The bullying the protagonist endures is horrendous but she shines through as a strong, impressive character.

YA

• Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly. This is a pretty standard ‘teen moves to a new town and has to adjust to a new school and find friends and romance’ type of YA novel but the twist is that the protagonist is autistic. The character is really well drawn–realistic and sympathetic. I like that she is autistic but the book isn’t about her being autistic.
• Forget Me Not by Ellie Terry. The protagonist in this book has Tourette syndrome and tries to hide it after moving to a new town. The character is really beautifully drawn and the setting and circumstances are so real I could feel them in my bones.
• Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde. This is a book about a group of friends going to a fandom convention. One of the friends happens to be autistic and the portrayal is really good–subtle and nuanced and on the mark.

Adult

• Horace Afoot by Frederick Reuss. What to say about this book? I’ve read it maybe four times now and I always find something new in it. The main character is not autistic/ADHD on the page but it’s impossible not to see the traits in him. It’s a deep, rich portrayal of a neurodivergent character who lives life on his own terms, trying to figure himself out.
• Pattern Recognition by William Gibson. All of Gibson’s characters seem pretty neurodivergent to me but Cayce Pollard most of all. She’s an awesome character and the story is fascinating.  
• Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. These book are beloved by neurodivergent readers for a good reason. Wells has created a character that is not human but somehow embodies the torment and beauty of being neurodivergent in one of the most persuasive/powerful/humorous personifications I’ve seen in literature.
• Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale. This is a brilliant book about an autistic woman whose carefully arranged world falls apart. In the midst of the rubble, she realizes she has the power to travel backward in time and fix things (how many neurodivergent people have not fantasized about this when perseverating on past gaffes and misunderstandings?) but not always with the outcomes she intended.

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