Heather’s Recommended Reading for April
Our very own Heather Topolski will be providing monthly recommended reading lists. Here’s the one she put together for April!
This April, Listen to Autistic Voices
April is known as Autism Acceptance Month. You’ll see those puzzle pieces, buildings “Lighting It Up Blue,” workplaces suggesting you wear blue to raise money for nonprofits that support autism research and autistic people. This month, I challenge folx to support autistic authors and creators directly.
Autistic people are present in every aspect of life. As the name says, autism presents itself in a wide variety of manifestations. No one has the same neurodivergent brain, which is why it’s important to listen to autistic voices when they express their experiences with autism!
There is a lot of literature and research about autism, or featuring autistic characters that does not come from autistic people. In this month’s Book List post, I’d like to introduce y’all to some books by autistic authors, about autistic experiences, and/or featuring autistic characters.
As I was researching this list, I found that some of my favorite authors are autistic, and I’m looking forward to reading something from their catalogs this month. The lists of authors and genres I found are diverse and there’s sure to be something out there for everyone. Clearly, these five books listed below aren’t the only ones out there. The most comprehensive resource I found really is The Autism Books by Autistic Authors Project. Please consider supporting these voices not just this month, but throughout the year.
As always, please consider purchasing these books through your local bookshop, or getting it from your local library. If you’re in Berkshire County, check out Bear and Bee Bookshop in North Adams, The Book Store in Lenox, or The Book Loft in Great Barrington.
For additional information on supporting autistic people, through organizations for and run by autistic people, please check out the Autistic Self Advocacy Network and the Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network.
~Heather
This Is Where It Ends - Marieke Nijkamp
“Nijkamp masterfully brings to life the terror and disbelief that a school shooting elicits and makes the reader go through that same turmoil. A thought-provoking must-read!”
– Winter 2015–2016 Kids’ Indie Next Great Reads pick.
10:00 a.m. - The principal of Opportunity, Alabama’s high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.
10:02 a.m. - The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.
10:03 a.m. - The auditorium doors won’t open.
10:05 a.m. - Someone starts shooting.
Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student’s calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival. Available at Bookshop.org
An Unkindness of Ghosts - Rivers Solomon
“Solomon debuts with a raw distillation of slavery, feudalism, prison, and religion that kicks like rotgut moonshine . . . Stunning." --Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
Aster has little to offer folks in the way of rebuttal when they call her ogre and freak. She's used to the names; she only wishes there was more truth to them. If she were truly a monster, she'd be powerful enough to tear down the walls around her until nothing remains of her world.
Aster lives in the lowdeck slums of the HSS Matilda, a space vessel organized much like the antebellum South. For generations, Matilda has ferried the last of humanity to a mythical Promised Land. On its way, the ship's leaders have imposed harsh moral restrictions and deep indignities on dark-skinned sharecroppers like Aster. Embroiled in a grudge with a brutal overseer, Aster learns there may be a way to improve her lot--if she's willing to sow the seeds of civil war. Available at Bookshop.org
We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation - Eric Garcia
“With a reporter’s eye and an insider’s perspective, Eric Garcia shows what it’s like to be autistic across America.
Garcia began writing about autism because he was frustrated by the media’s coverage of it: the myths that the disorder is caused by vaccines, the narrow portrayals of autistic people as white men working in Silicon Valley. His own life as an autistic person didn’t look anything like that. He is Latino, a graduate of the University of North Carolina, and works as a journalist covering politics in Washington, DC. Garcia realized he needed to put into writing what so many autistic people have been saying for years—autism is a part of their identity, they don’t need to be fixed.
In We’re Not Broken, Garcia uses his own life as a springboard to discuss the social and policy gaps that exist in supporting those on the spectrum. From education to healthcare, he explores how autistic people wrestle with systems that were not built with them in mind. At the same time, he shares the experiences of all types of autistic people, from those with higher support needs, to autistic people of color, to those in the LGBTQ community. In doing so, Garcia gives his community a platform to articulate their own needs, rather than having others speak for them, which has been the standard for far too long. Available at Bookshop.org
Autistic and Black - Kala Allen Omeiza
"It's time we bring forward Black autistic pain points and celebrate the triumphs of ourselves, family members, and organizations that care for these individuals. Through following the real stories of others from around the world, I hope fellow Black and autistic individuals will be empowered to realize that being Black and autistic is enough."
In this powerful insight into the lives of Black autistic people, Kala Allen Omeiza brings together a community of voices from across the world, spanning religions, sexuality and social economic status to provide a deep and rich understanding of what it means to be autistic and Black.
Exploring everything from self-love and appreciation, to the harsh realities of police brutality, anti-Black racism, and barriers to care, as well as amplifying the voices of the inspiring advocates who actively work towards change, protection, and acceptance for themselves and others, this book is an empowering force, reminding you that as a Black autistic person, you are enough. Available at Bookshop.org
I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder - Sarah Kurchak
Sarah Kurchak is autistic. She hasn't let that get in the way of pursuing her dream to become a writer, or to find love, but she has let it get in the way of being in the same room with someone chewing food loudly, and of cleaning her bathroom sink. In I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder, Kurchak examines the Byzantine steps she took to become "an autistic success story," how the process almost ruined her life and how she is now trying to recover.
Growing up undiagnosed in small-town Ontario in the eighties and nineties, Kurchak realized early that she was somehow different from her peers. She discovered an effective strategy to fend off bullying: she consciously altered nearly everything about herself--from her personality to her body language. She forced herself to wear the denim jeans that felt like being enclosed in a sandpaper iron maiden. Every day, she dragged herself through the door with an elevated pulse and a churning stomach, nearly crumbling under the effort of the performance. By the time she was finally diagnosed with autism at twenty-seven, she struggled with depression and anxiety largely caused by the same strategy she had mastered precisely. She came to wonder, were all those years of intensely pretending to be someone else really worth it?
Tackling everything from autism parenting culture to love, sex, alcohol, obsessions and professional pillow fighting, Kurchak's enlightening memoir challenges stereotypes and preconceptions about autism and considers what might really make the lives of autistic people healthier, happier and more fulfilling. Available at Bookshop.org