100 Books Like Ani's Light

This book, for me, is important as the first trade nonfiction picture book about the fight for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). I hope and assume more books on this topic are in the pipeline, as there is so much more to share with kids about this crucial social justice movement! Jennifer Keenan’s story is great for kids because she was a kid herself when she crawled up the U.S. Capitol steps to fight for disability rights. This book offers an inspiring, personal entryway into the disability rights movement and the importance of having laws and systems to back up beliefs about access for all.

I firmly believe a great children’s book is a great adult’s book too. This one sure fits the bill. Humpty Dumpty has that infamous fall off the wall and what happens to him afterward is funny, healing, and magically majestic. If you know of a child (or adult) in the hospital or simply someone having difficult times, this is a book of humor, acceptance, and creative transformation. It’s a permanent fixture on my bookshelf.

I confess, I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy this novel. I began reading it primarily to see what was percolating in slightly younger middle grade titles and in particular in books that are rooted in stories about differently-abled characters. Was I ever delightfully surprised when I fell in love with Ellie! I thought the novel was going to be about a lot of mean treatment by kids at school, but in truth, there wasn’t nearly as much of that as I expected (which was an enormous relief!). If you’re thinking, wait, I thought this was going to be a novel about survival, I’m here to tell you that every single day in Ellie’s life is its own survival story.

Surviving being left out of nearly all the activities the rest of the kids find fun; surviving the humiliation of having an aide take her from class to class,… show more.

In ​Look Up! by Jung Jin Ho the reader slowly comes to understand that the main character is a child sitting on a small balcony outside a tall building in a wheelchair. This child is lonely and isolated. The reader can feel the angry emotion coming off the pages as the child feels frustrated that no one sees them. Everyone on the streets below goes about their day and never notices the child even when she pleads, “Look up!” Jin-Ho uses a black and white color scheme and a combination of lines and objects to evoke melancholy emotions… until the last page when color is used to show happiness, contentedness, and relief. Someone has finally “looked up” and seen more than a wheelchair

This story’s protagonist, Jessi, remains one of my favorite YA protagonists; she’s the sort of girl I would’ve loved being friends with as a teenager. And the Cohen boys… it’s no wonder Jessi is so enamored with them both! A poignant narrative centering around unimaginable tragedy, Some Other Now combines two of my favorite romance tropes: the boy next door and the love triangle. It’s a story about best friends, broken families, and love in all its fiercest forms, written with thoughtfulness and lyricism.

I love this book because I was able to relate to it so deeply. I learned so much about how Jesus can truly understand the many different facets that come with chronic illness. Each chapter I read left me wanting more and more.

I love the parallels the author shares of how Jesus is able to understand loss, grief, loneliness, and pain. Reading this book, I felt so validated, understood, and encouraged. I felt like the author was mirroring back to me exactly what I’ve felt, been through, and struggled with, and the courage I’ve found through Jesus with chronic illness.

This book was absolutely life-changing for me and brought me a sense of soul healing.

This book charmed me from the very beginning. I loved all the enchanting characters that populate the story—a mysterious flying bird woman, an invisible tiger, a magical messenger parrot, and a powerful magician known as The Man Who Bends Light.

As the story opens, Micah needs a miracle—his grandfather is dying, and the only one who might be able to save him is a magician who owes the family a favor.

The Circus Mirandus is a wonderous, whimsical world of its own. This book made me want to find my own circus ticket, swing from a trapeze, and befriend a wise old elephant. I love stories that highlight the joys and complexities of family life, and this does just that. It’s also a tale filled with wonder, intrigue, and all the sparkle of a one-of-a-kind circus. 

Violet Black is the first book in a trilogy set in the near future. Violet Black and Ethan Wright are both in a coma after contracting the lethal M-fever. They have never met:

I couldn’t speak, but I was trying so hard to communicate and then... then... I pushed. And something, someone, pushed back. Her name is Violet. Violet, but she is sunshine-yellow, and I need to find her because I think she might be just like me.

But there is a far more serious reason for Ethan to find Violet: the sinister Foundation is trying to hunt them down.

Violet Black in the first book of a trilogy where Violet must fight for her sanity and her freedom from those who want to control her. It’s always wonderful when you’ve got captured by a story and its characters to know that there are more books to come. I love… show more.

Reality and magic interweave with Korean folklore in this intergenerational family story that I couldn’t stop listening to. This deeply emotional story about a young girl trying to save her dying grandmother was captivating and magical.

Lily drew me in right away with her desperation, and the magical tiger didn’t let me leave. It was tense all the way to the end where I was left more heartbroken than I was prepared for. This is a story I’ll never forget and always recommend!

A totally distinctive coming-of-age novel, set in a desert community where people with environmental illnesses are forced to live, far away from the everyday chemicals and wireless gadgets which make them sick. The author gets so much right about the emotional fallout of this falling away from the normal: the ache that never quite goes for the old life that has been lost; the new bonds that form between disparate characters finding themselves in the same boat; the corrosive extra layer of societal contempt and disbelief (“of course it’s all in the mind…”). which makes these already devastating illnesses even harder to bear - and the lurking temptation of suicide. I gasped with recognition on almost every page. It’s a YA novel, but who cares?