Books like Gathering Blue — picked by fans

When I visited Auschwitz-Birkenhau I was struck by the Australia plaque at the rear of the camp whose first three lines read, "Forever Let This Place Be; A Cry of Despair: And a Warning to Humanity."

Similarly, I was drawn to Wiese’s work when, in his preface to Night, he tells us he feels “he has a moral obligation to try to prevent the enemy from enjoying one last victory by allowing his crimes to be erased from human history.”

His is a brutal, first-hand account of the horrors and atrocities in Auschwitz. He appears to leave no stone unturned as he recounts the events from his admission to the camp, his life of survival juxtaposed with the protection of his father amidst the dehumanization of his fellow prisoners, to the eventual liberation, including the Death March, during which his father perished.

I was struck by his resilience… show more.

This is the middle-grade novel that I so wish I had written. Kate DiCamillo is the best kids’ author writing today, and I devour everything she writes. She really gets kids, and Winn Dixie is my favorite dog in books.

The story of ten-year-old Opal and her found dog, Winn Dixie, makes me laugh, want to snuggle my dog, cry and reach out to hug motherless Opal every time I read it (usually once a year). I love the remarkably imperfect people Opal and her dog befriend, and the language is rich and authentic to the story. This is an unforgettable story about making a home for yourself against the odds.

I love this book because it teaches about real-life situations like children being orphaned, being homeless, family alienation, and even some survival tips (if that’s what you’re into). I would say that this book is cute, but now that I think about it, it’s really not. It’s cute in some aspects but mainly sad and scary.

I didn’t really understand what was going on in it back when I last read it (I was really young), but I do now.

I love this book because even though it’s fictional, it delves into phenomena that actually happen to people in real life. There is such a thing as having repeated nightmares that are linked to a real-life incident and/or person, mainly when it directly happens to someone. Still, it also happens to people who either witnessed something and/or have an item with energy attached to it.

A lot of people refuse to believe in stuff like this. It’s like having a dream of a ghost or an entity one night, just to later figure out it was the thing haunting your house or it’s something that attached itself to you.

I loved this book because it reframes neurodiversity as an asset rather than a challenge. Praslova’s insights into creating inclusive environments where neurodivergent people can thrive were incredibly empowering. As someone passionate about neurodiversity advocacy, I found her strategies for fostering belonging both practical and inspiring.

This book gave me new ideas for how workplaces can unlock the unique potential of neurodiverse individuals and reminded me why diversity is so essential for innovation. It also happens that my journey is featured in this book, which is pretty cool. 

I was most impressed by this author’s ability to show me the innermost thoughts, fears, hopes, and dreams of two main characters who lacked basic communication skills. Lynnie is developmentally disabled. Homan is deaf. Yet, each had a distinct voice and was a fully developed individual.

Their allegoric journeys spanned four decades, and I rooted for them from the opening page until I closed the book at the end. The author carried me along, back and forth, over and under, in an effortless braid of the two stories, introducing many colorful secondary characters along the way. While I had to suspend disbelief a bit to go along for the ride, it was well worth the trip.  

Despite cerebral palsy preventing her from speaking, Melody Brooks, the main character of this novel, loves language and aptly describes the teachers who have taught her in both her special needs and general education classrooms – the good, the bad, and ugly.

But the character who really spoke to me was her educational aide. So I’m bending the rules of my list a bit to give a shout out for the aide, Catherine, who quietly advocated for respect and inclusion for all students through her example.

As a parent of a child with special needs I’m grateful for all the Catherines that come into my child’s life.

There is so much to love about this book. It’s a sapphic time-loop romance, which should be enough to hook you, but it’s also fundamentally about disability.

Chatham is another close friend, and we each had a moment over the other’s book cover when they were first revealed–because they both prominently feature disability aids. It’s making invisible illnesses visible, which is so important to me. 

So many of us, especially as teenagers, have felt the need to hide what’s different about us from classmates and friends. This spare, lovely verse novel captures those feelings perfectly. Natalie, who lives with chronic pain and frequent bone dislocations due to Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, is so invested in this facade that she hides her wheelchair and forces herself to walk in school despite the pain and damage to her joints.

But secretiveness is, of course, born of shame. And disability, Natalie eventually learns with the help of a fiery, self-possessed disabled friend, isn’t what’s shameful. Inaccessibility is. Ableism is. Eventually, the two girls join forces to confront both in their school community, making this book a call to action and self-acceptance. I also find it to be an unputdownable page-turner.

I first became a fan of Tiffany Yu because of her viral “Anti-Ableism Series,” a collection of videos about being more inclusive of disabled people. I knew I had to read her book as soon as it was published.

As someone who has lived with a permanent arm injury sustained at age nine, Yu explores the world of biases against people with disabilities. In her book, she shares both personal stories and those of others. I felt like I had a front-row seat to learn about the issues and the role we can and should play to be more inclusive. Along the way, she lays out practical actions we can take.

Yu’s book is my must-have companion for being more inclusive for people with disabilities at work and in everyday life.