The American Library Association promotes the nationally recognized Neurodiversity Celebration Month every April. During the month, libraries around the country take the opportunity to highlight neurological differences, such as autism, ADHD, and dyslexia. In conjunction with World Autism Day on April 2nd, and on the heels of Neurodiversity Celebration Week, which is the last full week in March, the goal of the month is to move beyond awareness and toward empowering neurodivergent individuals through support, providing resources, increasing accessibility, and celebrating the unique contributions of neurodivergent individuals. Various initiatives include advocacy, education, and events focused on recognizing the rights of neurodivergent people, learning about their experiences and achievements, and challenging stereotypes.
In order to highlight Neurodiversity Celebration Month, we’ve selected some books below that have main characters who are neurodivergent. You can also check out our Learning & Literacy Collection LibGuide which includes resources on Neurodivergence, Neurodivergent Learners, and Parenting Neurodivergent Kids.
The father she went to find by Carter Wilson
“Penny has never met anyone smarter than her. That’s par for the course when you’re a savant–one of less than one hundred in the world. But despite her photographic memory and super-powered intellect, there’s one question Penny doesn’t know the answer to: where did her father go when he left her and her mother years ago? On Penny’s 21st birthday, she receives a card in the mail from her father, just as she has every year since he left. But this birthday card is different. For the first time ever, there’s a return address. Penny may not know much about the world beyond her mother’s house and The Institute, the special school she has attended since her abilities became clear, but now seems like the perfect time to break free of her safe existence and start to really live. What she doesn’t realize is that the real world is more complicated and dangerous than she ever imagined it could be.”
A special interest in murder by Mette Ivie Harrison
“A brilliant neurodivergent female sleuth colliding with an FBI agent with a secret. A crime that is not all it seems. At 24 years old, Ada Latia used to be the youngest millionaire in the cosmetics industry. And, she used to be married. Now, she spends her time studying ways to communicate with aliens. After all, aliens could not possibly be more cruel or deceitful than other humans. Ada’s spiteful ex-husband Rex believes autistic people like her are monsters, so she’s not surprised when he calls her to share a clickbait article gleefully shouting that one autistic child has killed another at a special school in Idaho. Rex just means to hurt her, but when Ada reads the article, it’s not the lies about autism being fake that catch her eye: it’s a disturbing photograph of the dead child. The image of the girl is perfect – too perfect. As if someone has committed a murder, and then carefully staged the scene to cover it up. Ada reports her suspicions to the FBI, and the case crosses the desk of her old classmate Henry Bloodstone, who invites her to assist him. Ada’s not a trained investigator. It’s painful for her to come up against situations she’s not an expert in. She barely remembers Henry, even though it’s clear that he remembers her. But the death is a mystery – and Ada, who counts murder as one of her special interests, has never learned to let a mystery go.”
What about the bodies by Ken Jaworowski
“Three desperate lives are about to collide in Locksburg, Pennsylvania, a hard-edged, Rust Belt town. There, Carla, a single mom poised to finally break free from her cycle of poverty, must join with her son to hide the body of a classmate who died while with him. At the same time, Reed, an autistic young man, sets out on a journey to keep a deathbed promise. Along the way he’ll encounter both kindhearted residents and a cold-blooded nemesis. And Liz, an aspiring musician on the cusp of a breakthrough, needs to quickly come up with the cash she owes a brutal ex-con. If she can’t pay him, both her dream and her life will be in grave danger. In this small-town thriller, these three compelling characters intersect and the novel ignites into a story filled with explosive twists, hair-raising chills, and boundless love.”
American girl by Wendy Walker
“Charlie Hudson, an autistic 17-year-old, is determined to leave Sawyer, PA as soon as she graduates high school — in the meantime, she works as many hours as she can at a sandwich shop called The Triple S to save money for college. But when shop owner Clay Cooper — a man who is both respected and feared by many in this economically depressed community — is found dead, each member of his staff becomes a suspect in the perplexing case. Charlie must work to protect herself and her friends, and uncover the danger that may still be at large in their tightknit community. Based on the #1 bestselling audio, American Girl is a riveting thriller told through the eyes of an unforgettable protagonist.”
My kind of trouble by Leanne Schwartz
“Conwoman Harmony Hale has sold lies up and down California for years, never looking back at her crafty scams or one-night stands. Now she’s come to Brookville, California, with her sights set on its wealthy mayor–the man who stole her father’s music-streaming algorithm and ruined his life. Harmony is finally ready to take him down, with her trusty con of selling a nonexistent music festival. All she needs is the cooperation of the man who owns the potential festival site. Autistic librarian and piano teacher Preston Jones spends his days fighting book challengers trying to shut down his library programs. He’s responsible for raising his selectively nonspeaking little sister and needs to focus on keeping his job. He doesn’t have time for a romance like the ones in his books–and certainly none for the brassy festival promoter who wants to use his land for her “Coachella North.” Preston sees things in black and white, and he sees Harmony–amazing curves, flashy smile, and all–as nothing but trouble. But when Harmony promises to help him win the public over and save his youth programs, Preston finds himself wondering if this hustler with a heart of gold might be the someone he’s been waiting for. Soon things are getting steamy in the stacks, and with her con coming to a crescendo, Harmony needs to choose: revenge and running again or the happy ending she never saw coming.”
Switcheroo by E. J. Copperman
“New York private investigators – and super-sized, ever-so-slightly-paranormal siblings – Fran and Ken Stein are back in business. Thirty-two-year-old Austin Cobb is trying to find his birth parents to get an answer for a deeply rooted question: Was he put up for adoption because he’s on the autism spectrum? Fran and Ken personally know about abandonment, due to their parents leaving to keep them safe, hence the reason they founded K&F Stein Investigations. So naturally they want to help Austin and bring him good news. But the more the PI duo investigate, the more they find themselves in an entangled plot involving abduction, fraud and murder. Having their past catch up with them and posing a threat to their existence and their parents puts them into even more peril than they bargained for . . .”
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon
“Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor’s dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.”
Best boy by Eli Gottlieb
“A middle-aged autistic resident of a therapeutic community where he was sent as a young child rebels against changes in his environment by attempting to return to a family home and younger sibling he only partially remembers.”