What is InclusiviREAD?

InclusiviREAD is an interactive database meant for students, parents, and educators to find fiction books at an appropriate grade level where at least one primary or secondary character has a disability, is differently abled, or identifies as disabled. These books cover the gamut of genres and tropes, and whenever possible diverse characters—whether that diversity is represented in race, country of origin, sexual expression or orientation, religion, or another identity—are included.

InclusiviREAD was born out of a deep interest to provide an easily accessible and large database for people interested in including fictional characters with disabilities in their classrooms, nighttime reading schedule, or summer reading list (or anyone just looking for a good book!). It is NOT meant to speak for or in place of any person who has a disability, or to review books on their portrayal of disability. Self-advocacy and education remain two of the most important movements surrounding changing attitudes to persons with disabilities across the world, but we all have a lot more to do. Literature like the books included in InclusiviREAD can provide a great conversation starter for children. Just one character with a disability can affect how a child will view that disability in the “real world” for their entire life. We all have a responsibility to ensure that character has a voice that matters.

If you are specifically interested in reading reviews of some books included in the InclusiviREAD database, or if you would like to learn about the #ownvoices movement (coined by author Corinne Duyvis to underscore the significance of marginalized authors writing marginalized characters) go to Disability in Kidlit here and Duyvis’s website here.