Disability Visibility (Adapted for Young Adults): First-Person Stories for Today

Gr 7 Up–“This is the book I wish I had as a teenager,” disability rights activist Wong reveals, choosing 17 stories for this adaptation from the 37 in her 2020 original. As editor, Wong again reads her introduction. While none could dispute that Wong is a powerful activist, some listeners might be challenged in understanding her speech; having the print version beside would ensure not missing a word. Sarah Ann Masse and Anthony Michael Lopez take turns with the diverse essays that follow; both read with total empathy—Masse is an actor/comedian with invisible disabilities, Lopez is a queer disabled actor. Masse’s standouts include ciphering Haben Girma’s joy from replacing her cane with a guide dog—“imagine switching from a bicycle to a Tesla”—in “Guide Dogs Don’t Lead Blind People. We Wander as One.” Lopez is especially memorable in Eugene Grant’s “The Fearless Benjamin Lay: Activist, Abolitionist, Dwarf Person.”