Piepzna-Samarasinha is the author of my all-time favorite poetry book, Bodymap, so I’m excited to dive into their newest collection. These poems were written over five years of pandemic lockdown, mourning the friends and comrades they lost during that time, many as a result of systemic bigotry. It’s also a celebration of the ways that disabled people love each other, especially during this “time of pandemic fascist grief and possibility.”

Ellie has a perfectly crafted life: as long as she says all the right things and dates the right guy, no one will make fun of her for being autistic. Then, her boyfriend dumps her, and her carefully curated reputation falls down around her. Beach volleyball camp is supposed to be a chance for her to fix this—and win back the guy—but instead, she’s paired with Sierra, and the more time they spend together, the further Ellie’s plan goes astray.

Ryan O’Connell is the Emmy-winning creator of the Netflix series Special. In these essays, he discusses growing up gay and with cerebral palsy as well as how he got his start as a writer in NYC online media. Between essays about dealing with addiction and learning to love himself, he also asks the age-old question,”Are straight people okay?”, extols the joys of being gay on vacation, and chronicles his sexual misadventures. These essays are perfect for fans of Samantha Irby and David Sedaris.

In this YA graphic novel, Rhys is nervous about starting university, and not just because he’s queer. He has prosopagnosia (face blindness), and meeting so many new people at once is intimidating. Luckily, one of the people he meets is Malcolm, who is sweet and caring. He makes Rhys feel like he can open up to him about his disability. If you’re looking for a cute M/M graphic novel with disability and asexual representation, pick up A Smile Like Yours.

The next three books may not be out in time to read for Disability Pride Month, but this is a great excuse to preorder them. Ampersand Organ: a more-than-human lyric is a poetry collection that explores the revolutionary potential of the ampersand: “These ampersands move by associative leap, synesthetic braid, and inter-species blur to revel in everything that makes us more than singular subjects. Neuroqueering poetics, rhodes writes toward deft and loving excess: spillage, echolalia, stutter, loop, and non-linear detour, refiguring what the lyric can be and what the body can do.”

Emerson Whitney’s relationship with their mother was always fraught. Their childhood unfolded around their mother’s addiction and heartbreaks. Getting away as an adult was a chance to catch a breath. But eventually, overwork and a chronic disorder forced their body to the breaking point, and Emerson returned home, hoping for support from their mother and to rebuild a relationship. Instead, their mother kept them at a distance. When Emerson learns about her suicide, they struggle to put together the pieces of their mother’s life, leading to their own journey of self-acceptance and diagnosis.

In this aromantic and asexual YA fantasy retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood,” Arden, who is blind, cares for her grandmother in the woods. She doesn’t believe in witches. That is, until she’s rescued from a wolf attack by Myra, the last remaining witch in the forest. Their friendship soon becomes a foundational relationship for both of them, but the Queen’s hunter is in the woods as well, determined to capture a witch.