(LAST UPDATED: 10/27/24)
Anyone who deals with a chronic illness and/or disability knows that some days it can definitely feel like you're living in a horror novel.
If someone told me that I didn't actually have gastroparesis (a paralyzed stomach) but in fact a necromancer had cut me open at birth and given me a zombie's stomach and THAT'S why I can't digest normal food because I actually need to be eating brains, well...I don't think I'd be any better off, actually, but it might be more comforting than a doctor looking me in the eye and saying, "We don't know what caused it. We don't know how to fix it. It is what it is."
(Side note: I've always wondered how zombies digest brains. Do their stomachs still work? Do some zombies have gastroparesis? Do they have to blend up brain smoothies to make it easier to digest? I think I see a new story in my future...)
And the idea of living in a fantasy world where maybe there is a mystical potion that can manage symptoms better than any real-world medication is incredibly appealing.
There is something horrifically wholesome and magically moving about horror and fantasy books that embrace chronic illness and disability in their main characters. ESPECIALLY in middle grade fiction.
Kids who grow up chronically ill and disabled need this. The adults they become need this. I needed this so badly growing up, and it's why I started writing my spooky fantasy series, The Stormwatch Diaries, when I was 12 years old. My stories were my safe place to process all the scary things that were going on inside (and outside) my body.
You might be asking: Is there disability and chronic illness representation in my books?
The simple answer is: yes. The slightly more complex answer is: my characters have a mix of disabilities/chronic illnesses that are from their world as well as ours, and this continues to develop throughout the series. The Stormwatch Diaries revolves around kids and teens who have "unstable magic," which is a severe disability in this world and something I know readers with disabilities and chronic illnesses of all shapes and sizes have been able to see themselves in. Rose and Marek, our main characters, both have unstable magic. They are also both autistic, Rose deals with a variety of mental health conditions, and Marek has intermittent blindness.
For me as a kid and teen, fantasy and horror novels were the perfect place for me to explore my fears about my disability and chronic illnesses. Even to find comfort and the beginnings of acceptance and pride in who I am.
It's to that end that I've created this ongoing list of disabled and/or chronically ill characters in middle grade horror and fantasy books. So without further ado...
NOT QUITE A GHOST
Genre: Horror
Disabled/Chronically Ill Character: Violet, main character/protagonist
Disability/Chronic Illness: Autoimmune disease
Author: Anne Ursu
Is the Disabled/Chronically Ill? Yes
Synopsis:
The house seemed to sit apart from the others on Katydid Street, silent and alone, like it didn’t fit among them. For Violet Hart—whose family is about to move into the house on Katydid Street—very little felt like it fit anymore. Like their old home, suddenly too small since her mother remarried and the new baby arrived. Or Violet’s group of friends, which, since they started middle school, isn’t enough for Violet’s best friend, Paige. Everything seemed to be changing at once. But sometimes, Violet tells herself, change is okay.
That is, until Violet sees her new room. The attic bedroom in their new house is shadowy, creaky, and wrapped in old yellow wallpaper covered with a faded tangle of twisting vines and sickly flowers. And then, after moving in, Violet falls ill—and does not get better. As days turn into weeks without any improvement, her family growing more confused and her friends wondering if she’s really sick at all, she finds herself spending more time alone in the room with the yellow wallpaper, the shadows moving in the corners, wrapping themselves around her at night.
And soon, Violet starts to suspect that she might not be alone in the room at all.
THE ODDS
Genre: Fantasy
Disabled/Chronically Ill Character: Begonia, main character/protagonist
Disability/Chronic Illness: Chronic pain
Author: Lindsay Puckett
Is the Author Disabled/Chronically Ill? Yes
Synopsis:
Begonia has waited her whole life to be adequately odd.
Sure, she’s the only child resident of a floundering nursing home, has fifty-three magical grandparents, and suffers from debilitating chronic pain, but Begonia doesn’t have an Oddity yet—her magical quirk—which makes her an outsider even among the oddballs. Worst of all, if her powers don’t arrive by her eleventh birthday, she’ll be exiled, losing the only home and family she’s ever known.
When Begonia learns there’s a magical object that can reveal her Oddity, she’ll lie, sneak, steal, and even brave the soul-sucking ghoul attacking the residents one by one to find it. But along her quest, she might discover more than she bargained for: the dangers of letting abilities—and disabilities—define her.
THE LUMBERING GIANTS OF WINDY PINES
Genre: Horror, mystery
Disabled/Chronically Ill Character: Jerry, main character/protagonist
Disability/Chronic Illness: Mobility aid
Author: Gabe Netz
Is the Author Disabled/Chronically Ill? Yes
Synopsis:
Ever since her dad died, 11-year-old Jerry Blum and her mom have bounced around dead-end towns, staying in a series of rundown motels where her mother picks up housekeeping work and Jerry can get around in her wheelchair.
But the Slumbering Giant motel is different. Lights blink on and off in the surrounding trees, a mysterious radio station plays only at midnight, and people disappear into the woods, never to been seen again. Not to mention that Jerry’s mom keeps vanishing to do “special work” that she refuses to discuss. When her mother doesn’t come home one morning, Jerry springs into action.
Luckily, she’s not alone. Paul, a pocket-size imaginary dragon, and Chapel, a new friend with a penchant
ACCIDENTAL DEMONS
Genre: Fantasy
Disabled/Chronically Ill Character: Ber, main character/protagonist
Disability/Chronic Illness: Diabetes
Author: Clare Edge
Is the Author Disabled/Chronically Ill? Yes
Synopsis:
Conjuring demons seems like something you should totally not be able to do by accident, right? Well, normally it isn’t. But Bernadette Crowley is the perfect storm of magical accidents.
For the youngest in a long line of witches, demons used to be no big deal. A spell and a quick prick of the finger, and a witch like Ber could summon a demon to do anything she needed—clean a mess, send a message, you name it.
But that was before Ber was diagnosed with diabetes. Now each time she tests her blood sugar, accidental demons are slipping into the human dimension…and causing absolute chaos.
Good thing Ber and her older sister, Maeve, know that every magical problem has a magical solution. They’ll just conjure a low-order demon to monitor her blood sugar! Bonus: they only have to bend one or two teeny, tiny rules. But before they know it, they’ve stumbled into deeper, more mysterious magic than they ever could have predicted. And soon it’s not just Ber’s magic but her entire coven that’s in danger.
SPLINTER AND ASH
Genre: Fantasy
Disabled/Chronically Ill Character: Ash, main character/protagonist
Disability/Chronic Illness: Diabetes
Author: Marieke Nijkamp
Is the Author Disabled/Chronically Ill? Yes
Synopsis:
Ash--or Princess Adelisa--is the youngest child of the queen, recently returned to the city of Kestrel's Haven after spending six years on the other side of the country. Ash was hoping for a joyous reunion, but the reality is far from it. Her mother is holding the kingdom together by a thread; her brother has only taunts and jibes for her; and court is full of nobles who openly mock and dismiss Ash, who uses a cane and needs braces to strengthen her joints.
Splinter is the youngest child of one of Haven's most prominent families. She's fierce, determined, and adventurous, and she has her sights set on becoming a knight just like her older brother. Even if everyone says she can't because she's not a boy. So what? She's not a girl, either.
A chance encounter throws Ash and Splinter into each other's orbits and changes the course of the kingdom's history. The princess and her new squire will face bullies, snobs, gossips, and their own disapproving families. But when they uncover a shadowy group of nobles plotting to overthrow the queen, they will show everyone how legends are born. Together.
Do you have a middle grade fantasy or horror recommendation featuring a disabled and/or chronically ill character? Please drop me a note!
This list will continue to be updated as more books come out!
Kristiana Sfirlea is the author of the award-winning spooky fantasy series for kids and teens, The Stormwatch Diaries. Cute and creepy comfort reads are their trademark.
Kristiana's dream is creating safe places for young readers and writers to explore their experiences through the power of storytelling. As a disabled, queer, autistic author of faith, Kristiana has found the safest place in their books. Their greatest joy is when readers do the same.