(LAST UPDATED: 10/18/24)
"Your special interest is cute and spooky things, isn't it?"
Truer words have never been spoken to me. I'm obsessed with all things scary and adorable and magical. And I could explode with happiness when those things come together in books with characters who experience the world like I do: through autistic eyes.
So I decided to put my special interest to good use and create this master list of middle grade books led by autistic characters in my favorite genres: horror and fantasy!
But first, a little note on my own experience being diagnosed as autistic while writing my series, The Stormwatch Diaries.
I was formally diagnosed with autism in July 2023. The evaluation didn't end after I finished my appointment. I started evaluating EVERYTHING in my life...my characters included. As I began understanding and accepting myself, it was an absolute joy to realize that all the things that I had struggled to mask for so many years were alive and well in my characters, Rose and Marek. It was in them and in writing their stories that I had allowed my autistic traits to thrive and be free and celebrated. And I love them so much for it.
Rose and Marek have not officially (as in, not on the page) been acknowledged as autistic because I have not finished writing/published a new book in their series since being diagnosed. But with this new knowledge about myself and my favorite legend seekers/part-time ghost hunters/time travelers, I will be making it a part of their story in the second half of the series.
So without further ado, let's take a look at autistic characters in middle grade horror and fantasy books...
THE STORMWATCH DIARIES
Genre: Fantasy, horror, humor
Autistic Characters: Rose and Marek, main characters/protagonists
Author: Kristiana Sfirlea
Is the Author Autistic? Yes
Synopsis:
Thirteen-year-old Rose Skylar sneezed a magical storm cloud at birth, and it’s followed her around ever since. But when Stormy causes too many disasters, Rose is taken to Heartstone Asylum, a place for kids with unstable magic. Its location? A legendary forest where ghosts roam and the trees have mysteriously turned to stone.
Guided by time traveling letters, Rose teams up with her future selves and her possibly imaginary but definitely magical best friend,
Marek, to save her storm cloud and solve the
mystery of the specters and the stone trees.
But will they find what killed the ghosts before what killed the ghosts finds them?
THE GIRL IN THE WALLS
Genre: Horror, novel-in-verse
Autistic Character: V, main character/protagonist
Author: Meg Eden Kuyatt
Is the Author Autistic? Yes
Synopsis:
After a hard school year, V has been sent to her Grandma Jojo's house for the summer in order to get away from it all. But unlike neurodivergent, artistic, sock-collecting V, Jojo is uptight, critical, and obsessed with her spotless house. She doesn't get V at all. V is sure she's doomed to have the worst summer ever.
Then V starts hearing noises from inside the walls of the house...
Knocks, the sounds of a girl crying, and voices echoing in the night.
When V finds a ghostly girl hiding in the walls, they seem to have an immediate connection. This might be V's chance to get back at her perfect grandmother by messing with her just a little bit.
But the buried secrets go much deeper -- and are much more dangerous -- than V even suspects. And they threaten to swallow her and her family whole if she can't find a way to uncover the truth of the girl before it's too late.
THE OJJA-WOJJA
Genre: Horror, mystery, graphic novel
Autistic Character: Val, main character/protagonist
Author: Magdalene Visaggio
Is the Author Autistic? Yes
Illustrator: Jenn St-Onge
Synopsis:
Welcome to Bolingbroke. It's a small town just like any other . . . or so eighth graders Val and Lanie think. They’re the best of best friends—they love the same comics, they watch the same shows, and they’re always there for each other. Which is important when you’re queer, like Lanie, or on the spectrum, like Val, and just don’t seem to fit in anywhere.
When a school project about their hometown’s supernatural history leads to a for-real ghost sighting, Val and Lanie realize Bolingbroke might not be as boring as they’d always thought. But after a run-in with the resident middle school queen bee (who also happens to be Lanie’s former friend), they decide to take things to the next level . . . and accidentally summon the Ojja-Wojja, a demonic presence connected to a slew of mysterious tragedies throughout Bolingbroke’s sordid history.
Now all heck has broken loose. With the whole town acting weird and nowhere left to turn, it’s going to be up to Val, Lanie, and their small group of friends to return things to normal—if “normal” is even something they want to return to.
VIVI CONWAY AND THE SWORD OF LEGEND
Genre: Fantasy
Autistic Character: Vivi, main character/protagonist
Author: Lizzie Huxley-Jones
Is the Author Autistic? Yes
Synopsis:
The lake has been calling to twelve-year-old Vivi Conway. On the day she and her Mams will move from Wales to London, she sneaks out to investigate what is calling her there. Instead of a quiet swim, she finds Excalibur (much smaller than she expected), a ferocious monster (much scarier in real life than in her mythology books), a new friend (which she doesn’t want at all) called Dara and a ghostly dog named Gelert (who can talk).
Gelert insists that Vivi is part of a magical group of children who share the souls of witches from legend and must protect the world from being taken over by the evil King Arawn of the Otherworld. Oh, and now she can magically control water. With a little extra help from spiky Stevie and sweet-hearted Chia, Vivi must come to terms with her magical destiny and be brave enough to embrace true friendship.
THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ALICE TONKS
Genre: Fantasy, mystery
Autistic Character: Alice, main character/protagonist
Author: Emily Kenny
Is the Author Autistic? Yes
Synopsis:
Alice Tonks would love to make friends at boarding school. And, being autistic, she just wants people to accept her for who she is. But after a rather strange encounter with a talking seagull on her first day, she suddenly has a new challenge and a lot of questions. Animals are going missing and Alice can’t solve the mystery alone. With new friends
behind her, can Alice harness her magic
powers and become the hero she never
imagined?
THE LONELY BELOW
Genre: Horror
Autistic Character: Eva, main character/protagonist
Author: G. Haron Davis
Is the Author Autistic? Yes
Synopsis:
Eva doesn't love being the new girl at school, but she doesn't hate it either. Thanks to her mom's job, her family is used to moving around. But Blythe Academy isn't a normal school. The teachers are all strange and insular, like they're hiding something from the students . . . .
And of course, there are the ghosts. Eva's new friend Ami tells her the story -- Blythe Academy has always felt haunted, but fifty years ago part of the school collapsed, killing a classroom of students and their teacher. Things haven't been the same since.
To most students it's just a scary story. But it's not long until Eva is having her own terrifying run-ins with the ghosts, and they seem to be trying to communicate with her. Soon she's having unnerving visions that seem to predict another collapse. Add in suddenly having to move into the dorms and her classmates finding out she's autistic before she's ready to tell them and Eva is completely overwhelmed.
Eva wants to tell people about her suspicion -- she doesn't think the collapse was just a tragic accident. It was caused by a malevolent force, and that force is back and hungry for more. As time begins to run out, will Eva be able to discover the truth of Blythe Academy and save lives ...or will it be too late?
IZZY AT THE END OF THE WORLD
Genre: Dystopian (hey, it's horror-adjacent!)
Autistic Character: Izzy, main character/protagonist
Author: K.A. Reynolds
Is the Author Autistic? Yes
Synopsis:
Ever since Izzy Wilder's mom died, she's wanted life to feel normal. She plays video games with her little sister, helps her grandparents around the house, and takes care of her best dog, Akka. But losing her mom is far from normal, and for Izzy, who is autistic, it feels like the end of the world.
When mysterious lights flash across the mountains outside Izzy's house one night, and suddenly everyone except her and Akka seem to have disappeared in an instant, Izzy is more alone than ever. But Izzy is a fighter and she won't lose anyone else in her family, even if it means battling terrifying gray, ugly monsters and decoding cryptic messages that seem a lot like her mom talking to her from beyond the grave.
Do you have a middle grade fantasy or horror recommendation featuring an autistic 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.