Displays at Sawyer: March 2025 - Invisible Disabilities & Chronic Illness

A groundbreaking collection of first-person writing on the joys and challenges of the modern disability experience: Disability Visibility brings together the voices of activists, authors, lawyers, politicians, artists, and everyday people whose daily lives are, in the words of playwright Neil Marcus, "an art ... an ingenious way to live." According to the last census, one in five people in the United States lives with a disability. Some are visible, some are hidden--but all are underrepresented in media and popular culture. Now, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, activist Alice Wong brings together an urgent, galvanizing collection of personal essays by contemporary disabled writers.

Love has always intrigued me, in part because I have carried for a long time a feeling that I am doing love wrong.' Michael made a name for himself on the hit show Love on the Spectrum. After his televised first dating experiences, will he complete his quest to find his queen? Chloë was always good at maths, with feelings 'too big' to be contained. When she reconnects with her childhood boyfriend, it must be fate. Noor has had a lot on her plate from a young age, especially at home. People-pleasing becomes her survival mode, but Noor can't keep her struggles inside forever. Jess has spent a lifetime being put into different boxes. Through her strong will and creativity, can she break out and build a life that is truly her own? Tim is a non-speaking autistic man who has been underestimated all his life. But through willpower, technology and a mother's love, he has a chance of finding a different kind of voice. Through the intimate writing of critically acclaimed autistic author Kay Kerr, Love & Autism presents an uplifting celebration of neurodivergent love, the search for it and a deeper look into the lives of autistic Australians

A writer diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD as a child explores the toll the system takes on kids who are not "normal" and advocates for a revolution in the way society thinks about diversity, abilities, and disabilities

In this intimate and insightful mix of memoir and manifesto, Annie Kotowicz invites you inside the mind of an autistic woman, sharing the trials and triumphs of a life before and after diagnosis. How might it feel to be autistic? Why are autistic and non-autistic people so puzzling to one another? How does neuroscience explain the spectrum of autistic traits? And what could you discover about your own mind--neurotypical or neurodivergent--through learning about another? Drawing on popular stories from her blog Neurobeautiful--along with memories never shared before--Annie Kotowicz has created a nuanced analysis of her autistic thinking, an engaging guide to autistic thriving, and a beautiful celebration of autistic brains. What I Mean When I Say I'm Autistic will inspire autistic people and those who love them, offering help and hope to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the autism spectrum

Since the death of their parents, Aderyn ("Ryn") and her siblings have been scraping together a meager existence as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren, near a harsh and deadly mountain range that was once home to the fae. The problem with being a gravedigger in Colbren, though, is that the dead don't always stay dead. Risen corpses are known as "bone houses," and legend says that they're the result of a decades-old curse. When Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker, arrives in town, the bone houses attack with new ferocity. What is it that draws them-- and how can they be stopped for good?

"The Book of X tells the tale of Cassie, a girl born with her stomach twisted in the shape of a knot. From childhood with her parents on the family meat farm, to a desk job in the city, to finally experiencing love, she grapples with her body, men, and society, all the while imagining a softer world than the one she is in. Twining the drama of the everyday -- school-age crushes, paying bills, the sickness of parents -- with the surreal -- rivers of thighs, men for sale, and fields of throats -- Cassie's realities alternate to create a blurred, fantastic world of haunting beauty

Gilda, a twenty-something, atheist, animal-loving lesbian, cannot stop ruminating about death. Desperate for relief from her panicky mind and alienated from her repressive family, she responds to a flyer for free therapy at a local Catholic church, and finds herself being greeted by Father Jeff, who assumes she's there for a job interview. Too embarrassed to correct him, Gilda is abruptly hired to replace the recently deceased receptionist Grace. In between trying to memorize the lines to Catholic mass, hiding the fact that she has a new girlfriend, and erecting a dirty dish tower in her crumbling apartment, Gilda strikes up an email correspondence with Grace's old friend. She can't bear to ignore the kindly old woman, who has been trying to reach her friend through the church inbox, but she also can't bring herself to break the bad news. Desperate, she begins impersonating Grace via email. But when the police discover suspicious circumstances surrounding Grace's death, Gilda may have to finally reveal the truth of her mortifying existence.

Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. She's come up with seven directives to help her 'Get a Life', and she's already completed the first: finally moving out of her family's mansion. She's ready to enjoy a drunken night out, ride a motorcycle, and other adventures. But it's not easy being bad, and Chloe knows just the man to help her complete her list. Redford 'Red' Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and sex appeal, who paints at night but hides his work. When she enlists Red to help her rebel, she discovers what really lies beneath his rough exterior.

Edie is stumbling through her twenties -- sharing a subpar apartment, clocking in and out of her admin job, making a series of inappropriate sexual choices. She is also haltingly giving heat and air to the art that simmers insider her. And then she meets Eric, a man with a family in New Jersey, including a wife who has agreed to an open marriage -- with rules. Soon, Edie finds herself invited into Eric's home (not by Eric), where she becomes a de facto role model to his adopted daughter. Edie may be the only Black woman young Akila knows. Irresistibly unruly and strikingly beautiful, razor-sharp and slyly comic, sexually charged and utterly absorbing, Raven Leilani's Luster is a portrait of a young woman trying to make sense of her life -- her hunger, her anger -- in a tumultuous era. It is also a haunting, aching depiction of how hard it is to believe in your own talent, and of the unexpected influences that bring us into ourselves

"Anna is a regular teenaged girl ... But one day at track practice, Anna falls unconscious ... but instead of falling down, she falls up, defying gravity in the disturbing first symptom of a mysterious disease. Anna's world is turned upside down ... Her friends don't seem to understand, running track is out of the question, and the other kids at the disease clinic she attends once a week are a cruel reminder that things will never be the same

In 1655 sixteen-year-old Tania is the daughter of a retired musketeer, but she is afflicted with extreme vertigo and subject to frequent falls; when her father is murdered she finds that he has arranged for her to attend Madame de Treville's newly formed Académie des Mariées in Paris, which, it turns out, is less a school for would-be wives, than a fencing academy for girls--and so Tania begins her training to be a new kind of musketeer, and to get revenge for her father

After moving to Colorado, deaf seventeen-year-old Maya is forced to attend a hearing school, where she must navigate a new life and prove that her lack of hearing will not stop her from pursuing her dreams. Includes an interview with the author

A modern love story about two childhood friends, Sam, raised by an actress mother in LA's Koreatown, and Sadie, from the wealthy Jewish enclave of Beverly Hills, who reunite as adults to create video games, finding an intimacy in digital worlds that eludes them in their real lives, from the New York Times best-selling author of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

True biz? The students at the River Valley School for the Deaf just want to hook up, pass their history final, and have doctors, politicians, and their parents stop telling them what to do with their bodies. This revelatory novel plunges readers into the halls of a residential school for the deaf, where they'll meet Charlie, a rebellious transfer student who's never met another deaf person before; Austin, the school's golden boy, whose world is rocked when his baby sister is born hearing; and February, the headmistress, who is fighting to keep her school open and her marriage intact, but might not be able to do both at the same time. As a series of crises - both personal and political - threaten to unravel each of them, Charlie, Austin, and February find their lives inextricable from one another - and changed forever. This is a story of sign language and lip-reading, cochlear implants and civil rights, isolation and injustice, first love and loss, and, above all, great persistence, daring, and joy. Absorbing and assured, idiosyncratic and relatable, this is an unforgettable journey into the Deaf community and a universal celebration of human connection.

Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there's a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her best and most fearless friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett's son, Davis. Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts. In his long-awaited return, John Green, the acclaimed, award-winning author of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, shares Aza's story with shattering, unflinching clarity in this brilliant novel of love, resilience, and the power of lifelong friendship.

Endometriosis can be a complex, debilitating, and all-encompassing condition that impacts one's mental health, relationships, and career. It affects 1 in 10 women and girls across the globe, but even after receiving a diagnosis, many are still left in the dark about their condition. Murnane breaks through the misinformation and gives essential guidance, encouragement, and practical lifestyle tools to help those living with endo have more control and feel better in their bodies.

"In this much-needed guide, popular blogger Ilana Jacqueline writes poignantly about her experience living with two debilitating, yet invisible autoimmune diseases, and offers sound advice and practical tips for living with a chronic illness or disability that others can't see. Readers will learn to deal with doctors who don't understand, are of little or no help, or outright dismiss their condition. They will also learn how to navigate friendships, family, relationships, work, and school; overcome body image and self-esteem issues; become their own best advocate; create a support system; and live an engaged and values-driven life

A manifesto exploding what we think we know about disability, and arguing that disabled people are the real experts when it comes to technology and disability. When bioethicist and professor Ashley Shew became a self-described "hard-of-hearing chemo-brained amputee with Crohn's disease and tinnitus," there was no returning to "normal." Suddenly well-meaning people called her an "inspiration" while grocery shopping, or viewed her as a needy recipient of technological wizardry. Most disabled people don't want what the abled assume they want-nor are they generally asked. Why do abled people frame disability as an individual problem that calls for technological solutions, rather than a social one? In a warm, feisty, opinionated voice and vibrant prose, Shew shows how we can create better narratives and more accessible futures by drawing from the insights of the cross-disability community.

In Black Disability Politics Sami Schalk explores how issues of disability, broadly construed, have been and continue to be incorporated into Black activism, from the 1970s to the present. In so doing, she establishes a new lineage for disability politics, one that allows the work of contemporary Black disability justice activists to be central. Aiming to speak to both academic and activist audiences, Black Disability Politics identifies common qualities of Black disability politics and provides praxis-based approaches for enacting these politics in contemporary social justice work. Using the archives of the Black Panther Party and the National Black Women's Health Project alongside interviews with contemporary Black disabled cultural workers, Schalk argues that the work of Black disability politics not only exist, but are essential to the future of Black liberation movements

An essay collection that expands on Leah's bestselling book Care Work, centring and uplifting disability justice and care in the pandemic era. In The Future Is Disabled, Leah Laksmi Piepzna-Samarasinha asks some provocative questions: What if, in the near future, the majority of people will be disabled--and what if that's not a bad thing? And what if disability justice and disabled wisdom are crucial to creating a future in which it's possible to survive fascism, climate change, and pandemics and to bring about liberation?