8 Books to Read During Autism Acceptance Month

Helen Hoang writes romances you won’t want to miss, and The Kiss Quotient is the perfect book for people who love women in STEM. It follows Stella Lane, a mathematician who develops algorithms to predict customer purchases, but while her job has provided her with plenty of money, her experience in the dating department is notably lacking — probably not helped by the fact that French kissing has no appeal to her whatsoever. So, she decides she needs practice which leads her to hire an escort, Michael, to help her learn kissing and more. It’s an excellent read, and if you haven’t read it yet, it deserves a place on your TBR ASAP! 

Also Available as an Audiobook 

This memoir is written by Mickey Rowe, the first autistic actor to play the lead role in the play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. His memoir is all about his experiences both in the theatre and life as an autistic man, theatre director, father, and husband, particularly, accomplishing the many things that people said he couldn’t do. This memoir is one of both obstacles and triumphs as he reminds readers that both autistic and non-autistic people alike should lean into the things that make them different because so often, those are their strengths. 

Also Available as an Audiobook 

If you want a thriller in an isolated cabin with a group of friends and a role-playing game gone awry, then you’ll want to check out Even If We Break. When five friends go to a cabin with secrets, history, and one person wanting to end it all, it turns out no one’s safe, especially when the lines between the game and reality start to blend, and in a devastating turn of events, the game turns deadly. This riveting read will keep you on the edge of your seat, and you won’t be able to put it down until you’ve finished it.  

Also Available as an Audiobook 

Queens of Geek is a YA book perfect for people who love fandoms and influencers/vloggers. It follows Charlie, a vlogger and actress who loves being in the spotlight. She’s promoting her first movie at SupaCon when Alyssa Huntington, Charlie’s longtime crush and internet-famous actress, shows up and Charlie finds that maybe her crush isn’t all that one-sided. It also follows Taylor, a girl who hates change and likes to blend in, and one certain thing in life is that her friendship with her best guy friend will never change, even if she secretly wants it to. An empowering novel, full of found family, this is one you definitely will want to check out!  

Also Available as an Audiobook 

A Kind of Spark follows 11-year-old Addie as she embarks on a campaign to pay tribute to the victims of the historic witch trials that took place in her town many years before. This powerful tale of a young autistic girl making her voice heard and changing the way people see her is a poignant reminder that there is always more to everyone’s story. 

Also Available as an Audiobook 

Vivy Cohen loves baseball, so much so that she’s tired of just playing catch and wants to join a real baseball team. However, her mom is worried that not only is she the only girl on the team, but she’s also the only autistic kid and insists she forgets about pitching. When Vivy’s social skills teacher asks her to write a letter to someone, she chooses to write to VJ Capello, a Major League pitcher. Much to her surprise, he writes back, AND a coach sees Vivy’s knuckleball and asks her to join his team. But when an accident causes her to be benched, Vivy must fight to stay on the team. Full of heart and determination, this is the perfect read for anyone who’s been told that they can’t do something. 

Also Available as an Audiobook 

Ten-year-old Benjamin Giroux believes that being odd is different, and different is good. This picture book brings his viral poem about living with autism to life with beautiful illustrations, and this affirmational book is perfect to read aloud with all kids to remind them that it’s okay to be different, in fact, it’s good to be different.  

For a fun picture book about sensory issues and learning to navigate life with them, Too Sticky!: Sensory Issues with Autism is the perfect choice. It follows Holly who loves experiments and learning new things in science class, but when she finds out that the next experiment is making slime, it makes her nervous because she doesn’t like anything sticky. So, with help from her family and her teacher, she gets the encouragement and accommodations needed to give slime a chance.