In honor of Autism Awareness Month here are four book recommendations by Autistic authors:

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean 

According to.goodreads.com/-the-book-eaters, this fantasy book is about a secret line of people for whom books are food, and retain all of a book’s content after eating it. Devon is part of The Family, an old and reclusive clan of book eaters. 

Devon learns when her son is born that he has a rare kind of hunger, not for books, but for human minds. 

Liquid City by Andi C. Buchanan

According to .goodreads.com/-liquid-city, this novella is about a teenager named Casp Alkin who was abandoned on a strange planet who earns a living transporting cargo through the ancient tunnels that lie beneath the industrial Liquid City. Casp embarks on an increasingly dangerous journey. But they quickly find that success will mean an end to the livelihoods of the tunnel folk who have become their family, destroying the community which has relied on the tunnels for generations. 

Casp has little hope of saving the tunneling industry. Some believe that humans weren’t the first to inhabit this isolated planet, and what they find will shift the balance of power in Liquid City forever.   

This is the Way the World Ends by Jen Wilde

According to .goodreads.com/-this-is-the-way-the-world-ends this novel is about an autistic girl named Waverly who goes to the prestigious Webber Academy in New York City. While at the school’s masquerade she accidentally witnessed a meeting and a murder. Before she can escape or contact the authorities, a mysterious global blackout puts the entire party on lockdown. Waverly’s fairy tale has turned into a nightmare, and she must navigate through a dizzying maze of freight elevators, secret passageways, and back rooms if she’s going to survive the night.

The Solitary Rose by Anne Rollins

According to.goodreads.com/-the-solitary-rose, this novel is about Henry Dawson, a sorcerer and apothecary assistant, who works to support his mother and younger siblings after his father’s investments and consequent death leave them penniless. Emma Ainsworth fears smallpox scars and her hypersensitivity makes her ineligible for marriage. Sheltered by her aunt and uncle, she has withdrawn from most social life. When a serious injury confines Henry to Emma’s estate for the summer, a verbal duel ensues, Emma wants to test her empathy in a sexual relationship and not marry him.

What neither admits is their fear that passion might burn them both.