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The Framed Women of Ardemore House by Brandy Schillace
A neurodivergent, hyperlexic book editor, Jo Jones, taking possession of a possibly haunted family estate in North Yorkshire, finds herself at the center of a murder investigation when the groundskeeper is found dead and a family portrait goes missing, and to clear her name, she must unearth the town’s secrets–and her own.
Happiness Falls by Angie Kim
“We didn’t call the police right away.” Those are the first words of this extraordinary novel about a biracial Korean-American family in Virginia whose lives are upended when their beloved father and husband goes missing. Mia, the irreverent, hyper analytical twenty-year-old daughter, has an explanation for everything–which is why she isn’t initially concerned when her father and younger brother Eugene don’t return from a walk in a nearby park. They must have lost their phone. Or stopped for an errand somewhere. But by the time Mia’s brother runs through the front door bloody and alone, it becomes clear that the father in this tight-knit family is missing and the only witness is Eugene, who has the rare genetic condition Angelman syndrome and cannot speak. What follows is both a ticking-clock investigation into the whereabouts of a father and an emotionally rich portrait of a family whose most personal secrets just may be at the heart of his disappearance.
How to Dance by Jason B. Dutton
Nick Freeman works hard as the star of the weekly karaoke night at his bar, hoping his singing talent…will distract from his cerebral palsy. But one night at the bar, watching a professional dancer light up the dance floor with her boyfriend, he realizes that entertaining strangers will never give him a fraction of the joy he sees in this woman’s eyes. When Hayley Burke notices Nick’s reaction to her dancing, she urges him to acknowledge his passion and try a few moves himself…As Nick and Hayley fumble through misunderstanding into friendship, Hayley begins to enjoy Nick’s company more than that of her self-centered boyfriend. Nick tries to fight his attraction to Hayley, believing she deserves a dance partner who can move like her boyfriend does.
The Hearing Test by Eliza Barry Callahan
Diagnosed with Sudden Deafness, an artist in her late twenties keeps a record of her year-one filled with a series of fleeting and often humorous encounters–as she reorients her relationship to the world while living alone in a New York City studio apartment with her dog.
A Sign of Her Own by Sarah Marsh
Ellen Lark is on the verge of marriage when she and her fiancé receive an unexpected visit from Alexander Graham Bell. Ellen is deaf and for a time she was Bell’s student learning visible speech. During their lessons, Bell also confided in her about his dream of producing a device that would transmit the human voice along a wire: the telephone. Now, on the cusp of wealth and renown, Bell wants Ellen to speak up in support of his claim to the patent of the telephone, which is being challenged by rival inventors. But Ellen has a different story to tell: that of how Bell betrayed her and other deaf pupils in pursuit of his own ambition. Ellen knows that this is her one opportunity to tell the true story–her story–but to do so will risk her engagement, her future prospects and her mother’s last wish for her.
Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin
Meet Enid: a lesbian who’s a serial dater and deaf in one ear. She works at The Space Agency as an information architect, and when she’s not obsessing over true crime podcasts, she’s managing her crippling phobia of bald people. While she tries not think about her teenage years, she can’t seem to stop obsessively watching her childhood YouTube channel. But as Enid fumbles her way through her first serious relationship and navigates a new family life with her estranged half-sisters, she starts to worry that someone is following her. As her paranoia starts to take over her life, and the personal growth she’s worked to achieve, she gradually discovers the one thing she can’t outrun-herself. Brimming with Emily Austin’s signature style, charming characters, and irresistible humor, Interesting Facts about Space will remind you to treasure the relationships you hold most dear, and will offer hope to those who seek to connect in ways they never thought to be possible.
Next of Kin by Hannah Bonam-Young
Two bickering strangers trying to foster their younger siblings team up to create a stable home, but the chemistry between them threatens to undo their plans. When people-pleasing Chloe learns that her birth mother has unexpectedly had another baby, she doesn’t hesitate to become a next-of-kin guardian. But when she fails to pass Child Protective Services’ financial evaluation, she is faced with a see her baby sister placed in foster care or participate in CPS’s new initiative, where two prospective guardians join households to qualify. Enter Warren, a surly mechanic’s apprentice attempting to get custody of his deaf fifteen-year-old brother. From the moment Warren drives up thirty minutes late, blasting music out of his car, Chloe is convinced that this is a very bad idea. The two immediately clash but eventually agree to live together for the sake of their younger siblings. As their lives intertwine, and Chloe adjusts to caring for her newborn sister, she begins to see a new, softer side of Warren. In fact, they’re far more similar than she could have imagined. What started as forced begins to feel natural–and far less lonely. Chemistry soon intensifies beyond what either of them can stand, but is their mutual attraction worth risking everything they’ve fought for?
Noor by Nnedi Okorafor
Anwuli Okwudili prefers to be called AO. To her, these initials have always stood for Artificial Organism. AO has never really felt…natural, and that’s putting it lightly. Her parents spent most of the days before she was born praying for her peaceful passing because even in-utero she was “wrong.” But she lived. Then came the car accident years later that disabled her even further. Yet instead of viewing her strange body the way the world views it, as freakish, unnatural, even the work of the devil, AO embraces all that she is: a woman with a ton of major and necessary body augmentations. And then one day she goes to her local market and everything goes wrong. Once on the run, she meets a Fulani herdsman named DNA and the race against time across the deserts of Northern Nigeria begins. In a world where all things are streamed, everyone is watching the “reckoning of the murderess and the terrorist” and the “saga of the wicked woman and mad man” unfold. This fast-paced, relentless journey of tribe, destiny, body, and the wonderland of technology revels in the fact that the future sometimes isn’t co predictable. Expect the unaccepted.
Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young
Winnifred “Win” McNulty has always been wildly independent and not one to be coddled for her limb difference. Win has spent most of her life trying to prove that she can do it all on her own. With some minor adjustments, she’s done just fine. Then a one-night stand at a costume party with the incredibly charming Bo changes everything. Win finds herself pregnant–and decides to keep it. While Bo is surprisingly elated to step up to the plate, Win is unsure of whether she can handle this new challenge. Together, Win and Bo decide to get to know one another as friends and nothing more while they embark on this parenting journey together. But, as they both should know by now, life rarely goes according to plan.
To find more great books go to our book recommendation page and browse book lists created by the librarians at Robbins.