Maybe your child thinks and feels a little differently and needs to see themselves in a book — or maybe they have a sibling, a classmate, or a friend whose brain works its own way, and want to understand them. Reach for the one book that fits your child right now, by their age and by what's going on. Most of these are written by autistic and ADHD authors, so your child meets neurodivergent characters drawn from the inside, as the heroes of their own stories, never as a lesson someone else has to learn. Start with the gentlest if you're unsure, and pick up whichever one matches the child in front of you.
This is a browse-by-situation shelf: any one book satisfies the path, they don't build on one another, and there's no required order, so pick by your child's age and what's happening. 'A Boy Called Bat' is flagged as the place to start if you're unsure, because it's the gentlest and youngest, an autistic boy and a baby skunk, with the word autism never even needed. 'Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen!' is the one for a baseball-loving or reluctant reader, told in fast, funny letters. 'Focused' is the reassurance for a child with ADHD who's decided they're just lazy. 'Can You See Me?' is the mirror for an autistic child who masks all day and comes home wrung out. 'Rain Reign' is the deepest and most tender, for a child ready to feel something real. And 'A Kind of Spark' is the fiercest, a short, sharp book for the oldest readers about difference and injustice. Five of the six are own-voices, written by autistic or ADHD authors. 'Rain Reign' is the exception, a caring outside portrait, and a lovely one, worth naming as such.