Fast Five Fiction: ADHD Awareness Month

It's Friday and time for Fast Five Fiction! Each week I share five fiction books: new books, notable books, books around a common theme. October is ADHD Awarenss Month. The 2024 theme is Awareness is Key! and their hope is to increase awareness and understanding by sharing ADHD information and supports with all who could benefit. Though estimates on how many people have the condition vary, it's incredibly likely that someone you know has an ADHD diagnosis. Reading fiction can help readers understand and empathize with people who have ADHD, so today I'll be sharing 5 fantastic books featuring characters with ADHD. 

Click the title to be directed to the book in our catalog. Book descriptions are from Goodreads. 

Focused by Alyson Gerber

Clea can't control her thoughts. She knows she has to do her homework . . . but she gets distracted. She knows she can't just say whatever thought comes into her head . . . but sometimes she can't help herself. She knows she needs to focus . . . but how can she do that when the people around her are always chewing gum loudly or making other annoying noises?

It's starting to be a problem-not just in school, but when Clea's playing chess or just hanging out with her best friend. Other kids are starting to notice. When Clea fails one too many tests, her parents take her to be tested, and she finds out that she has ADHD, which means her attention is all over the place instead of where it needs to be.

Clea knows life can't continue the way it's been going. She's just not sure how you can fix a problem that's all in your head. But that's what she's going to have to do, to find a way to focus.

Hannah Edwards: Secrets of Riverway

This authentic ADHD reimagining of Hamlet is an unconventional take on a classic-that's also a mystery. 

Cheer on Hannah Edwards in this exciting mystery and relatable coming-of-age story about ADHD, friendship, school, and family. Hannah has a lot on her mind. Her father--the Canola King--is missing, and no one in her small town seems to care. With the support of her best friend Sam Castillo, and their sidekick Tim the Hall Monitor, Hannah embarks on a journey to solve the mystery of her father's disappearance. Along the way, she uncovers secrets that she records in her journal, confronts challenges in school due to her ADHD, talks to a ghost, and learns the true meaning of determination and friendship.

Button Pusher by Tyler Page

Tyler's brain is different. Unlike his friends, he has a hard time paying attention in class. He acts out in goofy, over-the-top ways. Sometimes, he even does dangerous things--like cut up a bus seat with a pocketknife or hang out of an attic window.

To the adults in his life, Tyler seems like a troublemaker. But he knows that he's not. Tyler is curious and creative. He's the best artist in his grade, and when he can focus, he gets great grades. He doesn't want to cause trouble, but sometimes he just feels like he can't control himself.

In Button Pusher, cartoonist Tyler Page uses his own childhood experiences to explore what it means to grow up with ADHD. From diagnosis to treatment and beyond, Tyler's story is raw and enlightening, inviting you to see the world from a new perspective.

A Perfect Mistake by Melanie Conklin

Max wishes he could go back in time to before he was diagnosed with ADHD, before he grew to be the tallest kid in his class, and before he and his best friends went into the woods in the middle of the night. Max doesn't remember what happened after he left his friends Will and Joey and the older kids who took them there. He's not sure if he wants to remember. Knowing isn't going to make Joey talk to him again, or bring Will out of his coma.

When the local authorities run out of leads, Max realizes that without his help, they may never know what really happened to Will. Charged by the idea that he may be the key to uncovering the truth, Max pairs up with classmate and aspiring journalist Sam to investigate what really happened that night. But not everyone in the community wants that night to be remembered.

Each Tiny Spark by Pablo Cartaya

Emilia Torres has a wandering mind. It's hard for her to follow along at school, and sometimes she forgets to do what her mom or abuela asks. But she remembers what matters: a time when her family was whole and home made sense. When Dad returns from deployment, Emilia expects that her life will get back to normal. Instead, it unravels.

Dad shuts himself in the back stall of their family's auto shop to work on an old car. Emilia peeks in on him daily, mesmerized by his welder. One day, Dad calls Emilia over. Then, he teaches her how to weld. And over time, flickers of her old dad reappear.

But as Emilia finds a way to repair the relationship with her father at home, her community ruptures with some of her classmates, like her best friend, Gus, at the center of the conflict.

Each Tiny Spark by Pablo Cartaya is a tender story about asking big questions and being brave enough to reckon with the answers.

Happy Friday and happy reading!