What book(s) inspired you, or had a role in catalyzing you, to make a big life change? Whether that be embracing a part of your identity, validating an experience that allowed you to share it with others for the first time, led you to studying something in university or going into a particular career, that made you realize that something was possible and that you wanted it 💖

Here are some of mine:

All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (2015): my name change to Violet is partially due to the character in this book. It meant a lot to me when I read it at 15. It also illustrated to me the impact of suicide loss on loved ones and helped me see why I could not make permanent choices while experiencing SI as a young mentally ill traumatized person.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (1999): made me appreciate the importance of asking for help.

Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, and Liberation by Eli Clare (1999) and Sins Invalid’s Skin Tooth & Bone a Disability Justice Primer (2019): read for a disability studies course my freshman year of university and knew I was going to be studying Critical Disability Studies.

Tender Points by Amy Berkowitz (2015): made me realize that I had fibromyalgia and helped me ask the right questions to my doctor to get the care I need.

I Have The Right To by Chessy Prout & Jenn Abelson (2018) and If My Body Could Speak by Blythe Baird (2019): made me feel very seen as a survivor and feminist and made me a better activist and advocate.

The Turnaway Study by Diana Greene Foster (2020), You or Someone You Love: Reflections from an Abortion Doula by Hannah Matthews (2023) and Liberating Abortion: Claiming Our History, Sharing Our Stories, and Building the Reproductive Future We Deserve byRenee Bracey Sherman & Regina Mahone (2024): helped cement my certainty that I want to work in the field of sexual and reproductive healthcare.

Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity by Devon Price (2022): helped adult me understand my neurodivergence so much better and the ways I was failed as a child because I was gendered as a girl. I recommended it to my mom (who had similar experiences to me) and it brought us closer.