Books About Stuttering or by People Who Stutter

Ages 9-15

Stucley, Elizabeth (1961) The Contrary Orphans New York: Franklin Watts.
"...A wonderful story about the nature of children and, more generally, about the challenge of survival. . . . Frankie becomes fluent as a result of breathing exercises and changing his attitude about the world. This book is a joy to read because it contains genuine and thoughtful observations about children living together and coping with reality." (Bushey and Martin, 1988)
Brown, Alan and Forsberg, Grant (1989) Lost Boys Never Say Die. New York: Delacorte Press

Scheduled to go to camp to work on his stuttering problem while his parents go off to the Arctic, Lewis surreptitiously steals back into his house where he lives a secret life for eight weeks, meeting a new friend who is camping in a nearby woods and who involves Lewis in acting and a new approach to his speech problem and to life. Interesting reading. Discusses feeling and attitudes about growing up and being teased. (Warmka)

Ages 13-15

Arthur, Ruth (1979) Miss Ghost New York: Atheneum.
"Stuttering is referred to as stammering in this story, and although Elphie does not stutter often, it is clearly a cause of dismay when her 'wretched stammer' occurs. Elphie stutters during painful or difficult conversations. . . . She refers to stuttering as something that happens to her, not as something that she does." (Bushey and Martin, 1988)
Bowler, Tim (1994) Midget Oxford University Press.
This is about a fifteen year old boy who stutters.
Watson, Sally (1966) Other Scandals New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
"This story is about racial and ethnic prejudice and about the misery of self-pity. Good humor and real insight, however, save the story from becoming tedious and sermon-like." (Bushey and Martin, 1988)

Ages 13-18

Lee, Mildred (1969) The Skating Rink New York: Seabury Press.
"This book is rich in detailed descriptions of stuttering and the experience of being a stutter. Common theories and superstitions about stuttering are woven into the story." (Bushey and Martin, 1988)
Mathy, Margaret (1984) The Change Over New York: Margaret C. McElderry Book.
"This book is. . . an interesting and exciting story. Stuttering is mainly a device used by the author to give (the main character) a distinctly human frailty and to indicate when the young man was under an emotional strain. Importantly, (he) is not a weak character, as are many stutterers in fictional literature. (He) is romantically attractive, and no more or less insecure than most young me. He is not overly embarrassed by his stuttering. The very unimportance of stuttering in this story adds to the book's positive emotional impact." (Bushey and Martin, 1988)
Page, Terry and Love, Bob, Bob "Butterbean" Love Story, Publisher: Boo Books (1-800-205-1140)
The story of a professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls.
Pratchett, Terry Equal Rites Corgi Books ISBN 0-552-13105-9.
Pratchetts books appear to be very popular among teenagers. It is a fantasy book. The stammering character is called Simon. He is not the major character but is quite important.

*Several of the books are more thoroughly reviewed in the following article, which has been quoted extensively above:
Bushey, Tahirih and Martin, Richard. Stuttering in children's literature. LSHSS, 1988 Vol 19 #3 pp 235-250.

last modified January 16, 1997