About/FAQ
Welcome to Diabetes in Fiction! This site was created in 2018 as a reaction to the multitude of short and scattered lists of books with diabetic representation across the internet. On this site, we’re endeavoring to compile a list of any and all fiction books that contain at least one character with diabetes.
On each book’s page, you’ll find a cover image and summary, the book’s publication year, the type of diabetes represented, the story’s age group and genres, a summary of how diabetes is represented, and links to the book’s pages on Goodreads and The Storygraph.
If you’re interested in browsing the available books by any of the above information, click the search button at the top of your screen and narrow the results based on your preferences.
Which books can be included?
To be included on this website, the only necessary requirements are for the story being told to be fictional (as in, no memoirs, biographies, self-help books, or other categories considered to be non-fiction) and for them to include at least one character with any type of diabetes, even if the character has a very small role in the story. As for the types of books included, most are novels, though we also include novellas, short story collections, comics, and graphic novels.
I don’t think diabetes is represented well in one of the books listed.
That’s completely fair! Because every diabetic’s experience is unique, whether or not a story’s representation is “good” is subjective. You may not agree with how diabetes is represented in every book listed on this site. Our goal with this site is not to make a judgement call and say that every book contains accurate and well-represented diabetic characters. Our goal is simply to compile any and all representation together in one spot so that, hopefully, you might stumble upon a book you sincerely love.
Can I submit a book? What if I find an error on the site?
We’d LOVE for you to send in a title that we’re missing from this collection! To do so, use the Suggest a Book form. Titles are constantly being added as we discover them, and submissions help us tremendously.
We’d also very much appreciate hearing from you if you happen to notice an error anywhere on the site, whether an incorrect type of diabetes listed for a book, a misspelling, or anything else. You can use the Report an Issue or Reach Out form.
The Creators
Kelsey Geller has had type 1 diabetes since May 2016, a month before she turned 22. She started Diabetes in Fiction in 2018 due to her love of books and desire to find a story with a diabetic character to whom she could relate. In her everyday life, she works as a catalog librarian.
Eric Wilhite does not have diabetes, but he does have chronic migraines, ADHD, and anxiety. He co-created Diabetes in Fiction with Kelsey Geller due to him FINALLY finding the time to use his skills to bring her true vision for the site to life. In his everyday life, he works in the Registrar’s Office at a university.