The mystical, arcane beings who dwell at the very core of the book-mines of Te Pātaka (you may know them as ‘cataloguers’) were overjoyed to have received a fresh offering last week — a beautiful box of brand-new dyslexia-friendly books for teens. They were so gosh-darn purdy we just had to share them with you:

Don’t they look so enticing?!

What makes a book dyslexia-friendly, you may be wondering? Well, it’s a combination of a few different factors:

• Use of a dyslexia-friendly font like OpenDyslexic
• Generous line spacing (usually at least 1.5x spacing) to prevent pages from becoming too cluttered
• Printed on off-white, heavier paper, usually with a tint of a warm colour like yellow or orange — evidence suggests this reduces visual stress for some readers

You can find these books on the shelf at your local library by looking for the red spot on the spine, like in the photo above. Or, you can find a list on our catalogue here.

If eBooks are more your thing, you can switch your books over to a dyslexia-friendly font using the Libby app — nifty! Check out our Teen Reading Room on Libby to get started.

Whether you have dyslexia or not, these gorgeous books are bound to tickle your fancy, just as they tickled ours! Check out a list of some of our favourite red-spotted books below, and don’t forget to check out our lists of comics and graphic novels and manga while you’re at it.

Because of you / Ainsworth, Eve
“Poppy’s having a nightmare at home. Her parents have split up and her mum’s new boyfriend is moving in. Dad is the one who’s always been there for Poppy, but now he’s drifting further and further away. It seems like things can’t get any worse until it all goes wrong at school as well and Poppy finds herself being targeted by spiteful bullies. As the vicious online comments keep coming, who can Poppy turn to for help?” (Catalogue)

The Battle of Cable Street / Landman, Tanya
“Life has always been tough on the streets of Stepney, where Elsie and her brother Mikey are growing up in a vermin-infested slum nicknamed “Paradise”. But the rise of anti-Semitic fascist Oswald Mosley and his Blackshirts in the 1930s stirs up trouble between families who have lived closely together for years, and Elsie sees friendships torn apart. When Elsie and Mikey attend a Mosley rally, intending to heckle and cause trouble, they soon see how dangerous the situation has become, but out in the streets the fascists find that people will stand and fight against them and against hatred in what becomes the dramatic Battle of Cable Street.” (Catalogue)

Passing for white / Landman, Tanya
“It’s 1848 in the Deep South of America. Rosa is a slave but her owner is also her father and her fair skin means she can ‘pass for white’. With the help of her husband Benjamin, she disguises herself as a young southern gentleman – and Benjamin’s master. In this guise, the couple flee the South, explaining away their lack of literacy, avoiding those they have encountered before and holding their nerve over a thousand miles to freedom. Inspired by the amazing true story of Ellen Craft who escaped a life of slavery through a daring disguise and won freedom for herself and her husband.” (Catalogue)

The family tree / Peet, Mal
“When a man returns to his childhood home and visits the derelict tree house in which his father once chose to live, he recalls the past unravelling of his family, the unspoken strangeness of their lives, and the impact on his own adult life. Beautiful, sparse and insightful storytelling.” (Catalogue)

The harder they fall / Rai, Bali
“Cal’s family are proud to live in an ‘analogue’ world – no wifi in their house , just an ancient black-and-white TV. At school, Cal has no choice but to live in the 21st century, coping with a range of bullies and chancers on a daily basis. When Cal’s mum decides to ‘rebalance’ the family with a stint as volunteers at a local foodbank, Cal inadvertently discovers new kid Jacob’s secret, and Jacob flips.” (Catalogue)

Wrath / Sedgwick, Marcus
“Cassie Cotton has always been unusual, a bit different — but this only makes her more intriguing to her school friend Fitz. Cassie can hear a noise that no one else can, and she believes it’s a sound that shows the Earth is in distress, damaged by human activity that is causing climate change. When this belief leads to her being ridiculed and bullied at school, Cassie disappears. Fitz is determined to find her, but he has no idea where to start looking, or if he’ll be in time to help her”–Publisher’s description.” (Catalogue)

The surprising power of a good dumpling / Chim, Wai
“Anna Chiu has her hands pretty full looking after her brother and sister and helping out at her dad’s restaurant, all while her mum stays in bed. Dad’s new delivery boy, Rory, is a welcome distraction and even though she knows that things aren’t right at home, she’s starting to feel like she could just be a normal teen. But when Mum finally gets out of bed, things go from bad to worse. And as Mum’s condition worsens, Anna and her family question everything they understand about themselves and each other. A nourishing tale about the crevices of culture, mental wellness and family, and the surprising power of a good dumpling.” (Catalogue)

Indigo moon / Merriman, Eileen
“Both Rigel and Indigo are Offspring, born to virally optimised parents. With dire warnings about the possible consequences of time travel, they have been forbidden from even thinking about it. But Indigo is bored – what could really go wrong? She longs for excitement, which she might just find with the mysterious stranger Billy Raven. Meanwhile, Rigel has an odd feeling that he can’t shake off. Is it because his dad, Johnno (aka Phoenix), is off on another dangerous mission? Or is it because of what the Foundation did to his mum, Violet? Or is something else going on? Only time will tell”–Publisher information.