2026 MTSP Summer Reading List

If you’re anything like me, every year you looked forward to your school’s summer reading list; a whole list of titles to explore and dive into over the summer, a book to curl up with under the shade of a tree. If you’re not like me, you may have dreaded the homework that accompanied summer break. Both opinions are valid.

Regardless, the summer is a great excuse to find a moment to yourself, enjoy the sunshine, and read a good book. No matter what kind of topics you enjoy, we hope you find a new title to explore and dive into from our second annual MTSP Summer Reading list!

Expanding Education

These are the titles for those looking to learn something this summer, and perhaps dive into something more academic. Maybe you’re looking to develop a new skill, increase your expertise in a certain area, or expose yourself to a new realm of knowledge; hopefully these titles will help you reach your personal goal. The following list is composed of titles related or adjacent to the field of music therapy, but remember that transferrable knowledge can come from anywhere.

Magnificent Minds

By Suzanne Goh

So nice we had to recommend it twice! If you didn’t get to this title last summer, we once again recommend Magnificent Minds by Dr. Suzanne Goh. Written by a pediatric neurologist, this book explores “an innovative, whole-child approach that combines optimal medical treatment with the most effective strategies for advancing cognition, communication, and behavior”. While designed for parents, this book helps all individuals working with autism understand different approaches to working with the diagnosis, taking a strengths-based look at how to set children up for success.

Letters to a Young Therapist

Book by Mary Pipher

A therapist shares wisdom and teachings from her 30 years of experience in the field, offering guidance and points for consideration for younger professionals in the field.

Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally

By Emily Ladau

The title says it all: a comprehensive guide from a disabled author on how we can work to increase accessibility, understanding, and how to best take action as an ally. Author and activist Emily Ladau offers personal insight and historical context to how accessibility functions in our world, and what we can do to advocate for positive change.

The Validation Breakthrough: Simply Techniques for communicating with People with Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias

By Naomi Feil

This book looks into how we communicate with individuals with Alzheimer's and dementia, taking an empathetic, compassionate, and understanding approach to managing the emotions and communication differences that come with the disease.

Self-Care & Resilience

Summer can be a great time to slow down and reflect. The following titles are stories of individuals encountering change or challenge and the journeys of what they did next. How do we understand our sense of self when facing mental health difficulties? How do you find joy in the face of tragedy? What do you do when your avenue to creating art is impeded?

Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and That Stories That Make Us

By Rachel Aviv

Strangers to Ourselves explores how diagnosis impacts the individual. Author Rachel Aviv looks into how a diagnosis can help one to understand themselves, while simultaneously countering with how a diagnosis is not the end all be all of identity.

You Will Not Have My Hate

By Atoine Leiris

In the wake of tragedy, Atoine Leiris gives us a glimpse into how you move on when so much has been taken. You Will Not Have My Hate asks “What matters most in life? How do you build a happy life when terrible things happen? What is left behind when you lose the person you love the most?”.

TW: loss of a loved one, terrorist attack, grief

The Lost Voice

By Greta Morgan

Professional musician Gerta Morgan shares her story of losing her ability to sing due to spasmodic dysphonia, a chronic nerve disorder that causes spasms to the larynx, discussing how she rediscovered her artistry and her sense of self amid a change in identity.

Own-Voice

Own-voice narratives, works written by authors experiencing the topic or identity discussed in the text, are great opportunities to expand your knowledge on a different walk of life than your own and create deeper levels of understanding with the people around us. Especially for professionals working with individuals with disabilities, hearing about their experiences in their own words can help us to better serve them in the care that we provide.

Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist

By Judith Heumann, Kristen Joiner

Author Judith Heuman shares her story as a human and disability rights activist. She details her first hand accounts of being on the front lines of disability advocacy in the second half of the 20th century through today, marking herself as a historical figure in the fight for change. Being Heumann is a story of resistance and resilience, showing us how far we have come and where we still have to go.

An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods & Madness

By Kay Redfield Jamison

Kay Redfield Jamison presents a unique perspective on psychiatric diagnoses, being both a psychiatrist and an individual diagnosed with bipolar disorder. In this memoir, she shares her experience as both “healer and patient”, and what her own diagnosis taught her about the work she did.

True Biz: A Novel

By Sara Novic

Own-voice narratives are not limited to non-fiction; fiction can teach us just as much about the human experience. True Biz follows students at a residential Deaf school, navigating personal and communal challenges over the course of the year. The book’s summary states it perfectly: “This is a story of sign language and lip-reading, disability and civil rights, isolation and injustice, first love and loss, and, above all, great persistence, daring, and joy. Absorbing and assured, idiosyncratic and relatable, this is an unforgettable journey into the Deaf community and a universal celebration of human connection.”

Crazy Like a Fox: Adventures in Schizophrenia

By Christi Furnas

Crazy Like a Fox is a graphic novel that paints a picture of life with a severe mental health diagnosis. We follow our furry protagonist navigate his day to day, and Christi Furnas works to add both reality and laughter to this story.

Books About Music

Why not take the summer to deep dive into a specific style of music? The following titles all take a look at different genres of music, how they evolved and developed, and the artists that made their impact on the style.

A Little Devil in America: Note in Praise of Black Performance

By Hanif Abdurraqib

Poet, essayist, and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib, with his signature beautiful prose, explores what performance really means, and how different elements of performance shaped or were shaped by Black History. From music, to dance, to comedy and more, this book takes a look at the emotions and meaning running underneath the performance we see and hear. We highlighted his book “They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us” last summer, if you’re looking for an essay collection that covers a multitude of themes and music styles.

Where Are Your Boys Tonight?: The Oral History of Emo’s Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008

By Chris Payne

If a single note can bring a tear to your eye and draw imagery of a marching band, then odds are this book is for you. In Where Are Your Boys Tonight, author Chris Payne interviews members from just about any emo band you can think of, and compiles these interviews to tell the story of how Emo music came to be. Members of My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Taking Back Sunday, and more, discuss how the genre developed, got its rise, and evolved past the mid-2000s.

Such Great Heights: The Complete Cultural History of the Indie Rock Explosion

By Chris Deville

Such Great Heights takes a look into the community and culture surrounding Indie Rock. Dive into the history of how the genre hit its peak, iconic bands and artists, and how streaming and the new age of music in the 2010s impacted the life of the genre.

Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom

By Peter Guralnick

Sweet Soul Music explores how the genre of soul emerged, especially in the south, out of genres like gospel and the blues. This title explores the history of the genre, including the artists and record labels that defined its creation, and shows how the soul genre impacted music overall.

Fiction Books

Fiction books are a great way to get lost in a story and explore a new world, and many readers gravitate towards fiction for this very reason. Each of these suggested titles are works of fiction, but still contain truth of the human experience, and include some level of representation for a variety of identities.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry

By Fredrick Backman

After Elsa’s eccentric grandmother dies, Elsa is left with the task of delivering her letters to the other residents of their apartment building. This story takes a look at grief from different angles and shows readers the beauty in our differences.

A Spindle Splintered

If you’re looking for more of a fantasy read, A Spindle Splintered retells the story of Sleeping Beauty, through a pseudo-portal magic lens. The main character, Zinnia, is living with a chronic illness and is resigned to her fate, only to be transported into one of her favorite stories and given a chance to re-evaluate what her life means to her. While Zinnia’s illness is a fictional one, she presents with real world symptoms and difficulties that can help readers to better understand the lives of those living with chronic illness.

Cheddar Luck Next Time

By Beth Cado

Autistic author Beth Cado gives us a cheese-centric murder mystery with an autistic sleuth. Bird Nichols is determined to prove the innocence of a friend and solve the mystery before it is too late.

The Spare Man

By Mary Robinette Kowal

Maybe cheese murder mysteries aren’t you thing– perhaps a science fiction murder mystery is more suited to your taste? The Spare Man unfolds on a luxury space cruiser with a honeymoon gone wrong; someone is found dead and our leading lady’s husband has been accused. With chronic pain and PTSD representation, this genre bending story is a well-rounded summer read!

For Kids

Can I Play, Too?

By Mo Willems

Elephant and Piggie want to play with their new friend Snake, but need to problem solve on ways to include everyone when all of their abilities are different. This children’s book explores themes of inclusion and acceptance. Perfect for kids ages 3-6!

Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah

by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Emmanuel’s Dream is the biography of how one individual made a big difference. Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah biked over 400 miles across Ghana, with only one leg. He helped to show his community, his country, and the world that a limb difference does not limit the goals we set for ourselves. Great for ages 4-8!

One Love

by Cedelia Marley

If you’re looking for a book to sing along to, this one is set to Bob Marley’s reggae hit “One Love”, adapted by his daughter! Recommended for ages 3-5, but can be appropriate for younger or older.

Opal Watson: Private Eye

By Brittany J. Thurman

This middle grade read follows a kid sleuth, Opal, with a degenerative eye disease, who doesn’t let her condition keep her from finding the truth. In this book, she investigates a mystery at her apartment complex, makes new friends, and works to fight for her community. Recommended ages 8-12!

Anybody Here Seen Frenchie?

By Leslie Connor

“A big-hearted, beautiful, and funny novel told from multiple viewpoints about neurodiversity, friendship, and community”; Anybody Here Seen Frenchie is a story that shows how we can use our strengths and our differences to help our friends. The two main characters are different in a lot of ways, but both choose their friendship time and time again and put in the work to make the world a better place for the other. While Frenchie is non-speaking and introverted, his best friend Aurora is an extroverted chatterbox; when Frenchie goes missing, Aurora learns how to advocate and stand up for her friend in the ways he needs most. Recommended ages 8-12!

No Matter the Distance

By Cindy Baldwin

This whimsical tale (or in this case, tail) explores themes of self-acceptance and confidence, as a girl with Cystic Fibrosis discovers a dolphin in a creek. Working with her new aquatic friend, Penny figures out how to get the dolphin back to safety, and learns how to accept herself along the way. Recommended ages 8-12!