While there aren’t many novels with characters who have Inflammatory Bowel Disease, there has been a push in the past couple of years to publish a few middle school novels that do, in fact, have a character with Crohn’s or Colitis.  These novels mostly seem to fit into one of two categories.  Most of the middle school novels I’ve found with IBD are about a middle schooler who gets diagnosed with Crohn’s disease or Ulcerative Colitis and has to find ways to deal with the diagnosis (and the many trips to the bathroom) while keeping up with the normal stressors of just being a kid.  These are great books to recommend to a child who was recently diagnosed (or their parents and loved ones).  The books can allow them to see other kids struggling with similar difficulties like maintaining friendships, navigating a new restricted diet, being ready for a bathroom emergency at any time, and dealing with normal kid things like crushes, relationships, overbearing parents, etc.  These books can help tweens feel less alone in their diagnosis, and let them see that a lifelong, crappy (pun intended) illness doesn’t have to keep them from living a semi-normal life.  I was diagnosed with Crohn’s at 37, but I still felt a little better about my new life after reading a few of these novels.

The other category is about action and adventure.  There are a few middle school novels that show characters with their IBD in the background of the plot.  They might be a main character, but the story isn’t about their struggles with the disease or the diagnosis.  These stories show characters with IBD in a normal fantasy or “hero’s journey” story.  The character’s disease is just a part of who they are, like it’s a part of every one of us IBDers.  I like these stories even more than the first type (though I do still like them).  These stories show that people with Crohn’s and Colitis simply exist.  If you’ve read pretty much any book published before the 90’s you probably never saw a character with IBD.  If you didn’t know someone in real life with the disease, you’d probably assume there weren’t many people with the disease (though there are over 2 million people diagnosed with IBD in the USA alone!).  It certainly didn’t seem important enough to show in a novel until very recently.  Having a character with IBD in a book when the plot is not actually about their disease can help people with and without IBD to see that people can have the disease and still enjoy a rich life with normal relationships and lots of healthy support. Or, they can embark on a fantastical adventure (better watch out, Sauron!).  We can still save the world or at least make a difference in it.  And that’s what Rewrite Crohn’s is all about.  I hope these books can help you rewrite your idea of what life can be like for a middle schooler with IBD!

Coming of Age Novels:

Gut Reaction by Kirby Larson and Quinn Wyatt – (2024)
Genre:Middle School

This story follows Tess Medina, a middle schooler starting at a new school. After losing her father, she leans into baking, which they used to do together She begins to have severe abdominal pain and isn’t able to eat her culinary creations without consequences anymore.  She decides to take her baked goods to school hoping to find a group to help taste test her baked goods and make sure they are delectable enough to win the competition.  She tries to power through her pain, but when the pain gets worse and worse, and she is diagnosed with (spoiler alert) Crohn’s disease, and she is forced to face everything she’s been trying to avoid.
Goodreads – Bookshop – Amazon

Will on the Inside by Andrew Eliopulos – (2023)
Genre: Middle School

This story follows Will, a middle schooler on the soccer team who begins having abdominal pain and lots of trips to the bathroom.  When he is diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and sidelined on the team due to the complications of his disease, he finds a new friend.  He struggles with balancing his old friendships, his Christian faith, and his new feelings for a friend he knows is gay.  Will has to discover who he really is, on the inside. 
Goodreads – Bookshop – Amazon

The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet by Jake Maia Arlow – (2023)
Genre: Middle School

Al Schneider is a 12-year-old Jewish girl whose stomach hurts all the time.  Her best friend lives in the same building, and his mom runs a bakery.  But she soon finds that she has worse stomach pain when she eats the baked goods.  She is diagnosed with Crohn’s and finds a new group of friends in the local support group. She has to adjust to her new relationship with her best friend and her new dietary (and other) restrictions.  On top of that, she’s pretty sure she is developing feelings for one of the other group members, and it’s a girl.
Goodreads – Bookshop – Amazon

Fantasy Novels:

The Art of Magic by Voskuil, Hannah (2022)
Genre: Middle School Fantasy

ZuZu and her friend Andrew sneak into the old Mapleton Mansion that is rumored to be haunted.  When they find art supplies there and use them for drawing and painting, their creations come to life.  They must get the assistance of a ghost to figure out what’s going on.  When other strange creatures start popping up around town, they realize that someone else must be using “creative magics” too.  Andrew has Crohn’s disease, and some of his symptoms and treatments are mentioned in the book but aren’t central to the plot.
Goodreads – Bookshop – Amazon

How to Save a Unicorn by Meg Cannistra – (2023)
Genre: Middle School Fantasy

Giada Bellantuono moves from New York City to Italy to begin training to become a magical veterinarian.  When she hears about a lost baby unicorn, she believes a group of evil witches called the Streghe del Malocchio are the ones who took the unicorn.  She begins a magical journey to fight the forces of evil and hopefully save the unicorn.  One of the side characters in the story has Crohn’s disease.  It is (thankfully) not magically cured at the end.
Goodreads – Bookshop – Amazon