Rosalie Mastaler struggled to find stories with disability representation that her son Hunter could identify with, so they decided to write their own.
The mom-and-son duo are the co-authors of “Represent! Vol. 1: 30 True Stories of Trailblazers, Artists, Athletes, and Adventurers with Disabilities,” which features biographies of people with disabilities who accomplished great things.
Rosalie said she was surprised she hadn’t heard about these people before.
“These amazing people who were doing groundbreaking things and really pioneers and making history, people didn’t know about them. How did people not know who the first blind man was to summit Mount Everest?” she said. “I just really felt like their stories needed to be told.”

Hunter and Rosalie Mastaler’s book, “Represent!,” contains biographies of 30 people living with disabilities who accomplished great things. Courtesy photo
Hunter is 14 now, but he was only 11 when they started working on the book. He said the process of writing and learning about people with disabilities gave him more confidence.
“Erik Weihenmayer climbed the seven tallest mountain summits of the world blind, and Mandy Harvey, she’s an amazing musician and amazing singer even though she lost her hearing,” he said. “The people in the book really inspired me.”
“Represent!” isn’t the only book Rosalie and Hunter have written.
“We have written ‘Hunter’s Tall Tales,’ ‘Represent! Vol. 1,’ and our latest book is ‘Let the Games Begin.’ All three have disability representation,” Rosalie said.
Rosalie said she knows their books were successful based on their impact on readers.
“We measure success with our books by hearing from the readers, hearing how they’re impacted, hearing how it has either changed their perspective – whether they knew very much about people with disabilities, or those with disabilities who felt empowered and felt like they could accomplish great things because of the people they were learning about,” she said.
Hunter said people with disabilities don’t need to share their medical history with others. If they want to know more, they can learn about the people, not just their disabilities.
“That’s why we made this book, so people can learn about people with disabilities – not because they have disabilities, but learn how they did many great things, even with their disability,” he said.
Rosalie said we all need someone to look up to.
“We all need a hero,” she said. “That was actually one of the first inspirations — who are the heroes that my son has in his life? And I wanted to be able to look up those stories and give those to him.”
Hunter said he hopes “Represent!” can give readers a new perspective on disabilities.
“Even with disabilities, you’re not incapable of doing many great things,” he said.
Rosalie said she hopes people can see themselves in the book, whether or not they have a disability.
“I was inspired even though I don’t have a disability, because we all have challenges. We all have hard times in life, and we all need that encouragement to be able to move forward,” she said.
She said she wants readers to know that people with disabilities can still do the things they love.
“Whether they’re doing great things that are making history or they’re just doing something that brings them joy, people with disabilities can live happy lives,” she said. “That is one thing that we learned and one thing that Hunter has taught me himself.”