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A Guide To Mental Health Reading for Mental Health Awareness Month (& Beyond)

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We’ve been blogging at STACKED for ten years now, meaning that we have a whole host of backlist posts worth highlighting periodically. Likewise, I’ve got a whole collection of things I’ve written at Book Riot and elsewhere around the web, and sometimes, rather than reinventing the wheel, it feels worthwhile to draw those pieces together in one centralized place. This is particularly the case when there’s a topic worth talking about that has been talked about extensively before.

A couple of years ago, I pooled together a post of links relating to horror and young adult horror, and today, in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, it feels like a good time to gather some of the best of my writing on mental health and wellness in one place.

I often get asked to talk about how it is gatekeepers, especially teachers and librarians, can be advocates for mental health for young people. The answer is being open and honest with them, both in your own experiences, as well as in your own weaknesses. It’s okay to talk with teens about bad mental health days, just as it’s okay to be open about not understanding something they may be experiencing and then offering up to them resources that may help them find the help they’re looking for. In some cases, it’s a matter of wanting to talk and get it out there, without any expectation of needing help or to be fixed (which can’t happen — we can lead people to tools, but management comes from each person individually).

One thing that’s always helpful, especially for young people, is to offer them books and reading resources that can help them develop the language and understanding of what life is like with a brain that sometimes works and sometimes, well, might not work. The books included on the lists below are excellent tools and resources for cracking open some of these challenging, but vital, conversations about mental health.

A resource guide to great mental health books and mental illness books for teens and adults for mental health awareness month and beyond. book lists | lists of book lists | mental health | mental illness | mental health books | books about mental health | books about mental illness | ya books | ya book lists | ya books about mental health

Please note that some of the older backlist posts here at STACKED might look a little weird or image may be strange. When we shifted web hosts a few years ago, going back through archives to update didn’t turn into a priority. Everything is readable, though!

 

Mental Health Book Resources and Guides

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Naturally, here’s a reminder of why I put together (Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start The Conversation About Mental Health, along with essay excerpts from the book by Shaun David Hutchinson, Adam Silvera, Victoria Schwab, and Nancy Kerrigan.

12 Of My Favorite Books of 2018

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I read an unbelievable amount of great books this year. As I begin brainstorming this post of favorites from 2018, I’m at nearly 200 books read. Engaging in audiobook listening, which I wrote about earlier this year, really added more reading to my life, especially in the way of adult nonfiction. Winnowing down my favorites from this year was a challenge because the more I read, the more I’m better able to only read books I suspect I’m going to like. At the end of the year, having enjoyed nearly 200 books? Makes picking just a few really tough.

My criteria for favorites isn’t scientific or brilliant. Rather, these are books that stood out to me for one reason or another and that I wanted to highlight as ones worth remembering as among my best reads. I’ve stuck to books published this year, since I could easily add dozens more when I look at backlist titles I read this year.

Along with audiobooks playing a significant part in my reading life this year, I’ve once again utilized the amazing spreadsheet one of my Book Riot colleagues created. This allowed me to really see the landscape of my reading life in new and useful ways. I don’t use every functionality it offers, choosing instead to customize and pay attention to the things that matter most to me. I also make a lot of notes in the final column, especially in regards to interesting aspects of a book that wouldn’t mean much in a review but could be useful for me in writing or recommending specific titles for readers.

Some of the notes below are ones I shared on Goodreads while others are fresh, reflective insights months after finishing the books. Some are longer, some are shorter, but all of these books are ones that I’ll remember as highlights from my 2018 year in reading.

 

All That I Can Fix by Crystal Chan

Ronney is 15, and he’s got a lot of baggage to carry around. While he loves his family — his little sister in particular — he’s utterly frustrated and angry with his father. His father attempted suicide two years ago, and since, everyone in the family has carried the weight of what they saw in the aftermath. Father doesn’t work and rarely leaves home. It looks like he’s not moving forward at all.

Then there’s Ronney’s best friends George and Jello. Turns out, even though Ronney has a little bit of a crush on George, she’s been secretly dating Jello. Both have been lying to Ronney about this.

And then there’s the kid who is stalking him. Begging for his jeans. What young kid follows you and begs for your jeans? It’s one of Mina’s friends, whose older brother went missing. Those jeans? They’re the product of his family sending everything of his brother’s to the resale shop. Ronney and the boy develop a bond, despite Ronney’s best efforts not to. The goal? Find Nick, the older brother, who had an alcohol problem and ran away from home to avoid an abusive father.

That’s not everything though.

A backyard zoo full of animals escaped during a major storm, and cheetahs, camels, pythons, and more are on the loose. Oh, and then the gun control advocates and gun rights advocates are in town, too. Each jockeying for stage during this animal outbreak.

In many ways, this book reminded me of John Corey Whaley’s Where Things Come Back. But the voice in this book is really what stands out. Ronney is full of love and compassion, but he’s also very angry and very hurt by those he cares most about. He’s young and carrying so much pain inside him that it’s impossible not to understand where his attitude and behaviors come from. But at the same time, it’s impossible not to want to shake him and tell him let go and move on.

What resonated most for me was the way this book looks at depression from the point of view of an outsiders. Ronney is angry with his dad and doesn’t understand why he doesn’t “do” anything. Why he tried to hurt his family. Meanwhile, in the moments when we see dad, we’re given insight into how hard he really is trying to be better. Even when he can’t be because his illness is in charge.

There is a lot of smart and at times snarky commentary about race, about small town life, and about the current political climate throughout the book, but it’s all written in a way a 15-year-old boy would look at those things. More, Ronney’s feelings about relationships and romance are all spot on, and they serve as a nice contrast to those big-picture challenges.

 

 

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily XR Pan

There is not a single thing in this book I did not love. The lush writing. The use of color. The exploration of family secrets and stories. Of culture. Or belief.

But the thing that hit hardest was the way depression is rendered. This is a book about grief in the wake of suicide that comes from a depressive episode (or series of them, in this instance). There is no “reason” here. There’s no boogeyman moment, wherein we get the why of suicide. Rather, we’re forced, like Leigh is, to wrestle with the lack of answers. We’re forced to understand not everything makes sense. That magical thinking is both a good thing — when it can help you work through grief, when it can help you find the things you’re looking for, the dreams you want to achieve — and a bad thing — when you believe what it is your brain tells you about your worth and value.

I’m going to hold on to this for a long, long time. One of the best YA books I’ve read this year, and certainly one of the best I’ve read in a long time. Perfect for fans of Nova Ren Suma or Laura Ruby. Our main character is a Taiwanese/Chinese American girl, and her story involves a trip to Taiwan to meet her grandparents for the first time.

But it is so, so much more than that.

 

Creative Quest by Questlove

I listened to this title on audiobook after poring over it in a local Barnes & Noble. I didn’t buy it in print that day, choosing instead to pick up a few other books. But I used my audible credit to try it on audio and frankly, that was the better decision.

This is a book about creativity, and the way it was performed aurally was outstanding. It was a piece of art. It takes risks and chances, which is one of the key takeaways of the book. It’s okay to try and to fail and to try without any end goal in mind.

So what’s it about? It’s about the creative process. About how there’s no single way to get it right when it comes to being creative. It’s about the ways famous and less-famous creatives have worked, have thrived, and have had down times. It’s inspiring and heartening, and it’s the kind of book that actually encourages, rather than discourages, since there thrust of the book is that there’s no one way to get it right. Too many books about creativity and art focus on what works and how to work that way for maximum productivity. This one isn’t that — it’s about the ugly stuff, too.

I know little about Questlove, and that didn’t matter one bit. He shares pieces of his own experiences that makes his story universal, regardless of the level of success or talent towards which one may aim.

 

Dare To Lead by Brene Brown

Brown is one of the best thinkers on leadership and confidence, and this book is no different. There are strategies here for being a better person, for developing empathy (which is a wonderfully deep section in the book — a lengthy discussion of empathy vs. sympathy helps conceptually define the two ideas and showcases actions that define each). I’m a big believer that part of success comes from understanding people are people, and Brown’s big mantra throughout the book is “people, people, people.” Everyone has a story and everyone’s minds make up stories to help them get through the day. When we remember this simple thing, it becomes easier to be a leader and to be an advocate for what it is you want, what you need, and where you fit into the grander scheme of your life. Because this book isn’t about leadership in organizations only; sure that’s there. But it’s a book about being a leader in your life and showing up, day after day, for yourself.

Maybe my favorite of hers so far. It incorporates a lot of what research she did in previous books but adds even more depth to them. I also enjoyed being reminded to reconsider what my core values are and I’m itching to get into her worksheets to suss those out. We all operate from a set (and yes, SET) of core values and when we can remember them, we can show up for ourselves again and again.

Brown reads the audio and performs it less like a stiff reader and more like she’s giving a TED talk or having a conversation with a group of people in an organization. There are good breaks and laughs, and I just really like hearing these ideas and seeing what sticks from the verbal explanation. I’m eager to revisit this in a year or so in print and read it with pen in hand.

 

 

Darius The Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

Perhaps the closest novel I’ve read which captures my own feelings and experiences living with depression. But even more than that: this book is just freaking great.

Darius has always felt like the wrong piece of a puzzle. His dad is white and not like him at all. His mom is Iranian, but she’s fair skinned and doesn’t “look” Persian. Though he doesn’t look like his heritage, Darius is an outsider because people know he’s “not like them” in his Portland school. When his mother’s dad is nearing the end of his life, the family chooses to take a trip to Iran to reconnect. And it’s here where Darius really comes to understand he is an important piece of the puzzle in her family, in his community, and in the bigger world. Sohrab, the new friend-more-than-a-friend Darius makes in Iran, calls this what translates from Farsi into “your place was empty,” and that sentiment really resonated not only for Darius and his place in the world, but also, his place inside himself.

The relationship that develops between Darius and Sohrab is powerful and moving. It’s a best friendship, but it’s also something more. It’s not a physical romance, but there’s absolutely an emotionally romantic part of it for both of them, even if we only see it through Darius’s eyes. It was hard not to root for them through and through.

This book reminded me of a blend of Here to Stay and All That I Can Fix — two excellent books out this year that deal with race and culture, as well as feeling like an odd shaped puzzle piece (and ATICF also takes on mental illness and the way it can challenge a father/son relationship, while HTS has a similar flavor of humor as this title).

An outstanding read and unbelievable debut novel. Can’t wait for more from Khorram.

 

Devils Unto Dust by Emma Berquist

This book ticked every one of my boxes by description and then delivered on each.

Set in west Texas in 1877, the story follows Willie (real name: Daisy, but that’s too dainty for her) as she has to find her father, as he’s stolen a load of money from McAlister. McAlister promises revenge if that money is not returned.

The thing is: no one steps out of Glory alone. Outside of the gates are the shakes. The shakes are hungry, vicious, and will turn you into one of them in an instant. Willie has little money, but needs to hire herself a hunter to help her track down her father in another town. Enter the Garrett brothers.

Willie leaves behind her brother and twin brother and sister as she goes, but not for long. Micah can’t stand the idea of her venturing alone, even with the hunters, and he, along with neighbor Sam, catch up with the crew on the journey.

Enter the shakes.

Berquist’s first novel is the perfect blend of western and horror. The pitch “True Grit” meets “28 Days Later” is absolutely spot on. From page one, I was riveted and loved the entire arc of Willie’s story and character. The exploration of grief and guilt is thoughtful and thought-provoking, particularly as Willie sees herself to blame for a lot of the mess that occurs. Saying more would be a spoiler, of course.

The writing is pitch perfect, with descriptions of desolation in the desert palpable. Every minute I was not reading this, I was thinking about it and thinking about Willie.

Bonus: there is not a romance in this book. Sure, there’s a kinship that emerges between Sam and Willie at the end, but we know nothing more will be coming of it.

And then there’s what happens when they find Pa and ask him what happened to that money. And what happens when they return to Glory to face McAlister again.

Mega appeal to fans of westerns, of zombie stories, and to books that are fast paced and action-packed (but without making your head spin). The 500 pages speed by, and it’s a stand alone, perfectly contained read.

 

Dream Country by Shannon Gibney

This is an incredible story of a family impacted by the African diaspora. The book is told in a non-linear fashion, as seen through the eyes of one of the contemporary members of the family. We begin in today’s Minneapolis area with a boy named Kollie, whose parents send him back to the land from where he was a refugee — Liberia. From there, we travel back to family that grew up in Liberia, then back even further to family which had been indentured servants in the US prior to the Civil War; their freedom came when they left the US and headed back to Liberia. We move, then, to the parents of Kollie and what they endured in Liberia.

What’s remarkable about this book, aside from the heartache and hope seen through the characters, is the history that we never learn about. Gibney’s extraordinary research (& powerful author’s note) explain how when black freed people went back to Liberia, they brought with them the same tools used against them to harm, enslave, and colonize the native Liberians. This book shows that through this family.

I couldn’t stop thinking about pairing this book with Homegoing. Like with Gyasi’s book, some characters will resonate more than others for readers; I found Kollie and Angel’s stories (especially her’s, despite being the smallest part — done purposefully) to be the most compelling. Note that some of the characters are a bit beyond their teen years, and in many ways, this book read to me as less YA and more adult. That doesn’t mean YA readers won’t love it, but rather, it’d be an awesome and easy sell to adult readers, too.

Powerful, moving, vital, and one that is going to mean a LOT to a lot of readers.

 

The Feather Thief by Kirk W. Johnson

I loved every single second of this true crime book about a man who becomes so obsessed with fly-tying that he breaks into a museum to steal their rare birds to sell the feathers for profit. The premise of this sounds like it might be boring, but it’s anything but. Johnson’s attention to details and passion for cracking the mystery of the still-missing birds is propulsive, and the way this looks at a very specific community’s passion — in this case, the fly-tying community’s passion for very specific bird feathers — was fascinating. There’s a lot here, too, about ethics and about the ways people throughout history have sought what’s not theirs, starting with how those birds and feathers ended up in the British Museum of Natural History in the first place.

Highly recommended, especially for readers who want to love true crime but can get put off by blood, guts, and human death. None of that is here!

The images in this one, tucked near the back of the narrative, added a ton. I was surprised to see images of Edwin himself, who wasn’t at all what I expected (like Johnson himself had said just pages earlier), and seeing what these fly-ties looked like and the birds that drew such lust from those hobbyists made the crime all that more fascinating.

 

Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao

I wrote about this one over on Book Riot’s Best Books of 2018!

This is about friendship: the fierce, fiery kind of friendship that exists between two girls who understand their place in the world as girls, their place in society as girls in India of a lower class, their place in society as girls who can only rely and depend upon one another. Savitha and Poornima only spend a small portion of the book together, but it’s the spark between them that keeps them connected through tragic event after tragic event.

What I loved most is what they carried of one another inside them. Poornima saw Savitha as the brave, self-assured girl, but in the end, Poornima pulls that same energy to find Savitha again, who has found herself in a situation not unlike the one Poornima was in during her marriage. Lost. Adrift. Alone.

Great writing and great voices really make this one sing. Not a YA book, but it likely has some great YA crossover appeal to readers eager for a book set primarily outside of America — it’s India for over half of the book — about female friendship.

 

Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott

Secrets go many, many ways, and Abbott explores this in her deliciously dark, twisted prose. Kit and Diane form a quick bond, but when Diane drops a bombshell secret on Kit, Kit distances herself. Until, that is, many years later, when Diane is back in her life. The two of them, once great lab partners and excellent science students in high school, earn prestigious places on a research project about PMDD with a renowned scholar.

Kit can’t be lured back in, but she is. The secret she knows still swirling inside her. The secret she knows that she’s not always kept secret, but that’s led to more secrets. The way secrets can spiral out of control, just like that. The way friendships sometimes turn toxic, but you’re too drawn in to turn away without consequences. Without a body count.

Two complex female leads, neither of whom are particularly “likable” nor “good,” Abbott’s prose sears and her storytelling is compulsively engaging. I’d have read this in a single sitting if I hadn’t had to do things like work.

Excellent crossover appeal for young adult readers and something that fans of Gillian Flynn will love.

 

A Heart In A Body In The World by Deb Caletti

*Spoiler on this one! But the spoiler is a big reason why this book resonated with me, so I’m keeping it there.

An all-too-timely feminist YA novel about the ways toxic masculinity harms each and every one of us. Annabelle has been victim of a controlling boy who believes she belongs to him and only him and she’s triggered in an incident months after his attack at a party. To clear her head and try to do something, she begins to run. And suddenly, she decides her goal is to run from Seattle to Washington, DC. She has no real plan but knows this is deeply what she needs and what she wants.

Along the way, Annabelle connects deeply with her grandfather, who follows along in an RV. She connects deeply with the country and the people populating it. There’s a fantastic scene in Marengo, Illinois, just minutes from where I live, and the love and heart there was so palpable.

This is a tough-to-read book because it’s too real. Caletti populates the book with such authentic, well-rounded characters, even the smallest ones throughout. It’s a book that girls today will relate to deeply and intensely. They shouldn’t have to.

As much as this is a book about tough things and real life and how awful the world is, it’s also a book complete with hope and humanity.

I just attended a Florence and the Machine concert, and one of the things Florence said during the show was that hope is an action. I couldn’t stop thinking about that line throughout this. Annabelle takes action on a physical, spiritual, and mental level. But her actions, as small as she feels they are (she doesn’t think her run is a big deal or anything special), have this massive ripple effect on the world around her. She takes back her power.

A great look at mental health, too, including anxiety and PTSD. There is no resolution. There is only working your way through, day by day.

 

The Seven Torments of Amy and Craig by Don Zolidis

This is the epitome of the kind of love story I love in YA: there’s an ending that feels utterly deserved and that you’re told right away would happen (it’s not a romance with a capital R), and both of the characters have good and not-so-good qualities to them. Zolidis tells this story in a nonlinear fashion, taking us from the middle of Amy and Craig’s rocky relationship, then to the beginning, and then through to the end. We see both characters become well-fleshed, and we see their flaws in powerful ways.

Craig is funny, and throughout, his humor shines through. It doesn’t feel forced nor does it feel fake. This is a dude who really loves Amy but also knows he’s imperfect and immature and in a family that’s struggling financially, so some of his plans for the future are in question. Amy is adopted, and one of the through lines in the story is about her close relationship with her adoptive mother, as well as her toying with the idea of connecting with her birth mother.

The book is set in Janesville, Wisconsin, which is a community I’m really familiar with. It’s spot on in describing things and for hitting real great Wisconsin humor (the Perkins! The cow! Parker Pens and their layoffs! The GM plant!). It also is a love story to gaming and D&D, which began just a few miles down the road from Janesville and it also highlights Gen Con, back when Gen Con was still in Milwaukee (but after Lake Geneva, of course!). It was refreshing to see this all through Craig’s eyes, especially, because I knew so many people who grew up in Janesville not too many years after this story is set, and I know how much it rings true.

The dialog here is great, and both characters feel like actual teens. Zolidis writes plays for high school performers, and his eye for staging, for speech, and for mannerisms shines through.

Pass along to readers who like love stories told in non-linear ways, who love books with a funny male protagonist at the helm, and who like a book that makes them laugh and feel sadness throughout. It’s set in the 1990s, so it’s one that’ll appeal to readers who love that setting. It reminded me a big of A SHORT HISTORY OF THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, which would be a nice pairing. Readers who pick this up and love and/or are fascinated by the setting would do well with reading JANESVILLE, which highlights things like GM and the Parker Pen company and their role in building Janesville to being what it is; it’ll also give insight into the off-handed comments Craig makes, particularly about how Janesville is very white (it is, and that’s by racist design).

 

Your Favorite Books Featuring Mental Health: A Book List

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(Don’t) Call Me Crazy doesn’t release until October 2, but since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, I wanted to get the conversation around mental health going. Over on Instagram, I asked readers to share a favorite book which features mental health in some capacity — either it’s a big theme of the book or a character lives with mental illness — and I thought it’d be worthwhile to round up those recommendations into a book list. This is a mix of YA and adult, traditional prose and graphic novel, fiction and nonfiction. In other words, there’s something here for all kinds of readers who want to see the myriad of ways mental health shows up in our reading lives.

This won’t be the last mental health themed book list you’ll see here over the next few months. But what makes this one special is it’s entirely reader-driven. I don’t know about you, but sometimes, I love a book list that’s created entirely by other people’s input, since it lends itself to titles I’d otherwise not think about.

Descriptions are from Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

Enjoy!

 

Mental Health Books To Read

 

Alice, I Think by Susan Juby

Life Goals List:

Decide on a unique and innovative career path.
Increase contact with people outside of immediate family.
Learn to drive a car.
Some sort of boy-girl interaction? (Possibly best left until after high school. Maybe best left until middle age.)
Publish paper comparing teenagers and chicken peer groups.
Read entire Lord of the Rings series.

 

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.
 

All That I Can Fix by Crystal Chan

In Makersville, Indiana, people know all about Ronney—he’s from that mixed-race family with the dad who tried to kill himself, the pill-popping mom, and the genius kid sister. If having a family like that wasn’t bad enough, the local eccentric at the edge of town decided one night to open up all the cages of his exotic zoo—lions, cheetahs, tigers—and then shoot himself dead. Go figure. Even more proof that you can’t trust adults to do the right thing.

Overnight, news crews, gun control supporters, and gun rights advocates descend on Makersville, bringing around-the-clock news coverage, rallies, and anti-rallies with them. With his parents checked out, Ronney is left tending to his sister’s mounting fears of roaming lions, stopping his best friend from going on a suburban safari, and shaking loose a lonely boy who follows Ronney wherever he goes. Can Ronney figure out a way to hold it together as all his worlds fall apart?

 

An Apple A Day by Emma Woolf

A true story of falling in love and overcoming anorexia. At the age of 32, after ten years of hiding from the truth, Emma Woolf finally decided it was time to face the biggest challenge of her life. Addicted to hunger, exercise and control, she was juggling a full-blown eating disorder with a successful career, functioning on an apple a day. Having met the man of her dreams (and wanting a future and a baby together), she embarked on the hardest struggle of all: to beat anorexia. It was time to start eating again, to regain her fertility and her curves, to throw out the size-zero clothes and face her food fears. And as if that wasn’t enough pressure, Emma also took the decision to write about her progress in a weekly column for The Times. Honest, hard-hitting and yet romantic, An Apple a Day is a manifesto for the modern generation to stop starving and start living; a compelling and life affirming true story of love and recovery.

 

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X. R. Pan

Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird.

Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. And as she grieves, she must try to reconcile the fact that on the same day she kissed her best friend and longtime secret crush, Axel, her mother was taking her own life.

Alternating between real and magic, past and present, friendship and romance, hope and despair, The Astonishing Color of After is a novel about finding oneself through family history, art, grief, and love.

 

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Esther Greenwood is brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under—maybe for the last time. In her acclaimed and enduring masterwork, Sylvia Plath brilliantly draws the reader into Esther’s breakdown with such intensity that her insanity becomes palpably real, even rational—as accessible an experience as going to the movies. A deep penetration into the darkest and most harrowing corners of the human psyche, The Bell Jar is an extraordinary accomplishment and a haunting American classic.

 

The Best Worst Thing by Kathleen Lane

Maggie is worried.

She’s starting middle school, and she suddenly sees injustice and danger everywhere–in her history textbook, on the playground, in her neighborhood, on the news. How can anyone be safe when there’s a murderer on the loose, a bully about to get a gun for his twelfth birthday, rabbits being held captive for who-knows-what next door, and an older sister being mysteriously consumed by adolescence? Maggie doesn’t like any of it, so she devises intricate ways of controlling her own world–and a larger, more dangerous plan for protecting everyone else.

 

 

 

Black Dog by Levi Pinfold

When a huge black dog appears outside the Hope family home, each member of the household sees it and hides. Only Small, the youngest Hope, has the courage to face the black dog, who might not be as frightening as everyone else thinks.

 

Brain on Fire: Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

When twenty-four-year-old Susannah Cahalan woke up alone in a hospital room, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak, she had no memory of how she’d gotten there. Days earlier, she had been on the threshold of a new, adult life: at the beginning of her first serious relationship and a promising career at a major New York newspaper. Now she was labeled violent, psychotic, a flight risk. What happened?

In a swift and breathtaking narrative, Cahalan tells the astonishing true story of her descent into madness, her family’s inspiring faith in her, and the lifesaving diagnosis that nearly didn’t happen.

 

Calvin by Martine Leavitt

As a child, Calvin felt an affinity with the comic book character from Bill Watterson’s Calvin & Hobbes.

He was born on the day the last strip was published; his grandpa left a stuffed tiger named Hobbes in his crib; and he even had a best friend named Susie. Then Calvin’s mom washed Hobbes to death, Susie grew up beautiful and stopped talking to him, and Calvin pretty much forgot about the strip—until now. Now he is seventeen years old and has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Hobbes is back, as a delusion, and Calvin can’t control him. Calvin decides that Watterson is the key to everything—if he would just make one more comic strip, but without Hobbes, Calvin would be cured. Calvin and Susie (is she real?) and Hobbes (he can’t be real, can he?) set out on a dangerous trek across frozen Lake Erie to track down Watterson.

 

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

Caden Bosch is on a ship that’s headed for the deepest point on Earth: Challenger Deep, the southern part of the Marianas Trench.
Caden Bosch is a brilliant high school student whose friends are starting to notice his odd behavior.
Caden Bosch is designated the ship’s artist in residence to document the journey with images.
Caden Bosch pretends to join the school track team but spends his days walking for miles, absorbed by the thoughts in his head.
Caden Bosch is split between his allegiance to the captain and the allure of mutiny.
Caden Bosch is torn.

 

Crazy by Amy Reed

Connor knows that Izzy will never fall in love with him the way he’s fallen for her. But somehow he’s been let into her crazy, exhilarating world and become her closest confidante. But the closer they get, the more Connor realizes that Izzy’s highs are too high and her lows are too low. And the frenetic energy that makes her shine is starting to push her into a much darker place.

As Izzy’s behavior gets increasingly erratic and self-destructive, Connor gets increasingly desperate to stop her from plummeting. He knows he can’t save her from her pain…but what if no one else can?

 

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, and friendless. Online, she’s LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves the online one, and she has no desire to try.

Then Wallace Warland, Monstrous Sea’s biggest fanfiction writer, transfers to her school. Wallace thinks Eliza is just another fan, and as he draws her out of her shell, she begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile.

But when Eliza’s secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she’s built—her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity—begins to fall apart.

 

 

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can’t turn off.

Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn’t help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she’d be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam’s weekly visits to her psychiatrist.

Caroline introduces Sam to Poet’s Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more “normal” than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

 

Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

 

Everything is Going Wrong edited by Mark Bouchard and Megan Rae

EVERYTHING IS GOING WRONG: Comics on Punk & Mental Illness is a 120 page full-color comic featuring work from comic creators and bands. All proceeds from EiGW will be benefitting The Trevor Project and MusiCares so that they can continue doing important work. (Pulled from the Kickstarter page for the project).

 

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan…

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words… And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

 

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

Audrey can’t leave the house. she can’t even take off her dark glasses inside the house.

Then her brother’s friend Linus stumbles into her life. With his friendly, orange-slice smile and his funny notes, he starts to entice Audrey out again – well, Starbucks is a start. And with Linus at her side, Audrey feels like she can do the things she’d thought were too scary. Suddenly, finding her way back to the real world seems achievable.

 

 

 

 

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

In this graphic memoir, Alison Bechdel charts her fraught relationship with her late father.

Distant and exacting, Bruce Bechdel was an English teacher and director of the town funeral home, which Alison and her family referred to as the Fun Home. It was not until college that Alison, who had recently come out as a lesbian, discovered that her father was also gay. A few weeks after this revelation, he was dead, leaving a legacy of mystery for his daughter to resolve.

 

Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson

According to Jenny: “Some people might think that being ‘furiously happy’ is just an excuse to be stupid and irresponsible and invite a herd of kangaroos over to your house without telling your husband first because you suspect he would say no since he’s never particularly liked kangaroos. And that would be ridiculous because no one would invite a herd of kangaroos into their house. Two is the limit. I speak from personal experience. My husband says that none is the new limit. I say he should have been clearer about that before I rented all those kangaroos.”

“Most of my favorite people are dangerously fucked-up but you’d never guess because we’ve learned to bare it so honestly that it becomes the new normal. Like John Hughes wrote in The Breakfast Club, ‘We’re all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it.’ Except go back and cross out the word ‘hiding.'”

Jenny’s first book, LET’S PRETEND THIS NEVER HAPPENED, was ostensibly about family, but deep down it was about celebrating your own weirdness. FURIOUSLY HAPPY is a book about mental illness, but under the surface it’s about embracing joy in fantastic and outrageous ways-and who doesn’t need a bit more of that?

 

Ghosty Men by Franz Lidz

Homer and Langley Collyer moved into their handsome brownstone in white, upper-class Harlem in 1909. By 1947, however, when the fire department had to carry Homer’s body out of the house he hadn’t left in twenty years, the neighborhood had degentrified, and their house was a fortress of junk: in an attempt to preserve the past, Homer and Langley held on to everything they touched.

The scandal of Homer’s discovery, the story of his life, and the search for Langley, who was missing at the time, rocked the city; the story was on the front page of every newspaper for weeks. A quintessential New York story of quintessential New York characters.

 

Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

Charlotte Davis is in pieces. At seventeen she’s already lost more than most people lose in a lifetime. But she’s learned how to forget. The broken glass washes away the sorrow until there is nothing but calm. You don’t have to think about your father and the river. Your best friend, who is gone forever. Or your mother, who has nothing left to give you.

Every new scar hardens Charlie’s heart just a little more, yet it still hurts so much. It hurts enough to not care anymore, which is sometimes what has to happen before you can find your way back from the edge.

 

 

 

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

In the late 1960s, the author spent nearly two years on the ward for teenage girls at McLean Hospital, a renowned psychiatric facility. Her memoir encompasses horror and razor-edged perceptions, while providing vivid portraits of her fellow patients and their keepers.

 

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children’s imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn’t stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an “excitement addict.” Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.

Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town — and the family — Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents’ betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.

What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.

 

Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley

Sixteen-year-old Solomon is agoraphobic. He hasn’t left the house in three years, which is fine by him.

Ambitious Lisa desperately wants to get into the second-best psychology program for college (she’s being realistic). But is ambition alone enough to get her in?

Enter Lisa.

Determined to “fix” Sol, Lisa steps into his world, along with her charming boyfriend, Clark, and soon the three form an unexpected bond. But, as Lisa learns more about Sol and he and Clark grow closer and closer, the walls they’ve built around themselves start to collapse and their friendships threaten to do the same.

 

History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera

When Griffin’s first love and ex-boyfriend, Theo, dies in a drowning accident, his universe implodes. Even though Theo had moved to California for college and started seeing Jackson, Griffin never doubted Theo would come back to him when the time was right. But now, the future he’s been imagining for himself has gone far off course.

To make things worse, the only person who truly understands his heartache is Jackson. But no matter how much they open up to each other, Griffin’s downward spiral continues. He’s losing himself in his obsessive compulsions and destructive choices, and the secrets he’s been keeping are tearing him apart.

If Griffin is ever to rebuild his future, he must first confront his history, every last heartbreaking piece in the puzzle of his life.

 

I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L Sanchez

Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents’ house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family.

But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That was Olga’s role.

Then a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago leaves Olga dead and Julia left behind to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family. And no one seems to acknowledge that Julia is broken, too. Instead, her mother seems to channel her grief into pointing out every possible way Julia has failed.

But it’s not long before Julia discovers that Olga might not have been as perfect as everyone thought. With the help of her best friend Lorena, and her first kiss, first love, first everything boyfriend Connor, Julia is determined to find out. Was Olga really what she seemed? Or was there more to her sister’s story? And either way, how can Julia even attempt to live up to a seemingly impossible ideal?

 

I’m Crazy by Adam Bourret

This is an autobiographical graphic novel about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

 

It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

Ambitious New York City teenager Craig Gilner is determined to succeed at life – which means getting into the right high school to get into the right job. But once Craig aces his way into Manhattan’s Executive Pre-Professional High School, the pressure becomes unbearable. He stops eating and sleeping until, one night, he nearly kills himself.

Craig’s suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a transsexual sex addict, a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety.

 

The Last Time I Wore a Dress by Daphne Scholinski

At fifteen years old, Daphne Scholinski was committed to a mental institution and awarded the dubious diagnosis of “Gender Identity Disorder.” She spent three years–and over a million dollars of insurance–“treating” the problem…with makeup lessons and instructions in how to walk like a girl.

Daphne’s story–which is, sadly, not that unusual–has already received attention from such shows as 20/20, Dateline, Today, and Leeza. But her memoir, bound to become a classic, tells the story in a funny, ironic, unforgettable voice that “isn’t all grim; Scholinski tells her story in beautifully evocative prose and mines her experiences for every last drop of ironic humor, determined to have the last laugh.” (Time Out New York).

 

 

 

Life Inside My Mind edited by Jessica Burkhart

Have you ever felt like you just couldn’t get out of bed? Not the occasional morning, but every single day? Do you find yourself listening to a voice in your head that says “you’re not good enough,” “not good-looking enough,” “not thin enough,” or “not smart enough?” Have you ever found yourself unable to do homework or pay attention in class unless everything is “just so” on your desk? Everyone has had days like that, but what if you have them every day?

You’re not alone. Millions of people are going through similar things. And many of them are people you know—you know them because they write the books that you’re reading.

Life Inside My Mind is an anthology of true-life events from writers of this generation, for this generation. It takes aim at ending the shame of mental illness.

 

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

When four classmates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they’re broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their center of gravity.

Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself, by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by what he fears is a degree of trauma that he’ll not only be unable to overcome—but that will define his life forever.

 

Little and Lion by Brandy Colbert

When Suzette comes home to Los Angeles from her boarding school in New England, she isn’t sure if she’ll ever want to go back. L.A. is where her friends and family are (along with her crush, Emil). And her stepbrother, Lionel, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, needs her emotional support.

But as she settles into her old life, Suzette finds herself falling for someone new…the same girl her brother is in love with. When Lionel’s disorder spirals out of control, Suzette is forced to confront her past mistakes and find a way to help her brother before he hurts himself–or worse.

 

Marbles by Ellen Forney

Shortly before her thirtieth birthday, Forney was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Flagrantly manic and terrified that medications would cause her to lose creativity, she began a years-long struggle to find mental stability while retaining her passions and creativity.

Searching to make sense of the popular concept of the crazy artist, she finds inspiration from the lives and work of other artists and writers who suffered from mood disorders, including Vincent van Gogh, Georgia O’Keeffe, William Styron, and Sylvia Plath. She also researches the clinical aspects of bipolar disorder, including the strengths and limitations of various treatments and medications, and what studies tell us about the conundrum of attempting to “cure” an otherwise brilliant mind.

Darkly funny and intensely personal, Forney’s memoir provides a visceral glimpse into the effects of a mood disorder on an artist’s work, as she shares her own story through bold black-and-white images and evocative prose.

 

My Box Shaped Heart by Rachael Lucas

Holly’s mum is a hoarder, and she is fed up with being picked on at school for being weird . . . and having the wrong clothes . . . and sticking out. All she wants is to be invisible. She loves swimming, because in the water everyone is the same.

Ed goes to the swimming pool to escape the horrible house he and his mum have been assigned by the women’s refuge. In his old life he had money; was on the swim team; knew who he was and what he wanted. In his old life his dad hit his mum.

Holly is swimming in one direction and Ed’s swimming in the other. As their worlds collide they find a window into each other’s lives – and learn how to meet in the middle.

 

On The Move by Oliver Sacks

When Oliver Sacks was twelve years old, a perceptive schoolmaster wrote in his report: “Sacks will go far, if he does not go too far.” It is now abundantly clear that Sacks has never stopped going. From its opening pages on his youthful obsession with motorcycles and speed, On the Move is infused with his restless energy. As he recounts his experiences as a young neurologist in the early 1960s, first in California, where he struggled with drug addiction, and then in New York, where he discovered a long-forgotten illness in the back wards of a chronic hospital, we see how his engagement with patients comes to define his life.

With unbridled honesty and humor, Sacks shows us that the same energy that drives his physical passions—weight lifting and swimming—also drives his cerebral passions. He writes about his love affairs, both romantic and intellectual; his guilt over leaving his family to come to America; his bond with his schizophrenic brother; and the writers and scientists—Thom Gunn, A. R. Luria, W. H. Auden, Gerald M. Edelman, Francis Crick—who influenced him.

On the Move is the story of a brilliantly unconventional physician and writer—and of the man who has illuminated the many ways that the brain makes us human.

 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky, Perks follows observant “wallflower” Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

 

Black Pain: It Only Looks Like We’re Not Hurting by Terrie Williams

Terrie Williams knows that Black people are hurting. She knows because she’s one of them. Terrie had made it: she had launched her own public relations company with such clients as Eddie Murphy and Johnnie Cochran. Yet she was in constant pain, waking up in terror, overeating in search of relief. For thirty years she kept on her game face of success, exhausting herself daily to satisfy her clients’ needs while neglecting her own.

Terrie finally collapsed, staying in bed for days. She had no clue what was wrong or if there was a way out. She had hit rock bottom and she needed and got help.

She learned her problem had a name — depression — and that many suffered from it, limping through their days, hiding their hurt. As she healed, her mission became clear: break the silence of this crippling taboo and help those who suffer.

“Black Pain” identifies emotional pain — which uniquely and profoundly affects the Black experience — as the root of lashing out through desperate acts of crime, violence, drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorders, workaholism, and addiction to shopping, gambling, and sex. Few realize these destructive acts are symptoms of our inner sorrow.

Black people are dying. Everywhere we turn, in the faces we see and the headlines we read, we feel in our gut that something is wrong, but we don’t know what it is. It’s time to recognize it and work through our trauma.

In “Black Pain,” Terrie has inspired the famous and the ordinary to speak out and mental health professionals to offer solutions. The book is a mirror turned on you. Do you see yourself and your loved ones here? Do the descriptions of how the pain looks, feels, and sounds seem far too familiar? Now you can do something about it.

 

Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig

I want life. I want to read it and write it and feel it and live it. I want, for as much of the time as possible in this blink-of-an-eye existence we have, to feel all that can be felt. I hate depression. I am scared of it. Terrified, in fact. But at the same time, it has made me who I am. And if – for me – it is the price of feeling life, it’s a price always worth paying.

Reasons to Stay Alive is about making the most of your time on earth. In the western world the suicide rate is highest amongst men under the age of 35. Matt Haig could have added to that statistic when, aged 24, he found himself staring at a cliff-edge about to jump off. This is the story of why he didn’t, how he recovered and learned to live with anxiety and depression. It’s also an upbeat, joyous and very funny exploration of how live better, love better, read better and feel more.

 

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

Francesca is stuck at St. Sebastian’s, a boys’ school that pretends it’s coed by giving the girls their own bathroom. Her only female companions are an ultra-feminist, a rumored slut, and an impossibly dorky accordion player. The boys are no better, from Thomas, who specializes in musical burping, to Will, the perpetually frowning, smug moron that Francesca can’t seem to stop thinking about.

Then there’s Francesca’s mother, who always thinks she knows what’s best for Francesca—until she is suddenly stricken with acute depression, leaving Francesca lost, alone, and without an inkling of who she really is. Simultaneously humorous, poignant, and impossible to put down, this is the story of a girl who must summon the strength to save her family, her social life and—hardest of all—herself.

 

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

“Speak up for yourself–we want to know what you have to say.” From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless, outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. Only her art class offers any solace, and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party: she was raped by an upperclassman, a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him. But this time Melinda fights back, refuses to be silent, and thereby achieves a measure of vindication.

In Laurie Halse Anderson’s powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself.

 

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis.

Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

 

Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall

At seventeen, Norah has accepted that the four walls of her house delineate her life. She knows that fearing everything from inland tsunamis to odd numbers is irrational, but her mind insists the world outside is too big, too dangerous. So she stays safe inside, watching others’ lives through her windows and social media feed.

But when Luke arrives on her doorstep, he doesn’t see a girl defined by medical terms and mental health. Instead, he sees a girl who is funny, smart, and brave. And Norah likes what he sees.

Their friendship turns deeper, but Norah knows Luke deserves a normal girl. One who can walk beneath the open sky. One who is unafraid of kissing. One who isn’t so screwed up. Can she let him go for his own good—or can Norah learn to see herself through Luke’s eyes?

 

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

“Dead girl walking,” the boys say in the halls.
“Tell us your secret,” the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl.
I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame. 

Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit.

Mental Health & Teens of Color: A Guest Post by Patrice Caldwell

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Over the last few years, I’ve really paid attention to how the YA community discusses and writes about mental health. Part of it is my own interest in the topic as someone who experiences mental illness, but a far larger part is because the conversations are important and vital to teenagers and the books that aim to reach them. I’ve written before about a pivotal moment in my career, where a teen girl came to an open mic night at my library and shared a piece she’d written in honor of her friend, who’d committed suicide the previous day. It reminded me about the power of talking and sharing and not being ashamed of bringing these big, tough issues to light.

But one of the things that bothers me about this conversation is how rarely we talk about it in regards to people of color. The girl I referenced above was black, as were a good majority of teens I served in that community; in previous communities, the bulk of faces I served were brown, from various Hispanic heritages. It is, however, rare we see depictions of teens of color struggling with and coming to understand their mental health.

Even booklists compiled for major library journals or websites often fail to highlight the books that do exist showcasing mental health as an issue important to teens of color. Part of it is because there aren’t many books, but a good part of it is not paying attention to the importance of this issue to people of color.

I wanted to have someone write about this, and after putting out a call asking, I was flooded with interest for a piece about this, as well as a book list, and I was lucky enough to get a fantastic guest post from Patrice Caldwell on this. Please enjoy this post. Please think about it. Please share it. Talking about mental health and wellness is crucial, and it’s just as crucial to look at it through cultural and inclusive lenses.

____________________

patrice-caldwell

 

Patrice is a twenty-three-year-old introvert gone wild. By day, she’s an editorial assistant at Scholastic, and by night, weekend, and early morning (if she’s had enough green tea) she’s a writer. You can learn more about Patrice, her writing, favorite books, and general musings at her blog, patricecaldwell.com. You can also find her on Twitter (@whimsicallyours), her secondary home.

 

 

 

In my family mental illness is often referenced as a “the white man’s disease.” As people of color (POC) in a nation with a history of profiting off black and brown bodies, we endured slavery, we endured sharecropping, we endured segregation and so anything else, anything that literally doesn’t threaten your physical existence, is nothing compared to those past. At least that’s how I was raised.

Because formal schooling was a luxury many of my ancestors couldn’t afford, the importance of getting a education was stressed since I was born. And so I received a “good education,” a great one, even. In my neighborhood, this always meant going to the “whiter” school. Unlike my ancestors, I know I’ve had it easier. Like them, I often felt like I, too, had been ripped from my community, sent to some foreign land where I was now expected to be better than the rest while also putting up with every microaggression my well-meaning classmates and teachers threw my way. In short, I was to become a woman of steel who always smiled and never raised her voice as sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. I can’t tell you how many times I repeated that meaningless rhyme.

I’m not alone in this experience.

As I mentioned to Kelly, mental illness runs through my family. And though my dad likes to claim it’s only on my mom’s side (my parents are divorced so they blame everything on “the other side of the family”), his brother committed suicide when he was younger, which is something he only talked about with me once—when I was suicidal myself.

I’m not going to lie and say that a book can save a life. I honestly don’t remember if that’s true. However, books have helped me to understand myself. Books told me I wasn’t alone when my entire family refused to acknowledge the depression and anxiety I’d been battling for years. We like to talk about how books provide both mirrors and windows. Windows being books that offer alternative views of worlds real or imagined—a peek into someone else’s life, and mirrors being books in which you see your own stories and self reflected.

I can only think of two books from my childhood that provided true mirrors for most of my experiences: Yorbua Girl Dancing by Simi Bedford, about an African girl’s metamorphosis into an upper-class English schoolgirl and the homesickness and microaggressions she deals with, and At Her Majesty’s Request, a nonfiction account by Walter Dean Myers about an African princess in Victorian England. Those books meant the world to me and during my hardest times I read them weekly. If I were to add few more, that I discovered later in life, it’d be the works of Octavia Butler + Ash by Malinda Lo (the first time I read queers girl in literature) as well as The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, which gave me the vocabulary through which to speak my experiences.

In light of this I’d like to share YA novels I loved, that I found later in life, and ones the others have recommended. They all feature POC as main or major characters (we’re not having any of that oh, look here’s a POC on page 104) who are living, struggling, and thriving with mental illnesses.

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More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

In the months after his father’s suicide, it’s been tough for 16-year-old Aaron Soto to find happiness again–but he’s still gunning for it. With the support of his girlfriend Genevieve and his overworked mom, he’s slowly remembering what that might feel like. But grief and the smile-shaped scar on his wrist prevent him from forgetting completely.

When Genevieve leaves for a couple of weeks, Aaron spends all his time hanging out with this new guy, Thomas. Aaron’s crew notices, and they’re not exactly thrilled. But Aaron can’t deny the happiness Thomas brings or how Thomas makes him feel safe from himself, despite the tensions their friendship is stirring with his girlfriend and friends. Since Aaron can’t stay away from Thomas or turn off his newfound feelings for him, he considers turning to the Leteo Institute’s revolutionary memory-alteration procedure to straighten himself out, even if it means forgetting who he truly is.

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina

One morning before school, some girl tells Piddy Sanchez that Yaqui Delgado hates her and wants to kick her ass. Piddy doesn’t even know who Yaqui is, never mind what she’s done to piss her off. Word is that Yaqui thinks Piddy is stuck-up, shakes her stuff when she walks, and isn’t Latin enough with her white skin, good grades, and no accent. And Yaqui isn’t kidding around, so Piddy better watch her back. At first Piddy is more concerned with trying to find out more about the father she’s never met and how to balance honors courses with her weekend job at the neighborhood hair salon. But as the harassment escalates, avoiding Yaqui and her gang starts to take over Piddy’s life. Is there any way for Piddy to survive without closing herself off or running away? In an all-too-realistic novel, Meg Medina portrays a sympathetic heroine who is forced to decide who she really is. 

Pointe by Brandy Colbert

Theo is better now.

She’s eating again, dating guys who are almost appropriate, and well on her way to becoming an elite ballet dancer. But when her oldest friend, Donovan, returns home after spending four long years with his kidnapper, Theo starts reliving memories about his abduction—and his abductor.

Donovan isn’t talking about what happened, and even though Theo knows she didn’t do anything wrong, telling the truth would put everything she’s been living for at risk. But keeping quiet might be worse.

(This was my FAVORITE book from 2014 and still means the world to me for its frank portrayal of teenage-life and the mental health struggles of a black girl. Be sure to check out her forthcoming novel, Little & Lion, which also deals with the aftermath of mental health crises.)

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Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero

Gabi Hernandez chronicles her last year in high school in her diary: college applications, Cindy’s pregnancy, Sebastian’s coming out, the cute boys, her father’s meth habit, and the food she craves. And best of all, the poetry that helps forge her identity.

July 24

My mother named me Gabriella, after my grandmother who, coincidentally, didn’t want to meet me when I was born because my mother was unmarried, and therefore living in sin. My mom has told me the story many, many, MANY, times of how, when she confessed to my grandmother that she was pregnant with me, her mother beat her. BEAT HER! She was twenty-five. That story is the basis of my sexual education and has reiterated why it’s important to wait until you’re married to give it up. So now, every time I go out with a guy, my mom says, “Ojos abiertos, piernas cerradas.” Eyes open, legs closed. That’s as far as the birds and the bees talk has gone. And I don’t mind it. I don’t necessarily agree with that whole wait until you’re married crap, though. I mean, this is America and the 21st century; not Mexico one hundred years ago. But, of course, I can’t tell my mom that because she will think I’m bad. Or worse: trying to be White.

(This book, y’all. It’s so good! Read it as a Cybils Panelist in 2014 and fell in love.)

Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra & Dhonielle Clayton

Gigi, Bette, and June, three top students at an exclusive Manhattan ballet school, have seen their fair share of drama. Free-spirited new girl Gigi just wants to dance—but the very act might kill her. Privileged New Yorker Bette’s desire to escape the shadow of her ballet star sister brings out a dangerous edge in her. And perfectionist June needs to land a lead role this year or her controlling mother will put an end to her dancing dreams forever. When every dancer is both friend and foe, the girls will sacrifice, manipulate, and backstab to be the best of the best.

(As shown by my love for Pointe, I adore books that highlight mental health issues + the arts world through girls of color. This does just that, so well, and from the perspective of three, diverse girls.)

Silhouetted by the Blue by Traci L. Jones

Seventh-grader Serena Shaw is trying to keep up at school while rehearsing for the lead role in the spring musical and dealing with a father so “blue” he is nearly catatonic. With the aid of a not-so-secret admirer as well as a growing sense of self-confidence, she faces the challenges of caring for herself and her ball-of-charm younger brother, all while attempting to lead the life of a normal pre-teen. Readers will be drawn into this convincing portrait of a vivacious young person who is on a path to discovering that taking on responsibility sometimes means finding the best way to ask for help. 

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Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

Hanna simply wants to be loved. With a head plagued by hallucinations, a medicine cabinet full of pills, and a closet stuffed with frilly, violet dresses, Hanna’s tired of being the outcast, the weird girl, the freak. So she runs away to Portero, Texas in search of a new home.

But Portero is a stranger town than Hanna expects. As she tries to make a place for herself, she discovers dark secrets that would terrify any normal soul. Good thing for Hanna, she’s far from normal. As this crazy girl meets an even crazier town, only two things are certain: Anything can happen and no one is safe.

Irises by Francisco X. Stork

TWO SISTERS: Kate is bound for Stanford and an M.D. — if her family will let her go. Mary wants only to stay home and paint. When their loving but repressive father dies, they must figure out how to support themselves and their mother, who is in a permanent vegetative state, and how to get along in all their uneasy sisterhood.

THREE YOUNG MEN: Then three men sway their lives: Kate’s boyfriend Simon offers to marry her, providing much-needed stability. Mary is drawn to Marcos, though she fears his violent past. And Andy tempts Kate with more than romance, recognizing her ambition because it matches his own.

ONE AGONIZING CHOICE: Kate and Mary each find new possibilities and darknesses in their sudden freedom. But it’s Mama’s life that might divide them for good — the question of *if* she lives, and what’s worth living for.

The Memory of Light by Francisco X. Stork

Vicky Cruz shouldn’t be alive.

That’s what she thinks, anyway—and why she tried to kill herself. But then she arrives at Lakeview Hospital, where she meets Mona, the live wire; Gabriel, the saint; E.M., always angry; and Dr. Desai, a quiet force. With stories and honesty, kindness and hard work, they push her to reconsider her life before Lakeview, and offer her an acceptance she’s never had.

Yet Vicky’s newfound peace is as fragile as the roses that grow around the hospital. And when a crisis forces the group to split up—sending her back to the life that drove her to suicide—Vicky must find her own courage and strength. She may not have any. She doesn’t know.

(Francisco X. Stork is truly a literary genius. If you haven’t read his works, get on it. They’re so powerful and he’s so talented at getting to the heart of what it means to strive to be yourself.)

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Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood (Sisterhood #3) by Ann Brashares

It’s the summer before the sisterhood departs for college . . . their last real summer together before they head off to start their grown-up lives. It’s the time when Lena, Tibby, Bridget, and Carmen need their Pants the most.

When the Stars Go Blue by Caridad Ferrer

Dance is Soledad Reyes’s life. About to graduate from Miami’s Biscayne High School for the Performing Arts, she plans on spending her last summer at home teaching in a dance studio, saving money, and eventually auditioning for dance companies. That is, until fate intervenes in the form of fellow student Jonathan Crandall who has what sounds like an outrageous proposition: Forget teaching. Why not spend the summer performing in the intense environment of the competitive drum and bugle corps? The corps is going to be performing Carmen, and the opportunity to portray the character of the sultry gypsy proves too tempting for Soledad to pass up, as well as the opportunity to spend more time with Jonathan, who intrigues her in a way no boy ever has before.

But in an uncanny echo of the story they perform every evening, an unexpected competitor for Soledad’s affections appears: Taz, a member of an all-star Spanish soccer team. One explosive encounter later Soledad finds not only her relationship with Jonathan threatened, but her entire future as a professional dancer. 

When Reason Breaks by Cindy L. Rodriguez

A Goth girl with an attitude problem, Elizabeth Davis must learn to control her anger before it destroys her. Emily Delgado appears to be a smart, sweet girl, with a normal life, but as depression clutches at her, she struggles to feel normal. Both girls are in Ms. Diaz’s English class, where they connect to the words of Emily Dickinson. Both are hovering on the edge of an emotional precipice. One of them will attempt suicide. And with Dickinson’s poetry as their guide, both girls must conquer their personal demons to ever be happy.

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The Meaning of Consuelo by Judith Ortiz Cofer

The Signe family is blessed with two daughters. Consuelo, the elder, is thought of as pensive and book-loving, the serious child-la niña seria-while Mili, her younger sister, is seen as vivacious, a ray of tropical sunshine. Two daughters: one dark, one light; one to offer comfort and consolation, the other to charm and delight. But, for all the joy both girls should bring, something is not right in this Puerto Rican family; a tragedia is developing, like a tumor, at its core.

Call Me Maria by Judith Ortiz Cofer

Maria is a girl caught between two worlds: Puerto Rico, where she was born, and New York, where she now lives in a basement apartment in the barrio. While her mother remains on the island, Maria lives with her father, the super of their building. As she struggles to lose her island accent, Maria does her best to find her place within the unfamiliar culture of the barrio. Finally, with the Spanglish of the barrio people ringing in her ears, she finds the poet within herself.

Not Otherwise Specified by Hannah Moskowitz

Everywhere she turns, someone feels she’s too fringe for the fringe. Not gay enough for the Dykes, her ex-clique, thanks to a recent relationship with a boy; not tiny and white enough for ballet, her first passion; and not sick enough to look anorexic (partially thanks to recovery). Etta doesn’t fit anywhere— until she meets Bianca, the straight, white, Christian, and seriously sick girl in Etta’s therapy group. Both girls are auditioning for Brentwood, a prestigious New York theater academy that is so not Nebraska. Bianca seems like Etta’s salvation, but how can Etta be saved by a girl who needs saving herself? 

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Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

Caden Bosch is on a ship that’s headed for the deepest point on Earth: Challenger Deep, the southern part of the Marianas Trench.

Caden Bosch is a brilliant high school student whose friends are starting to notice his odd behavior.

Caden Bosch is designated the ship’s artist in residence, to document the journey with images.

Caden Bosch pretends to join the school track team but spends his days walking for miles, absorbed by the thoughts in his head.

Caden Bosch is split between his allegiance to the captain and the allure of mutiny.

Caden Bosch is torn.

Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Zach is eighteen. He is bright and articulate. He’s also an alcoholic and in rehab instead of high school, but he doesn’t remember how he got there. He’s not sure he wants to remember. Something bad must have happened. Something really, really bad. Remembering sucks and being alive – well, what’s up with that? 

(I cannot recommend Benjamin Alire Sáenz enough, this is one of his lesser known works that’s equally as powerful. It’s so rare to see novels with teens of color, particularly boys, struggling with mental illness and addiction.)

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.

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I Will Save You by Matt De La Peña

Kidd is running from his past and his future. No mom, no dad, and there’s nothing for him at the group home but therapy. He doesn’t belong at the beach where he works either, unless he finds a reason to stay.

Olivia is blond hair, blue eyes, rich dad. The prettiest girl in Cardiff. She’s hiding something from Kidd—but could they ever be together anyway?

Devon is mean, mysterious, and driven by a death wish. A best friend and worst enemy. He followed Kidd all the way to the beach and he’s not leaving until he teaches him a few lessons about life. And Olivia.

We Were Here by Matt De La Peña

When it happened, Miguel was sent to Juvi. The judge gave him a year in a group home—said he had to write in a journal so some counselor could try to figure out how he thinks. The judge had no idea that he actually did Miguel a favor. Ever since it happened, his mom can’t even look at him in the face. Any home besides his would be a better place to live.

But Miguel didn’t bet on meeting Rondell or Mong or on any of what happened after they broke out. He only thought about Mexico and getting to the border to where he could start over. Forget his mom. Forget his brother. Forget himself.

Life usually doesn’t work out how you think it will, though. And most of the time, running away is the quickest path right back to what you’re running from.

(By now, you’ve probably heard of Matt De La Peña. Be sure to check out these novels, two of his earlier works.)

Enter Title Here by Rahul Kanakia

Reshma is a college counselor’s dream. She’s the top-ranked senior at her ultra-competitive Silicon Valley high school, with a spotless academic record and a long roster of extracurriculars. But there are plenty of perfect students in the country, and if Reshma wants to get into Stanford, and into med school after that, she needs the hook to beat them all.

What’s a habitual over-achiever to do? Land herself a literary agent, of course. Which is exactly what Reshma does after agent Linda Montrose spots an article she wrote for Huffington Post. Linda wants to represent Reshma, and, with her new agent’s help scoring a book deal, Reshma knows she’ll finally have the key to Stanford.

But she’s convinced no one would want to read a novel about a study machine like her. To make herself a more relatable protagonist, she must start doing all the regular American girl stuff she normally ignores. For starters, she has to make a friend, then get a boyfriend. And she’s already planned the perfect ending: after struggling for three hundred pages with her own perfectionism, Reshma will learn that meaningful relationships can be more important than success—a character arc librarians and critics alike will enjoy.

Of course, even with a mastermind like Reshma in charge, things can’t always go as planned. And when the valedictorian spot begins to slip from her grasp, she’ll have to decide just how far she’ll go for that satisfying ending. (Note: It’s pretty far.)

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Death, Dickinson, and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia by Jenny Torres Sanchez

Frenchie Garcia can’t come to grips with the death of Andy Cooper. Her friends didn’t know she had a crush him. And they don’t know she was the last person with him before he committed suicide. But Frenchie’s biggest concern is how she blindly helped him die that night.

Frenchie’s already insane obsession with death and Emily Dickinson won’t help her understand the role she played during Andy’s “one night of adventure.” But when she meets Colin, she may have found the perfect opportunity to recreate that night. While exploring the emotional depth of loss and transition to adulthood, Sanchez’s sharp humor and clever observations bring forth a richly developed voice.

Willow Tree and Olive by Irini Savvides

Enough waterwave taffeta for a lifetime of weddings, always in apricot, matching shoes and a sugared almond under your pillow so you can dream of the man you love. Olive laughs wildly and counts the expensive plates as they hit the wall. But she can’t hide her desperate struggle to piece together a shattered sense of trust. Sometimes Olive is embarrassed by her culture, and even hates being Greek. But, as her friend Kerry tells her, the rest of the time she harps on as if the Greeks invented everything. Olive’s parents decide that a change of scene will help her through her inability to handle school, family and growing up in general. So they send her on a holiday to Greece. And it’s the Greek determination to survive, along with their love of poetry and myth, that finally encourage Olive to step out of a past she can no longer face, and take on the future.

Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn

Evie Tanaka is the put-upon personal assistant to Aveda Jupiter, her childhood best friend and San Francisco’s most beloved superheroine. She’s great at her job—blending into the background, handling her boss’s epic diva tantrums, and getting demon blood out of leather pants.

Unfortunately, she’s not nearly as together when it comes to running her own life, standing up for herself, or raising her tempestuous teenage sister, Bea.

But everything changes when Evie’s forced to pose as her glamorous boss for one night, and her darkest comes out: she has powers, too. Now it’s up to her to contend with murderous cupcakes, nosy gossip bloggers, and supernatural karaoke battles—all while juggling unexpected romance and Aveda’s increasingly outrageous demands. And when a larger threat emerges, Evie must finally take charge and become a superheroine in her own right… or see her city fall to a full-on demonic invasion.

(Though this book is technically adult, the main character is only in her early 20s and the voice is so perfect that I had to include it. It’s a laugh-out-loud hilarious novel featuring a diverse cast & a main character who struggles with anxiety. Such a unique premise, I can’t wait to see what Sarah Kuhn writes next.)

Forthcoming:

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Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

Mary B. Addison killed a baby.

Allegedly. She didn’t say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: a white baby had died while under the care of a churchgoing black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it?

There wasn’t a point to setting the record straight before, but now she’s got Ted—and their unborn child—to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary’s fate now lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But does anyone know the real Mary?

(Add this to your to-reads now. It’s out in January 2017, and it’s sure to be a debut novel you don’t want to miss!)

Thank you for reading this post. I hope you’ve found a new novel, or two! Crises with mental illness and addiction have at times defined and consumed my life. If you’re struggling with your mental health, you are not alone. I promise that there are others who understand how you feel. Don’t suffer alone. There’s this idea in POC communities that we have to be strong, that we have to be polite, that we can’t ask for help. I faked all for years and though it was scary as hell to eventually to reach out to others, asking and following through with getting help, along with reading books like these that humanized and destigmatized my experiences, saved my life.

I’d love to hear about any other titles that you know of, that I left out. Feel free to continue this conversation in the comments or contact me via Twitter, @whimsicallyours.

Thank you, again!

Patrice

P.S. If you’re interested in other mediums that highlight POC with mental illnesses, check out this awesome photo series by Dior Vargas.

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

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Samantha — Sam in the summer, when she’s away from her year-round school responsibilities and is instead focusing on her swimming — is part of a tight-knit group of girls called the Crazy 8s. For the most part, the girls are hard to tease apart and delineate as individuals. They’ve been tight for a long time, and they’ve done what seems like everything together.

But this year, after a refreshing, invigorating summer, Samantha is feeling anxious about beginning another year of high school with her best girls. In many ways, they’re not really friends. They’re together because it’s part of their reputation and because it’s been part of the routine since kindergarten. Samantha, though, isn’t all in.

It’s not just that she’s feeling distanced from them. It’s that her mental illness — Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, of the Pure-O variety —  has gotten bad. Really, really bad. She’s unable to remove the distressing thoughts from her mind in a healthy way, even though she’s taking medication for it and seeking regularly weekly therapy with a therapist who she trusts and who cares about her deeply.

Fortunately, on that first day of school, things seem different. Samantha meets Caroline, a girl she’d never noticed before at school. It’s Caroline who introduces Samantha to an underground poetry club at school called Poet’s Corner, which meets in a hidden space at the school. It’s Caroline who helps Samantha to more embrace her “Sam” — the girl she is when she’s swimming in the summer and the girl who is most like who she is. It’s Caroline who helps Sam discover a passion for writing, for performing, and who ultimately introduces her to AJ, a boy who Sam had tormented years earlier with her fellow Crazy 8s. When Sam apologizes and begins to see AJ for more than the guy he used to be, they begin a really powerful, well-developed, and satisfyingly dynamic relationship with one another.

I went into Tamara Ireland Stone’s Every Last Word with some hesitance. I’ve read more than one OCD book in the last few years, and while they’ve all explored the illness in some unique way, I always worry that it’ll be manifested in a way that feels more like a television representation than authentic to the illness. But it was pleasing to see Stone didn’t do this in the least. Sam’s OCD in this book is rendered incredibly, authentically, and might be one of the best mental illness books I’ve ever read.

YA loves mental illness, and this isn’t a bad thing. The problem I’ve found, though, is so many of these books read like check lists in some capacity. You can see the research the author put into the book because the character and his/her behaviors feel like the research itself. She/he does this, then this, then this, and then there’s the diagnosis of the illness.

But Ireland Stone subverts this trap through the research.

Samantha has a type of OCD that is less about the compulsions and more about the obsessive and distressing thoughts. That doesn’t mean, though, she completely lacks any compulsions. She has to do things in threes. She can’t, for example, park her car if the mileage isn’t ending on a multiple of three. But this isn’t about those things; the real misery for Sam is how she cannot stop thinking horrific things. Not only do we see those horrific things, but we experience them along with her. She’s fearful of what will happen in every single act she undertakes, and she tells readers how miserable it is to have these thoughts. She’s anxious all of the time, and while many readers may not understand that anxiety as it creeps in — so many of the things that shouldn’t cause it are — I couldn’t help but completely, utterly relate to Sam in many of these manners. I have anxiety issues, and though it is not to this extreme, I felt those feelings and fears with Sam because I completely empathized and sympathized with her. It’s difficult reading, but it’s a window into a mental illness that’s well-done.

That’s not where it stops though. From here on, you have spoilers, so jump down to the last two paragraphs if you don’t want them (that starts with “The romance”).

One of the things Ireland Stone does is offer a piece of Sam’s illness that isn’t “on the books.” Caroline, the girl she meets and who introduces her to Poet’s Corner and AJ, isn’t real. She’s a figment of Sam’s overactive, illed brain. Sam talks about Caroline at numerous therapy sessions, and through those sessions, we learn what Caroline is to her: she’s a force that pushes Sam outside of her comfort zone. Caroline is the way Sam allows herself to push boundaries, as well as the way Sam is able to overcome her anxiety about doing new and different things, including reading and writing poetry, apologizing to AJ and pursuing a relationship with him, and pushing outside the security and comfort of the Crazy 8s, even though they’ve been her long-time friends.

Caroline’s not being real doesn’t particularly trip up Sam’s therapist. Rather, her therapist talks about how everyone’s brains are really special and unique, and those who struggle with mental illnesses don’t all struggle in the same way. Rather, brains are so interesting that even diagnosable illnesses can take on different forms, different coping mechanisms, and create these rich stories that don’t make sense to anyone. Caroline is part of Sam’s coping, her brain’s means of pushing her forward and through her day-to-day. Ireland Stone’s subversion here — the assurance she offers Sam through the narrative, through Sue and more, the assurance she offers any readers struggling with mental illness — is noteworthy and commendable. We are “off the book” here in terms of what we understand about diseases like OCD and yet, it’s not treated as if it’s a boogeyman or a malfunction. It’s part of a brain that’s firing strangely on a chemical level and…that’s all.

That is a radical, powerful moment.

Therapy and medication in this book are not big deals. Rather, they’re tools in combatting mental illness and becoming a functional, healthy human being. The medication discussion here is about how it can sometimes take work and how sometimes, there is an adjustment period and adjustments necessary to make them work the best way that they can. Ireland renders Sue, Sam’s therapist, as a full and functional human beyond the “role” she plays as a therapist. In fact, the book does a great job depicting all of the major adults in this book; they’re all there, and even if they can’t all be helpful, it’s nice to see them as fully-realized characters, rather than secondary and less important.

The romance in this story is really rewarding, and for many readers, this will be the highlight of the story, not the treatment of mental illness. AJ and Sam do not have an easy romance at all. AJ is really not all-in with Sam, and he doesn’t welcome her immediately. Even after she apologizes for how she used to treat him, AJ is tentative. He doesn’t want to give her all of his trust immediately, and there’s pushing and pulling that’s authentic, challenging, and true to how romantic relationships in teenagers work but that we don’t get to see in fiction quite enough. There are no fireworks here, no quick resolutions. This relationship takes work. It’s earned, not expected.

Every Last Word comes out June 16, so the review is a little early, but it’s a book worth putting on your radar now. Ireland Stone’s writing is fluid and absorbing, and her treatment of such an terrible, painful, and frequently mischaracterized illness is outstanding. Sam’s story is engaging. Readers who like the writing and story telling of Sara Zarr or Siobhan Vivian will find much to enjoy here, and readers who like the romantic arcs of Jenny Han a la her “Summer” series will find that here with AJ and Sam. Highly recommended, with great appeal to those who are curious about mental health, as well as those who may not know they are.

Review copy received from the publisher. We’ll be doing a giveaway later this week of this book, too, courtesy of the publisher.