Kindness and community books for teens

If you're working on our February SweetBean challenge and looking for related reading recommendations, look no further! Here are some books that center kindness and community for teens.

Looking for recommendation list for other age groups?

Check out the list for adults here.

Check out the list for picture books here.

Check out the list for chapter books here.

Updated February 1, 2024
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Fighting invisible tigers : stress management for teens
Hipp, Earl
Ebook
Award-winning title offers teens straightforward advice on stress management, anxiety reduction, and digital well-being. Untempered stress among teens is approaching epidemic status. Prolonged and intense anxiety can feel like being stalked by a tiger, never...
Find your people : building deep community in a lonely world
Allen, Jennie
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER . WINNER OF THE ECPA BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD . The author of Get Out of Your Headoffers practical solutions for creating true community, the kind that's crucial to our mental and spiritual health. "My dear friend Jennie Allen shows ushow...
A heart in a body in the world
Caletti, Deb
Paper Book
When everything has been taken from you, what else is there to do but run? So that's what Annabelle does--she runs from Seattle to Washington, DC, through mountain passes and suburban landscapes, from long lonely roads to college towns. She's not ready to think about the why yet,...
Just mercy : a story of justice and redemption
Stevenson, Bryan
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING MICHAEL B. JORDAN AND JAMIE FOXX * A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice--from one of the most brilliant and influential...
Kings, queens, and in-betweens
Boteju, Tanya
Ebook
"Poignant and important." --Refinery29 "A bright and sparkly celebration of love and self-acceptance." --Kirkus Reviews Judy Blume meets RuPaul's Drag Race in this funny, feel-good debut novel about a queer teen who navigates questions of...
Queer : the ultimate LGBTQ guide for teens
Belge, Kathy
Paper Book
Teen life is hard enough with all of the pressures kids face, but for teens who are LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender), it's even harder. When do you decide to come out? To whom? Will your friends accept you? And how on earth do you meet people to date? Queer is a...
Scars like wings
Stewart, Erin
Paper Book
Relatable, heartbreaking, and real, this is a story of resilience--the perfect novel for readers of powerful contemporary fiction like Girl in Pieces and Every Last Word. Before, I was a million things. Now I'm only one. The Burned Girl. Ava Lee...
The Sky blues
Couch, Robbie
Paper Book
Sky's small town turns absolutely claustrophobic when his secret promposal plans get leaked to the entire school in this witty, "earnest, heartfelt" (Becky Albertalli, New York Times bestselling author), and ultimately hopeful debut novel for fans of What if it's Us? and To All...
Slay
Morris, Brittney
Paper Book
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2019! "Gripping and timely." --People "The YA debut we're most excited for this year." --Entertainment Weekly "A book that knocks you off your feet while dropping the kind of knowledge that'll keep you...
Wings of ebony
Elle, J.
Paper Book
Instant New York Times bestseller! "A remarkable, breathtaking, earthshaking, poetic thrillride." --Daniel José Older, New York Times bestselling author of Shadowshaper ​In this riveting, keenly emotional...

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