Mental Health Book List 9-12

Mental Health Awareness Month

The theme of this list is "Change is Hard"

Updated February 23, 2026
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Breathing underwater
Nash, Abbey Lee
Paper Book
With one word, Tess's world could be completely undone: Epilepsy. Tess lives for swimming: the feel of the pool's rough edge on her toes, the snap of cold water on her skin, and the push of her limbs ever forward. In the water, she's truly alive.  Until...
Isabel in bloom
Respicio, Mae
Paper Book
A middle-school girl discovers a connection between her home in the Philippines and her new home in the U.S. through a special garden in "this sweet and heartfelt novel that explores how bumpy beginnings can offer chances for new growth" (The New York Times) A National Council...
Kareem between
Safadi, Shifa Saltagi
Paper Book
This award-winning, heartfelt coming-of-age novel in verse tells the powerful story of a seventh-grade Syrian American boy and his struggles, big and small, as he navigates middle school. "The exact type of book I would've loved, and needed, as a kid." -Jasmine Warga, New...
King and the dragonflies
Callender, Kacen
Paper Book
A 2021 Coretta Scott King Honor Book! Winner of the 2020 National Book Award for Young People's Literature! Winner of the 2020 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction and Poetry! In a small but turbulent Louisiana town, one boy's grief takes him...
Lola
Valenti, Karla
Paper Book
A simmering tale of magic, adventure, and the extraordinary bond between a brother and sister who'd journey to the ends of the Earth to save each other. From the acclaimed author of Loteria comes a heartfelt story rooted in Mexican magical realism. A PURA BELPR AUTHOR WINNER ....
Louder than hunger
Schu, John
Paper Book
A Schneider Family Book Award Honor Book "This heart-wrenching verse novel--inspired by the author's experiences . . . is an unflinching depiction of resistance and disordered eating recovery." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) Jake volunteers at a...
Wishtree
Applegate, Katherine
Paper Book
From #1 New York Times-bestelling author of Odder and The One and Only Ivan. "Beautiful in every way one can imagine. Everyone should read this book." --R.J. Palacio, bestselling author of Wonder, White Bird, and Pony ...

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