Mental Health Awareness Month: Recommended YA Fiction and Nonfiction

Updated April 28, 2026
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Lewis and Clark Library Lewis and Clark Public Library
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Mental Health Awareness Month: Recommended YA Fiction and Nonfiction

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I am not your perfect Mexican daughter
Sanchez, Erika L.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A "stunning" (America Ferrera) YA novel about a teenager coming to terms with losing her sister and finding herself amid the pressures, expectations, and stereotypes of growing up in a Mexican American home. "Alive and crackling--a...
The Anxiety Club: How to Survive Modern Life
Fanget Frederic
Paper Book
In The Anxiety Club we are introduced to three characters, each with a different form of anxiety. After hearing their stories, we follow them into the therapy room where they discover the behavioral, cognitive and emotional tools to help free themselves from anxious thinking. Many people believe...
Challenger deep
Shusterman, Neal
Paper Book
A powerful and captivating novel about mental illness, Challenger Deep is a tour de force by New York Times bestselling author 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...
Darius the Great is not okay
Khorram, Adib
Paper Book
Darius doesn't think he'll ever be enough, in America or in Iran. Hilarious and heartbreaking, this unforgettable debut introduces a brilliant new voice in contemporary YA. Winner of the William C. Morris Debut Award "Heartfelt, tender, and so utterly real. I'd live...
DeadHappy
Silver, Josh
Paper Book
Be prepared to be scared again in the nail-biting sequel to HappyHead. 'One of the very best voices in YA right now.' Benjamin Dean FRIENDS, WELCOME TO ELMHALLOW. YOU ARE THE CHOSEN TEN.  By some miracle, Seb has survived the HappyHead programme, only to find...
Don't Be a Drag
Quinlan, Skye
Paper Book
Two rival drag kings competing for a crown might just win each other's hearts. When eighteen-year-old Briar Vincent's mental health takes a turn for the worst, her parents send her to spend the summer in New York City with her older brother, Beau, also known as the drag queen...
The Emotionally Intelligent Teen : Skills to Help You Deal With What You Feel, Build Stronger Relationships, and Boost Self-confidence
Mcnally, Melanie
Paper Book
Do you ever feel misunderstood? Do you get upset easily, or struggle to manage difficult thoughts and feelings like sadness, anger, frustration, or worry? Does it feel like everything is just too stressful? If so, you're far from alone. Many teens struggle to balance their emotions and manage...
Everything Anxiety Ever Told You Is a Lie: *Well, Almost Everything!
Lindsay, Toni
Paper Book
A practical and therapeutic guide to managing anxiety, written specifically for those aged 14 & 25 by a psychologist with over 15 years of experience working with adolescents and young adults. Everything Anxiety Ever Told You Is a Lie is aimed at young people who are...
A fix of light
Menton, Kel
Paper Book
A Booklist Editor's Choice: Books for Youth in 2025 This queer love story with a dark magical twist comes from an astonishing new Irish voice - perfect for fans of Daniel Jose Older. Be careful. The dark is listening. Hanan is supposed to be dead. The...
The Golden Boy's Guide to Bipolar
Reyes, Sonora.
Paper Book
From bestselling author Sonora Reyes comes a poignant and searingly honest companion novel to the multi-award-winning The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School.
HappyHead
Silver, Josh
Paper Book
Squid Game meets They Both Die at the End in the first in a thrilling new YA series. Nominated for the 2024 Carnegie Medal for writing An Amazon best YA Book of the Year 2023  Shortlisted for the YA Book Prize 2024 We are in an epidemic. An epidemic...
Harbour me
Woodson, Jacqueline
Paper Book
An unforgettable New York Times bestseller from multi-award-winning Jacqueline Woodson, celebrating the friendships formed when a group of children create a safe harbour for each other. Six children from different backgrounds meet for a weekly chat...
Here I am, I am me : an illustrated guide to mental health
Bean, Cara
Paper Book
This colorful graphic novel adventure through the brain demystifies and destigmatizes emotional and mental health for children through accessible language and lessons. Join author-illustrator Cara Bean in Here I Am, I Am Me, as she takes readers on an...
Letting go of gravity
Leder, Meg
Paper Book
"The anticipation and slow burn of Parker and Finn's relationship is electric...[an] absorbing novel that will appeal to fans of Rainbow Rowell." --Booklist Parker struggles to reconnect with her twin brother, Charlie--who's recovering from cancer--as she tries to deal with...
Light filters in : poems
Kaufman, Caroline
Paper Book
In the vein of poetry collections like Milk and Honey and Adultolescence, this compilation of short, powerful poems from teen Instagram sensation @poeticpoison perfectly captures the human experience.  In Light Filters In, Caroline Kaufman--known as...
Lullabies for the insomniacs : a memoir in verse
Foutz, Ella Grace
Paper Book
A teen with bipolar disorder fights for survival in Ella Grace Foutz's memoir in verse. Foutz weaves an intimate and gripping chronicle of her experience with mental illness. Amidst the turbulence of manic and depressive episodes, often accompanied by insomnia, Foutz relentlessly pursues...
The spectrum girl's survival guide : how to grow up awesome and autistic
Castellon, Siena
Paper Book
Moonbeam Children's Book Awards - Silver Medal Winner Nautilus Silver Book Award Winner Purple Dragonfly Book Awards - First Place "Never be ashamed of being different: it is this difference that makes you extraordinary and unique." This...
This moth saw brightness
Vacharat, A. A.
Paper Book
A weird and revelatory debut that vividly captures the dislocation of growing up BIPOC and neurodivergent in a country awash in both conspiracy theories and genuine conspiracies. "The invisible D in my name is my mother's second most lasting contribution to my life." ...
This winter : a solitaire novella
Oseman, Alice
Paper Book
A short novella based on the beloved characters from Alice Oseman's acclaimed debut novel Solitaire and graphic novel series Heartstopper - now a major Netflix series. From the author of the 2021 YA Book Prize winning Loveless. The festive season isn't always happy for Tori...
Turtles all the way down
Green, John
Paper Book
The critically acclaimed, instant #1 bestseller by John Green, author of The Anthropocene Reviewed and The Fault in Our Stars NOW STREAMING ON MAX! "A tender story about learning to cope when the world feels out of control." --People ...
Where to start : a survival guide to anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges
Correll, Gemma
Paper Book
A comforting and useful resource for anyone who's struggling emotionally and looking for help―from the nation's leading community-based nonprofit that addresses the needs of those living with mental illness It can be extremely hard to figure out what's going on in our own...
Wrong answers only
Madden, Tobias
Paper Book
Marco should be at university, studying biomedicine. Instead, he's been sent to live on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean with his estranged uncle, all because of a 'blip' everyone else is convinced was a panic attack. (Which it most definitely was not.) And even though Marco's trip is...
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