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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All the blues in the sky
Watson, Renée
Paper Book
Winner of the Newbery Medal | A New York Times bestseller | A USA Today bestseller #1 New York Times bestselling author and Newbery Medal winner Renée Watson explores friendship, loss, and life with grief in this poignant novel in verse and...
Black star
Alexander, Kwame
Paper Book
A Coretta Scott King Honor Book The thrilling follow up to the #1 New York Times bestseller The Door of No Return stars Kofi's granddaughter, Charley, who's set on becoming the first female pitcher to play professional ball...
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,...
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...
Louder than hunger
Schu, John
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller! A Schneider Family Book Award Honor Book "Every so often a book comes along that is so brave and necessary, it extends a lifeline when it's needed most. This is one of those books." --Katherine Applegate, author of the Newbery Medal-winning,...
Safe harbor
Venkatraman, Padma
Paper Book
An uplifting novel in verse about an immigrant girl adjusting to life in the US through her love of nature, music, and poetry, by the award-winning author of The Bridge Home When Geetha and her mom move from India to Rhode Island after her parents' divorce, they leave...
Ultraviolet
Salazar, Aida
Paper Book
A PURA BELPRÉ AWARD HONOR BOOK Sometimes life explodes in technicolor. In the spirit of Judy Blume, award-winning author Aida Salazar tells it like it is about puberty, hormones, and first love in this hilarious, heartwarming, and highly relatable coming-of-age...
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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