May is Mental Health Awareness Month

Books for all ages about mental health at SCLS. Place a request today.

Updated April 21, 2026
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Sussex County Library System (NJ) Sussex County Library System (NJ)
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May is Mental Health Awareness Month

Books for all ages about mental health at SCLS. Place a request today.

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I am here now :
Paper Book
Mindfulness is the simple and powerful practice of training your attention. It's simple in that it's just about paying attention to what's happening here and now, and powerful because it can keep you from getting lost in thoughts about the future or past, which often generate more stress on top of...
Change your brain every day : simple daily practices to strengthen your mind, memory, moods, focus, energy, habits, and relationships
Amen, Daniel G.
Paper Book
Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly bestseller 366 Days to a Better Brain, Mind, and Life! In Change Your Brain Every Daypsychiatrist and clinical neuroscientist Daniel Amen, MD, draws on over 40 years' clinical practice...
In my feelings : a teen guide to discovering what you feel so you can decide what to do
Annan, Vidal, Jr.
Paper Book
Give teens the tools to decipher their emotions, understand themselves, and improve their lives. The simple and empowering message of In My Feelings is that emotions, especially unpleasant ones, are not just to be avoided, controlled, or treated. Emotions can serve as a...
Tiny traumas : when you don't know what's wrong, but nothing feels quite right
Arroll, Megan A.
Paper Book
Psychologist Dr. Meg Arroll offers a much-needed framework for recognizing and combatting the devastating cumulative effects of small everyday wounds--"tiny traumas"--that, like major traumas, can negatively shape our lives. Have you ever felt at a loss for an answer when asked: 'How are...
Here I am, I am me
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...
A shelter for sadness
Booth, Anne (Children's fiction writer)
Paper Book
This poignant and heartwarming story explores the many faces of sadness and addresses the importance of mental health in a child-friendly way. A small boy creates a shelter for his sadness so that he can visit it whenever he needs to, and the two of them can cry, talk, or just...
Joyful, Anyway
Bowler, Kate
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * New York Times bestselling author and Duke University professor Kate Bowler offers a profound, funny, and deeply human case for joy that doesn't depend on everything getting better. "Joyful, Anyway is colorful and layered, unafraid of the...
The worry (less) book : feel strong, find calm, and tame your anxiety!
Brian, Rachel
Paper Book
This fun, friendly, and informative guide from the award-winning author of Consent (for Kids!) will help readers of all ages understand--and tame--their anxiety. ★ "Excellent and absolutely necessary." ―Kirkus Reviews,...
Break the cycle : a guide to healing intergenerational trauma
Buque?, Mariel
Paper Book
***The Instant National Bestseller*** A Next Big Idea Club must-read title for January 2024 The definitive, paradigm-shifting guide to healing intergenerational trauma--weaving together scientific research with practical exercises and stories from the...
Gentle : rest more, stress less, and live the life you actually want
Carver, Courtney
Paper Book
From an expert on simplicity and minimalism, a collection of 30 practices to overcome chronic overwhelm, cultivate self-compassion, and find permission to do less-perfect for readers of Rest is Resistance and Wintering. Being Gentle is...
The friendship bench : how fourteen grandmothers inspired a mental health revolution
Chibanda, Dixon
Paper Book
"Dixon Chibanda's beautiful and heroic book will inspire everyone who reads it." -- Johann Hari 2025 BookPal OWL Award Winner * As featured on CBS Sunday Morning and NPR's Here and Now A simple, human solution for loneliness and depression ...
Here : I can be mindful
Condie, Allyson Braithwaite
Paper Book
In her debut picture book, the mega-bestselling author of the young adult Matched series introduces children to mindfulness and being grounded in the present. "A gentle child's-eye view of mindfulness." -Kirkus Reviews Everyone experiences a wide range of...
The worry monster : calming anxiety with mindfulness
Cook-Cottone, Catherine P.
Paper Book
Give kids tools to calm their inner worry monster with this interactive, vibrantly illustrated book! Tried-and-true methods from a child pscyhologist will have little ones mindfully breathing, practicing gratitude, and gracefully surfing their worry waves. "We all have a worry...
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...
Who deserves your love : how to create boundaries to start, strengthen, or end any relationship
Davis, KC
Paper Book
A practical and gentle guide to navigating the difficult relationships that shape your life, from KC Davis, beloved therapist and bestselling author of How to Keep House While Drowning. Just as her bestseller How to Keep House While Drowning helped...
How we break : navigating the wear and tear of living
Deary, Vincent
Paper Book
Drawing on cutting-edge science and intimate personal stories, an essential and paradigm-shifting book for readers struggling with fatigue, burnout, stress, and trauma--and for all of us who sometimes feel like we have been pushed past our breaking point. In How We Are,...
Unshrunk : a story of psychiatric treatment resistance
Delano, Laura
Paper Book
One of NPR's 2025 "Books We Love" "Delano's story is compelling, important and even haunting. . . . Her memoir evokes Girl, Interrupted for the age of the prescription pill. . . . In Unshrunk, she tells her own story, and she tells it powerfully." --Casey Schwartz,...
You are not alone : the NAMI guide to navigating mental health with advice from experts and wisdom from real people and families
Duckworth, Ken
Paper Book
Written with authority and compassion, this is the essential resource for individuals and families seeking expert guidance on diagnosis, treatment, and recovery, featuring inspiring, true stories from real people in their own words. Millions of people in the United States are...
You are not alone : the NAMI Guide to navigating mental health with advice from experts and wisdom from real people and families / Ken Duckworth, MD
Duckworth, Ken
Paper Book
Written with authority and compassion, this is the essential resource for individuals and families seeking expert guidance on diagnosis, treatment, and recovery, featuring inspiring, true stories from real people in their own words. Millions of people in the United States are...
Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy
Duffy, Chris
Paper Book
From a comedian and host of hit TED podcast, How to Be a Better Human, a hilarious and enlightening guide to laughing your way into a fuller life "Warning: this book may cause repeated smiling. It's a delightful read about how we can bring more levity into our lives." -...
Change your diet, change your mind : a powerful plan to improve mood, overcome anxiety, and protect memory for a lifetime of optimal mental health
Ede, Georgia
Paper Book
Combine the surprising truth about brain food with the cutting-edge science of brain metabolism to achieve extraordinary improvements to your emotional, cognitive, and physical health.​   Are you struggling with attention problems, mood swings, food...
And how does that make you feel? : everything you never wanted to know about therapy
Fletcher, Joshua
Paper Book
Psychotherapist Josh Fletcher takes us on a tour of the inner mind of a therapist--revealing a hilariously candid point of view on the therapeutic process, a practical guide to therapy, and maybe a few more cobwebs and dark corners than one might expect. It's everything you ever wanted to know...
What my bones know : a memoir of healing from complex trauma
Foo, Stephanie
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A searing memoir of reckoning and healing by acclaimed journalist Stephanie Foo, investigating the little-understood science behind complex PTSD and how it has shaped her life "Achingly exquisite . . . providing real hope for those who long to heal....
Living with Viola
Fung, Rosena
Paper Book
"unforgettable . . . will shake middle grade readers to the core"--School Library Journal, starred review "Beautifully illustrated, relatable, and genuine." --Molly Brooks, creator of Sanity & Tallulah "Everyone needs to buy this book now.  Seriously.  Buy it, read it,...
A pity party is still a party : a feel-good guide to feeling bad
Garner, Chelsea Harvey
Paper Book
Most of us try to avoid feeling sad, but in this candid, comical, and deeply-felt book, therapist Chelsea Harvey Garner doesn't just argue that the future will be brighter if we learn to enjoy the unenjoyable and support each other when the vibes aren't so good, she also shows us how. What...
Toxic positivity : keeping it real in a world obsessed with being happy
Goodman, Whitney
Paper Book
"I'll be forever changed by Toxic Positivity...This trailblazing book will help you transform your perspective about positivity." --Nedra Glover Tawwab, author of Set Boundaries, Find Peace A powerful guide to owning our emotions--even the difficult...
No time to panic : how I curbed my anxiety and conquered a lifetime of panic attacks
Gutman, Matt
Paper Book
By ABC News's chief national correspondent, an unflinching look at panic attacks by a reporter whose career was nearly derailed by them, offering readers a guide to making a truce with their warring minds "Brave, reassuring, and practical...A balm for anyone who has ever...
The anxious generation : how the great rewiring of childhood is causing an epidemic of mental illness
Haidt, Jonathan
Paper Book
THE ACCLAIMED #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER with over two million copies sold * A must-read for all parents: the generation-defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech--and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood....
A kids book about OCD
Hall, Hazel
Paper Book
Learn all about OCD and what it's like to live with it. This is a kids' book about OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), which is a mental health condition. People with OCD have recurring, repetitive thoughts that can feel impossible to ignore. This book helps kids...
ADHD 2.0 : new science and essential strategies for thriving with distraction-from childhood through adulthood
Hallowell, Edward M.
Paper Book
A revolutionary new approach to ADD/ADHD featuring cutting-edge research and strategies to help readers thrive, by the bestselling authors of the seminal books Driven to Distraction and Delivered from Distraction "An inspired road map for living...
What if one day...
Handy, Bruce
Paper Book
A New York Times Best Children's Book of 2023! An Academy of American Poets' Featured Fall Book for Young Readers! A Bookstagang Best of 2023 Winner: Best Illustration! This thought-provoking,  playful picture book from NYT Best Children's Book author Bruce Handy and Ezra...
10 mindful minutes : giving our children--and ourselves--the social and emotional skills to reduce stress and anxiety for healthier, happier lives
Hawn, Goldie.
CD
Driven by her lifelong interest in the practice of mindfulness and her commitment to the welfare of children everywhere, Goldie Hawn established the Hawn Foundation to support research into developing ways of helping children become healthy and eager learners who can reach their full potential. The...
Coffee self-talk : 5 minutes a day to start living your magical life
Helmstetter, Kristen
Paper Book
Inspiring affirmations to help you boost your self-esteem, find happiness, and attract the magical life of your dreams--all with your next cup of coffee! Do you want to live an inspired life of sparkling adventure and achieve goals you never thought possible? Get started this...
How to be enough : self-acceptance for self-critics and perfectionists
Hendriksen, Ellen
Paper Book
Are you your own toughest critic? Learn to be good to yourself with this clear and compassionate guide. Do you set demanding standards for yourself? If so, a lot likely goes well in your life: You might earn compliments, admiration, or accomplishments. Your high standards and...
Profiles in mental health courage
Kennedy, Patrick J.
Paper Book
Profiles in Mental Health Courage portrays the journeys of twenty unique Americans who have struggled with different illnesses affecting mental health. This book offers deeply compelling stories about the courage of those battling with a variety of illnesses, from college students to professionals...
Empire of Madness: Reimagining Western Mental Health Care for Everyone
Kidia, Khameer
Paper Book
An urgent rethinking of the Western approach to mental health, which treats the symptoms rather than the exploitative systems causing our distress--by a Rhodes Scholar and Harvard Medical School physician-anthropologist--offering lessons from the rest of the world. What if the...
Your brain on pregnancy : a guide to understanding and protecting your mental health during pregnancy and beyond
Kingston, Dawn
Paper Book
An enlightening and practical guidebook for mothers to help them navigate mental health challenges during and after pregnancy--based on cutting-edge science by one of the world's foremost researchers of maternal mental health. For women who are expecting, pregnancy can be a time...
A kids book about coping skills
Knipe, Megan
Paper Book
An accessible and empowering introduction to coping skills for children. This is a kids' book about coping with big emotions. Strong feelings are a natural part of the human experience, but learning how to process and express them in a healthy way takes practice. ...
But what will people say? : navigating mental health, identity, love, and family between cultures
Kohli, Sahaj Kaur
Paper Book
A Harvard Public Health Best Public Health Book of 2024 "This wonderful book is a compass, a blueprint, a mirror, and a friend. Kohli gives language to what many of us feel but can't yet articulate."--Erika L. Sánchez, New York Times bestselling author of I am Not...
Borderline : the biography of a personality disorder
Kriss, Alexander
Paper Book
An intimate, compassionate, and expansive portrait of Borderline Personality Disorder that rejects the conventional wisdom that this condition is untreatable, told by a psychologist who specializes in BPD Mental illness is heavily stigmatized within our society, and within this...
Broken (in the best possible way)
Lawson, Jenny
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times Bestseller From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Furiously Happy and Let's Pretend This Never Happened comes a deeply relatable book filled with humor and honesty about depression and anxiety. ...
A kids book about mental health
Lingras, Katie
Paper Book
It's important that we all learn to care for and nurture our mental health! This is a kids' book about mental health. Did you know it's something we all have? It's true! A person's mental health simply means how they understand their own thoughts, feelings, actions and...
The inherited mind : a story of family, hope, and the genetics of mental illness
Longman, James (Journalist)
Paper Book
James Longman was a preteen in boarding school when his dad, who was diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia, died by suicide. As he got older, James's own bouts of depression spurred him to examine how his father's mental health might have affected his own. He engaged with experts to uncover...
How to Be Less Miserable: End the Negative Mind Loops and Find Joy
Ma, Lybi,
Paper Book
In How to Be Less Miserable, Lybi Ma, the executive editor of Psychology Today, provides strategies that challenge negative thinking and inspire a more positive mindset. As human beings, we are all predisposed to a negative mindset. This tendency is a byproduct of the evolution of our...
A kids book about mindfulness
Morgan, Caverly
Paper Book
A clear and enjoyable introduction to mindfulness for children. This is a kids' book about mindfulness. Mindfulness is more than just being present, it's knowing who you are. Are you your thoughts? Are you your feelings? Are you your hairstyle? Or are you something more? This...
Rattled : how to calm new mom anxiety with the power of the postpartum brain
Pensak, Nicole Amoyal
Paper Book
A Zibby Owens' Best Book for the Parents matrescence noun /mæ'tres.?nts/ The process of becoming a mother: The physical, psychological, and emotional changes you go through after the birth of your child . . . largely unexplored in the medical community.  ...
Organizing solutions for people with attention deficit disorder : tips and tools to help you take charge of your life and get organized
Pinsky, Susan C.
Paper Book
ADD, Attention Deficit Disorder and ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, are prevalent in society today, afflicting about 4.4% of the adult population, which is over 13 million Americans. Four out of every five adults do not even know they are ADD, and while it is often difficult to...
Putting on the brakes : understanding and taking control of your ADD or ADHD
Quinn, Patricia O.
Paper Book
Completely updated and expanded, Putting on the Brakes, 3rd Edition continues to be the go-to resource for kids with AD/HD. This essential guide -- celebrating its 20th year in print -- is loaded with practical ways to improve organization, focus, attention, time...
You will get through this : a mental health first-aid kit : help for depression, anxiety, grief, and more
Radico, Julie
Paper Book
Months-long therapy wait-lists. Out-of-pocket costs. Online misinformation. There are more barriers than ever to accessing reliable mental health care--and when your mental health is suffering, you need help now.  This book, written by three practicing therapists, is your...
Healing the modern brain : nine tenets to build mental fitness and revitalize your mind
Ramsey, Drew
Paper Book
In this essential guide, the groundbreaking author of Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety and The Happiness Diet explores the ten tenets vital to cultivating Mental Fitness and provides direct, actionable techniques to improve brain function and emotional health. The human brain--the...
Teach your child meditation : 70 fun & easy ways to help kids de-stress and chill out
Roberts, Lisa (Yoga instructor)
Paper Book
Help your child calm down, relieve stress, and achieve greater mindfulness with this illustrated guide to teaching kids meditation and breathing techniques--complete with 70 step-by-step exercises. Even children need to learn ways to calm and center...
A kids book about positive mindset
Santamaria, Erin
Paper Book
Each of us thinks thousands of thoughts every single day. That's pretty amazing! But...that doesn't mean every thought is helpful. In fact, some of them can be pretty harmful. So, what do we do? This book is all about building up a positive mindset and how to manage your thoughts. The more we push...
Conscious grieving : a transformative approach to healing from loss
Smith, Claire Bidwell
Paper Book
From one of the leading grief therapists, this compassionate and accessible guide to grieving offers a new framework for understanding and navigating loss. An intimate guide to grieving that offers hope and healing within loss from one of the nation's top...
Open when : a companion for life's twists and turns
Smith, Julie (Psychologist)
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Clinical psychologist and bestselling author Dr. Julie Smith (@drjulie) returns with this highly anticipated handbook full of "break in case of emergency" advice for dealing with mental health challenges in the moment they occur. In...
The price she pays : confronting the hidden mental health crisis in women's sports--from the schoolyard to the stadium
Steele, Katie (Therapist)
Paper Book
Two experts in mental health and sport lift the veil on the crisis in women's athletics, offering parents and coaches urgently needed advice and support and showing how female athletes can find joy in whatever sport they choose, at whatever level they compete. No...
A kids book about anxiety
Szabo, Ross
Paper Book
An honest exploration of the symptoms of anxiety and what learning to manage it can look like.  This is a book about anxiety. Having anxiety doesn't just mean you feel nervous sometimes or need to calm down. It means having an uncontrollable feeling that gets in the way of...
It's lonely at the centre of the earth : an auto-bio-graphic-novel
Thorogood, Zoe
Paper Book
Nominated for 2023 Eisner Awards in the Best Graphic Memoir and Best Writer/Artist...
Facing the unseen : the struggle to center mental health in medicine
Tweedy, Damon
Paper Book
From the New York Times bestselling author of Black Man in a White Coat comes a powerful and urgent call to center psychiatry and mental health care into the mainstream of medicine As much as we all might wish that mental health problems, with their elusive...
Reconnected : how 7 screen-free weeks with monks and Amish farmers helped me recover the lost art of being human
Whittaker, Carlos
Paper Book
USA TODAY BESTSELLER Change your relationship with technology. Change your life. Share. Post. Reply...Most of us have gotten so used to notifications and alerts, pings and rings, that even if we don't want to be on our phones so much, we don't know what to do about it. The constant...
Move : how the new science of body movement can set your mind free
Williams, Caroline
Paper Book
*Shortlisted for Sunday Times Book of the Year* *A Greater Good Science Center Best Book of 2022* An eye-opening journey into the power of human movement and how we can harness it to optimize our brain health, boost our mood and improve every aspect...
Bulletproof spirit : the first responder's essential resource for protecting and healing mind and heart
Willis, Dan
Paper Book
If you are a police officer, firefighter, EMT, ER nurse, or soldier, or you love one -- this book can save your life Suicide, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse, and many more emotional and stress-related problems plague the first...
The Cat on the mat : all about mindfulness
Worth, Bonnie
Paper Book
Laugh and learn with fun facts about how meditation helps the mind and body--all told in Dr. Seuss's beloved rhyming style and starring the Cat in the Hat! "I'm the Cat on the mat, and what I plan to do is talk about mindfulness meditation with you." The...
The crucial years : the essential guide to mental health & modern puberty in middle childhood (ages 6-12)
Ziegler, Sheryl
Paper Book
An essential guide for parents and caregivers, this parenting guide offers insights, strategies, and understanding to navigate middle childhood (ages 6-12). Dr. Sheryl Gonzalez Ziegler, a seasoned clinical psychologist and mother, highlights ways to foster resilience, encourage open communication...
Your pocket therapist : break free from old patterns and transform your life
Zimmerman, Annie
Paper Book
From psychotherapist and TikTok personality Dr. Annie Zimmerman comes a toolkit to transform yourself and your relationships, with advice on how to heal past trauma, build sustainable connections, and take ownership of your mental health. Every day, psychotherapist Dr. Annie Zimmerman...
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