Mental Health Awareness Month: Recommended YA Fiction and NonfictionUnpublished

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National Book Award Finalist! Instant New York Times Bestseller! The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian meets Jane the Virgin in this poignant but often laugh-out-loud funny contemporary YA about losing a sister and finding yourself amid...

National Book Award * Golden Kite Award Winner * Six Starred Reviews A captivating novel about mental illness that lingers long beyond the last page, Challenger Deep is a heartfelt tour de force by New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman. Caden Bosch is...

Zoe Hana Mikuta delivers a bloody and unrelenting fantasy about young witches dangling on the edge of love and obsession, of magic and madness, of life and death (and death and death and death). . . Just like her mother and her mother's mother, 18-year-old Vanity Adams is...

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...

The experiment continues in the dark and disturbingly thrilling conclusion to the HappyHead duology where Seb will find the secret to escaping is more heart-wrenching than he ever imagined.   Seb was sure surviving the experimental health center of HappyHead would be enough...

Laurie Boyle Crompton's coming of age in rural Pennsylvania and the New York City area in the 1970s and 1980s was anything but idyllic. In moving verse accompanied by diary-esque sketches, Crompton takes you along as she navigates relationships, plays the happy family at church despite discord at...

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...

Build a solid foundation for mental health and wellness with this fun and engaging guide--just for teens! 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...

In her raw and resonant debut novel, René Peña-Govea seamlessly interweaves prose and poetry to uplift the power of language, the courage to fight injustice, and the complex beauty of finding your people--perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo's The Poet X and Carolina Ixta's Shut...

This debut teen graphic novel from social media influencer Jyoti Chand and rising star illustrator Tara Anand follows one girl's journey navigating high school and her mental health within a traditional South Asian family. Perfect for fans of Netflix's Never Have I...

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...

This breathtaking, page-turning graphic novel is a supernatural survival story in which a grieving teen finds himself in a haunting alternate reality--the frightening embodiment of his depression. For fans of Stranger Things and Nimona. Theo's best friend has died,...

2026 Schneider Family Book Awards Honor MPIBA's Reading the West YA Longlist "This is Sonora Reyes at their absolute best." -- Aiden Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of Cemetery Boys From bestselling author Sonora Reyes comes a poignant...

A bold new dystopian thriller about an experimental mental health retreat center for young adults where everything is not what it seems--and one boy who will risk everything to escape. Seb has been selected for a new experimental mental health center called HappyHead, designed to...

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! Jacqueline Woodson's first middle-grade novel since National Book Award winner Brown Girl Dreaming celebrates the healing that can occur when a group of students share their stories. It all starts when six kids...

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,...

A GNCRT Outstanding Comics Award Honor Book "Beautiful, spooky, and emotional." --Kirkus "Excruciatingly heart-wrenching and deeply affecting, drawn with nostalgia and care." --Booklist, starred review ...

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...

Advice for teens wanting to help friends and peers with their mental health. Mental health problems in young people are on the rise, and teens want resources to help friends in crisis. I'm Here: A Peer Counseling Guide for Teens fills that need, discussing teens' mental...

A must-read book for introverted teenagers to help them understand and harness their incredible skill set that School Library Journal says is an "insightful and affirming resource for understanding introverts, providing both depth and breadth in its exploration." ...

Help young people name, express, and give shape to their grief with this book on grieving for teens. Whether teens are in the midst of their first grief experience or have experienced grief before, It Won't Ever Be the Same is designed to support them. Reflections, analogies,...

"In this autobiographical collection of thoughtful and poignant comic vignettes, Chisholm explores her experiences with depression, anxiety, and love ." --Booklist Just Peachy is a comic series that explores what the day-to-day is like with depression and/or anxiety...

An unflinching reimagining of Legacy: Trauma, Story, and Indigenous Healing for young adults Written specifically for young adults, reluctant readers, and literacy learners, Killing the Wittigo explains the traumatic effects of colonization on Indigenous people and...

"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...

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...

"Well researched and up to date, including the acknowledgement of teens' struggles with the Covid-19 pandemic.... Belongs on every young adult's bookshelf." --Kirkus Reviews (starred) 10 powerful skills to help you manage stress, bounce back from difficult...

A New York Times bestseller and one of 2019's best-reviewed books, a poetic memoir and call to action from the award-winning author of Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson! Bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson is known for the unflinching way she writes about, and...

A simple, five-step program to overcome the social anxiety standing between you and a  happier, more confident life Do you worry about what others think of you? Does fear of being judged trigger intense anxiety? If you're one of millions of teens suffering from social anxiety...

Nebula Award for Best Comic Nominee 2026 Rainbow Book List In this stunning graphic novel by two-time Ignatz award-winning graphic novelist Ariel Slamet Ries, Oberon must choose between fantasy and reality when he develops the ability to conjure his dreams in real...

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." ...

A very special Heartstopper story set over a challenging holiday season... Reuniting Tori Spring, her little brother Charlie, and Charlie's boyfriend Nick, this novella sees the Spring siblings brave a particularly difficult festive season.

FEATURED ON 60 MINUTES and FRESH AIR "So surprising and moving and true that I became completely unstrung." - The New York Times Named a best book of the year by: The New York Times, NPR, TIME, Wall...

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...

Imbued with a sense of humor, understanding, and hope, Your Brain Needs a Hug is a judgment-free guide for living well with your mind. My Mad Fat Diary author Rae Earl offers her personalized advice on the A to Zs of mental health, social media, family and...

Now an ECPA bestseller! Discover the guide to true confidence and authentic living for today's teen and college-age girl! Celebrated author and speaker Kari Kampakis helps you stop playing the comparison game and embrace the unique purpose God has for your life. From...