May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Here is a list of books that deal with mental illness by addressing things like depression, anxiety and OCD, and more.
Juvenile/Middle Grade
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things by Lenore Look | anxiety, first grade, funny, being afraid
Ghost by Jason Reynolds | PTSD, running, teams
The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson | OCD, mystery, neighborhoods
Guts by Raina Telgemeier | anxiety, friendships, school, graphic novel
Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty | OCD, genius, comfort zone, middle school
The Science of Breakable Things by Tae Keller | parental depression, science project, hope
Some Kind of Happiness by Claire Legrand | feeling blue, separation, reality and fantasy
Stanley Will be Fine by Sally J. Pla | anxiety, scavenger hunt, friendships comics trivia
Sure Signs of Crazy by Karen Harrington | parents with mental health issues, small town, summertime, secrets, angst
Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff | anxiety, friendship, grief, community
Where the Watermelons Grow by Cindy Baldwin | parents schizophrenia, family farm, friendships, summertime
Young Adult
All the Right Places by Jennifer Niven | depression, escape, heart wrenching, witty
Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman | schizophrenia, recovery, delusions, mutiny
Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia | anxiety, online communities, webcomics, introvert
Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman | social anxiety, artist, toxic relationships
Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin | depression, gender fluid, punk, new kid
Turtles all the Way Down by John Green | OCD, mystery, friendship, resilience
Will & Whit by Laura Lee Gulledge | anxiety, creatives, mountain towns, graphic novel
Resources
Teen Link helpline for teens by teens 866.833.6546
Frontier Behavioral Health: local behavioral health clinic 509.838.4651
Regional Crisis Line: 1.877.266.1818
National Alliance of Mental Illness:
National Suicide Hotline 1.800.273.8255 (TALK)
If you have more questions, feel free to reach out to Youth Services Librarian Katie at krickard@spokanelibrary.org.