Juvenile & Young Adult / Themes / Social Situations / Social Issues / Depression & Mental Illness

I Will Save You

by Matt De La Pena

Kidd is running from his past and his future. No mom, no dad, and there’s nothing for him at the group home but therapy. He doesn’t belong at the beach where he works either, unless he finds a reason to...

Shrink: A Journey Through Anorexia - A Novel

by Heather Morrall

Starting Year 11 is bad enough, what with all the exams and end of year party. But Eloise has to deal with the now. The appointment. Sixteen year old Eloise Meehan, who has an eating disorder, begins a journey...

Tighter

by Adele Griffin

When 17-year-old Jamie arrives on the idyllic New England island of Little Bly to work as a summer au pair, she is stunned to learn of the horror that precedes her. Seeking the truth surrounding a young couple's...

Damsel Distressed

by Kelsey Macke

Hot girls get the fairy tales. No one cares about the stepsisters' story. Those girls don't get a sweet little ending; they get a lifetime of longing.

Imogen Keegen has never had a happily ever after-in fact,...

Tabula Rasa

by Kristen Lippert-Martin

The Bourne Identity meets Divergent in this action-packed debut thriller with a Katniss-esque heroine fighting to regain her memories and stay alive, set against a dystopian hospital background.

Sarah starts...

Amity

by Micol Ostow

Here is a house of ruin and rage, of death and deliverance.

Here is where I live, not living.

Here is always mine.

When Connor's family moves to Amity, a secluded house on the peaceful banks of New England's Concord...

Breaking Butterflies

by M. Anjelais

The closest he will ever come to happiness is when he's hurting her. Will she let him? A beautiful and twisted story of first love and innocence lost -- written when the author was just eighteen. Sphinxie and...

A Slither of Hope

by Lisa M. Basso

Rayna struggles to piece her life back together, but hiding in plain sight from the police, the SS Crazy, and the Fallen isn't a foolproof plan—something Kade, the World's Worst Roommate, reminds her of everyday....

Chasing the Milky Way

by Erin E Moulton

In a book that pairs science with mental illness, and heart with adventure, Erin E. Moulton delivers a moving story about family, friendship and the lengths we go for the people we love.

Lucy Peevy has a dream--to...

The Opposite of Music

by Janet Ruth Young

when i am well

i will take you

At first Billy's father just seemed distant, as if he had something on his mind. Then he stopped listening to music, saying it hurt his ears. After a while he stopped eating and...

Glimpse

by Carol Lynch Williams

Twelve-year-old Hope’s life is turned upside down when her older sister, Lizzie, becomes an elective mute and is institutionalized after trying to kill herself.

Hope and Lizzie have relied on each other from...

Cut the Lights

by Karen Krossing

Briar has been chosen to direct a one-act play at her performing arts high school, but she learns there's more to it than imposing her vision on the actors.

A Really Awesome Mess

by Trish Cook & Brendan Halpin

A hint of Recovery Road, a sample of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, and a cut of Juno. A Really Awesome Mess is a laugh-out-loud, gut-wrenching/heart-warming story of two teenagers struggling to find love...

OCD Love Story

by Corey Ann Haydu

In this “raw and well-crafted (Kirkus Reviews)” romance, Bea learns that some things just can’t be controlled.

When Bea meets Beck, she knows instantly that he’s her kind of crazy. Sweet, strong, kinda-messed-up...

Cameron and the Girls

by Edward Averett

A contemporary YA drama about a young man suffering from Schizophreniform disorder, who falls into a love triangle with a girl in his class...and a girl in his head.

Death, Dickinson, and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia

by Jenny Torres Sanchez

To make sense of her high school crush's suicide, Frenchie retraces her steps the last night she was with him.

The Namesake

by Steven Parlato & Jacquelyn Mitchard

Gifted artist? Standout student? All his teachers are sure certain that Evan Galloway can be the graduate who brings glory to small, ordinary St. Sebastian's School. As for Evan, however, he can't be bothered...

Wild Awake

by Hilary T. Smith

In Wild Awake, Hilary T. Smith's exhilarating and heart-wrenching YA debut novel, seventeen-year-old Kiri Byrd has big plans for her summer without her parents. She intends to devote herself to her music and...

Record Breaker

by Robin Stevenson

In 1963, cataclysmic world events threaten to overwhelm Jack as his family tries to deal with the death of his baby sister.

Badd

by Tim Tharp

Ceejay has never been pretty or popular, but she knows who she is: she's younger sister to Bobby, the most charming bad boy in town. Bobby's a bit wild, but with his big heart and sense of fun, everybody loves...