16 Young Adult Novels That Tackle Themes Of Mental Illness
With mental illness being in the media more and more, not all representation is positive. These books feature relatable characters struggling with mental health problems that are treated with the love and compassion they deserve.
1. Radio Silence by Alice Oseman
What it's about: Frances Janvier has always had one goal: get into an elite university. She is the top girl at her school and spends nearly all her time focused on doing well academically, but the only thing Frances truly seems to enjoy is the science fiction podcast, Universe City. When Frances meets the boy behind the podcast, Aled Last, and their lives become more and more connected, they may both have to confront their past trauma in order to move forward.
There are characters in this book who have anxiety as well as severe depression. Aled's abusive home life and extreme expectations from his mother, regarding academics and university, feed into his mental health issues. His only refuge is his podcast, Universe City, which his mother threatens to take away. This book emphasizes the importance of taking the stress that young adults endure from academics seriously and to listen when they communicate their struggles. It will resonate with anyone who has felt the pressure to be someone they're not, and anyone who's ever chosen to go against the grain to be who they truly are.
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
2. Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
What it's about: 15-year-old Darius Kellner has always been an outsider. His Persian identity and love of science fiction never fail to make him stand out at school, and he feels just as isolated at home. Darius, who refers to himself as a "fractional Persian" — having a Persian mother — can't speak Farsi like his sister and struggles to fit in with his family. Darius fits in no better with his white, American father, with whom all he shares is his love of Star Trek and a chemical imbalance in his brain. Darius's father seems to criticize everything he does, further exasperating Darius's depression and making him believe he will never be enough for anyone. When Darius takes his first trip to Iran to meet his dying grandfather (as well as his mother's entire family), he is incredibly overwhelmed. He's barely managing at home, and now he has to navigate his problems in a new country with new people and new social cues. Darius is terrified of what awaits him in Iran, but what he may not know is that this trip (and the boy he meets on it) may change his life forever.
Darius's diagnosed depression is incredibly well written about, with the book discussing common experiences by those that have depression — including the difficulty of finding the right medication and dealing with a list of side effects. This novel is an important read for anyone with a new diagnosis, especially those with intergenerational mental health issues. It also has a wonderful sequel that you'll want to immediately devour after finishing the first book!
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
3. The Nobleman’s Guide to Scandal And Shipwrecks by Mackenzi Lee
What it's about: Mackenzi Lee's third and final historical fiction novel starring the Montague siblings follows youngest sibling Adrian Montague, who is the sole heir to his father's estate, and a talented and increasingly well-known political writer who opposes everything his father's monarchy stands for. Adrian has an unnamed mental illness, feeling especially alone after his mother, whom he felt to be the only person who understood him and his ailments, passes away. The grief brought on by Adrian's mother's death, as well as the mystery behind it, only exasperates his symptoms, leaving him more and more terrified that the truth of his mental instability will be discovered. After finding a broken spyglass that belonged to his mother, Adrian embarks on a trip to find the missing half, where he finds two estranged older siblings he never knew he had and family secrets whose answers he may have never wanted.
This book follows incredibly important themes regarding the history of mental illness and how isolating it must have been to be mentally ill during a time where diagnosis or explanations we nonexistent. Adrian's questioning of his own feelings and shame of being broken and alone will resonate with anyone who's ever longed for answers for their own pain. The support and understanding of his loved ones, despite his own fear, will bring comfort to those who worry about how their mental illnesses might affect others. This is an important book and perfect conclusion to the trilogy, with the same biting social commentary as the first two books.
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
4. The Wicker King by K. Ancrum
What it's about: K. Ancrum's award-winning debut thriller, The Wicker King, begins with main characters Jack and August breaking into a toy factory in 2003, that lands the two in a psychiatric ward. Everything that follows is from August's point of view, and what lead them there. The two boys both struggle with mental health issues as well as home-life issues, but things get more complicated as Jack begins to hallucinate, seeing a darker fantasy world on top of their own. Jack is determined that this fantasy world needs rescuing, and August, despite his own inner turmoil and lack of expertise, is determined to save Jack, even if he loses himself in Jack's false reality, too.
This is a book that is definitely intended for an older YA audience, as it covers very dark subject matter. With an unreliable narrator and descriptive hallucinations, the author often leaves the reader wondering what's real and what is in the character's minds. Both a satisfying read, and an accurate depiction of how many of those with psychotic illnesses experience reality, this book is sure to stand out as the unique and heart-wrenching gem that it is.
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
5. More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
What it's about: Adam Silvera has carved out his place in queer YA literature, and it all began with this book. More Happy Than Not is a mind-bending contemporary sci-fi novel following 16-year-old Aaron Soto who is trying to find happiness after an unspecified family tragedy. While spending the summer with his girlfriend, Genevieve, and his best friend, Thomas — who gets him to open up and confront his past — Aaron starts to feel like he might actually be finding happiness again. That is, until he and Thomas grow closer and he discovers that he may be gay. In a society where being gay isn't accepted, Aaron considers a revolutionary memory-alteration procedure as a "cure," but he must decide whether or not it's worth forgetting who he really is.
More Happy Than Not is an important book that explores the link between queer teens and high depression and suicide rates. The Leteo Institute's memory erasure procedure for homosexuality is a great metaphor for the horrors of conversion therapy, and Aaron's depression, brought on by the rejection from the world around him, were so heartbreakingly similar to what so many queer teens experience upon coming into their romantic, sexual, and gender identities. Like most books on this list, More Happy Than Not includes heavy topics. This one in particular explores suicide and homophobia, so please take care when reading.
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
6. Between the Bliss and Me by Lizzy Mason
What it's about: Lizzy Mason's sophomore novel follows 18-year-old Sydney Holman who, with the financial help of her estranged father's parents, has decided to attend NYU. It's a decision that drives a rift between her and her mother, who expects her to attend a school closer to home. The disagreement between the two causes Sydney to stay with her paternal grandparents for the first time, and while she's there, she discovers a devastating truth about her father: he has schizophrenia and has been living on the streets of New York City for years. This news hits Sydney, who was under the impression that her father had left solely due to drug addiction, incredibly hard. The new truth about her father brings with it her own genetic risk for schizophrenia, as well as the opportunity to get to know her father and understand his decisions as well as his afflictions.
Between the Bliss and Me is probably the most political book on this list, which is what I really enjoyed about it. It doesn't only cover the genetic components of an illness like schizophrenia, but also the ethics of forcibly medicating and institutionalizing the mentally ill. It discusses the mass rates of incarceration faced by the mentally ill in America today and how that all ties back to the deinstitutionalization under Reagan. This book serves as a great history lesson in mental health politics as well as being an all-around great story.
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
7. White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson
What it's about: White Smoke is about Marigold, a mentally ill teen who moves from California to Cedarville for a fresh start with her newly-blended family. The family is thrilled when her mom's artist's residency with The Sterling Foundation comes with a free home. The only catch being that it's a restored haunted house that comes with its share of town lore and ghost stories. The home is renovated, and is one of the only occupied homes on Maple Street, with many houses around them empty or occupied by squatters, the rest by wary neighbors. When frightening things begin to happen, Mari and her brother seem to be the only one to notice them; doors opening on their own, a smell of rot coming from the basement they are prohibited to enter — and scariest of all — Mari's bratty 10-year-old stepsister repeatedly threatening Mari on behalf of her new "friend." While Mari increasingly begins to question her own reality, she must figure out how to get her family to believe her about the dark secrets that threaten her family, not only in her new home, but the whole town of Cedarville.
This book is a really great haunted house story with a realistic twist. Tiffany D. Jackson has a history of writing incredibly important stories for teens, and White Smoke is no exception. As well as focusing on themes of racism and gentrification, the novel explores main character Mari's issues with anxiety, OCD and addiction. Her OCD is what is most apparent in the book, as she has many tics, including an obsession with keeping things clean, due to an intense paranoia of bed bugs, that go as far as having hallucinations. Much of the horror atmosphere is created by Mari's narration and her intense fears and erratic thought patterns associated with anxiety and OCD. Horror doesn't often do mental health themes well, but I really felt that this one did Mari and her illnesses justice.
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
8. Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert
What it's about: When 16-year-old Suzette returns home to Los Angeles from her boarding school in New England, she's not sure she'll ever return. Everything and everyone she loves is in LA — her friends and family, her crush, Emil, and most importantly, her stepbrother Lionel, who has just been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and needs her support. However, problems arise when Suzette begins to fall for the same girl her brother is in love with. As Lionel's bipolar disorder gets worse and worse, Suzette will need to learn how to be there for her brother before he spirals out of control.
Little & Lion is a great character-driven contemporary with a focus on the sibling relationship in a blended family. It delves into medication side effects, and why that may make some folks reluctant for medical treatment, and accurately depicts both the hypomanic and depressive tendencies that come with bipolar II disorder. It is a great look at how mental illness can affect a family, and the affect a positive support system can have on those suffering.
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
9. Baby & Solo by Lisabeth Posthuma
What it's about: It's 1996 and 17-year-old Joel Teague is ready to go back to normal life after The Bad Thing That Happened. In order to get where he wants to be, his therapist has given him a "prescription": find a part-time job. He is thrilled to find out that local video store, ROYO Video, is hiring. And with his new job comes a new name: Solo, after his favorite Star Wars character. He seems to be doing just fine passing as a normal guy at work, that is, until he befriends his coworker, Nicole "Baby" Palmer. Baby has problems of her own, and despite Joel's past quickly catching up with him, he is reluctant to share it with her for fear of rejection. Joel must decide if being vulnerable and sharing his past is worth the risk of losing the one true friend he's ever had.
Baby & Solo is a book that (mostly) leaves the reader in the dark, with a twist that is completely unexpected, but so very important. Our protagonist Joel has spent time in mental health institutions, and like many teens, he is ashamed of that. We get to watch as he grows and finds people he can trust with these parts of himself, who will help him face his issues head on instead of flinching away from them, while encouraging readers to do the same.
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
10. Verona Comics by Jennifer Dugan
What it's about: Verona Comics is a queer, contemporary retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, told in the alternating perspectives of main characters, Ridley and Jubilee. Jubilee is our Juliet, an elite cellist with scholarship goals who, when not practicing, works part-time at her stepmother's comic book shop. Jubilee and Ridley's world's collide when they meet at a comic convention prom, which Jubilee is attending with her best friend and stepmom, and Ridley is attending with his family, who own the biggest comic store chain in the country. When the two meet in an elevator, with Ridley dressed as Batman, sparks fly and they begin a long distance flirtation following the convention. When Ridley discovers that Jubilee's stepmom is the owner of Verona Comics and his family's rivals, things get more complicated between the two. But their family's rivalry isn't even the biggest problem. Ridley's mental health is getting worse, and Jubilee is only just adjusting to having a partner with a mental health illness. She also has her own issues to focus on. Together, the two must discover that loving someone cannot save them, but a good support system may just be enough to motivate someone to save themselves.
This book was more serious than I had expected since the story is centered around two comic-loving teenagers. I was pleasantly surprised by the mental health representation, particularly how accurately Jennifer Dugan seemed to write Ridley's experience of being a mentally ill teen. The message of love not curing mental illness is an important one. With no shortage of media implying the exact opposite, it's important to have stories like this that understand that a chemical imbalance can't be fixed by a good romantic connection, no matter how compatible you may be. The characters were imperfect and therefore felt real, making the book incredibly easy to connect with. Jennifer Dugan should be an auto-buy author for all lovers of YA!
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
11. The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris
What it's about: Alex Rufus is a 16-year-old who lost both of his parents in a tragic car accident when he was 12, leaving him with the power (or curse, as he sees it) to see into the future whenever he touches a person or object — seeing a little bit further into the future every additional time he touches something. This power would be a burden to anyone, but is especially so for Alex, who already has consistent and extreme anxiety. Alex has had the unfortunate experience of predicting deaths in the past, including the death of his best friend, Shaun, whose death he predicted three years prior, leaving him to deal with the "what ifs" of his own involvement and what he could've done with the knowledge he had. So when Alex touches an old family photograph and discovers that his younger brother, Isaiah, is destined to die soon, he decides he must repair their fractured relationship and make sure Isaiah feels as happy and supported as possible in his final days.
This book is a heavy read, but also features a lot of joy despite its often dark subject matter. The portrayal of Alex's anxiety will hit close to home for anyone with shared experiences. His constant worry about things that may seem mundane to those who don't have anxiety will resonate perfectly with those who do, and serve to educate anyone who may not understand. This book covers many important topics aside from mental health, and is an important novel that deserves a place on your bookshelf.
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
12. I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver
What it's about: Mason Deaver's debut novel follows Ben De Backer, a nonbinary teen who, after coming out to their parents, is kicked out of the house, leaving them with no choice but to move in with their estranged older sister Hannah and her husband whom they've never met. Ben's anxiety disorder is made worse by their parent's rejection, so when starting at a new school, they only come out to their sister, her husband, and the newly-appointed therapist their sister pays for. Despite trying to keep a low profile, a friendly classmate, Nathan Allan, takes a shining to Ben. As Ben and Nathan's feelings for one another grow, Ben may come to realize that the traumatizing turn of events that landed him at this new school may have some upsides after all.
I Wish You All The Best was one of the first books I read by a major publisher with a nonbinary lead. That, along with its mental health rep, is what made it special to me. Despite the rejection Ben faces from their parents when coming out, Ben's story is not a tragedy. This is an important message for queer teens everywhere that things do get better, and there are people out there who will love them for them. Through Ben, Deaver also stresses the importance of therapy to work through trauma and mental health struggles, having Ben's breakthroughs and benefits from therapy being very clear-cut and apparent. I think that this is an important read for all teens to understand that there is no shame in asking for help, and that there will always be people there to offer it.
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
13. I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson
What it's about: As children, fraternal twins Jude and Noah were inseparable. Noah is the artist: soft-spoken and constantly drawing, he's also secretly falling for the boy next door. Jude is the firecracker: a chatty daredevil who makes bold fashion choices and talks enough for both twins. Jude and Noah's opposing personalities weren't an issue when they were young, but when we meet them as teens, they are barely speaking. Something has happened to change the two in very different but painful ways. The reader learns of the twin's early years through Noah, and their teen years through Jude. With each twin only having half the story, they will have to find their way back to one another in order to repair their relationship as well as their lives.
This book discusses the affect grief has on mental health and development. With both twins reacting differently to their mother's death, the reader sees two different reactions to the same trauma. It stresses the importance of dealing with pain and grief head-on in order to avoid spending years running from it — clearly telling its teen audience to not shy away from their pain as well as to not be ashamed of asking for help.
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
14. How It Feels To Float by Helena Fox
What it's about: 16-year-old Biz is just trying to do everything she can to float through high school. She's dealing with discovering her sexuality, maintaining friendships in high school, and dealing with the loss of her father who passed away when she was six. Biz has been seeing her dead father everywhere; he's there to reassure her about day-to-day life, and she feels he is the only one who understands her. So she keeps everything in her life between herself and her dad, hiding all of her problems, including her spiraling mental health, from the people who care about her. But when something happens at the beach and Biz stops seeing her dad completely, she begins to feel untethered and alone, her mental health worse than ever before. Biz must decide if life is worth living without him, and if it is, exactly how she's going to move forward.
How It Feels To Float is an interesting read as it follows a character with depression-related delusions, which seems to be a topic that isn't talked about often. Biz's depression seems to stem from a childhood trauma, but like many with depression, she is just going through the motions and feels so isolated in her pain and grief. This is bound to be an important read to many who feel just like her, which is exactly how it secured its spot on this list.
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
15. We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
What it's about: We Are Okay is a short, queer contemporary novel about grief and friendship following Marin, who leaves everything and everyone behind after the death of her grandfather. Marin hasn't told anyone, including her best friend Mabel, the truth about her final weeks with him. It's been months since her grandfather's death, and Marin is alone in her dorm room for winter break, awaiting a visit from Mabel and dreading the pain and loneliness that she knows she'll have to confront upon her arrival.
This novel, like much of what Nina LaCour writes, has a pretty consistently sad undertone, completely appropriate to the way that grief infiltrates the lives of those it affects. This perfectly encompasses the way grief sits with you like a silent companion, causing disinterest in everything around you, and a need to withdraw into yourself. It also perfectly explores the slow way out of grief; the way it stays with you but gets quieter with every passing day, the beauty of life and new experiences not necessarily dulling the pain of grief, but drawing attention away from it, bringing joy back into full view. This character-driven story allows us to watch Marin work through her grief and begin to see the light again, allowing the reader to see that as possible for themselves as well.
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.
16. History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera
What it's about: History Is All You Left Me is the second Adam Silvera book on this list, and Silvera's second novel. It features our protagonist, Griffin, who is deep in his grief after the death of his first love and ex-boyfriend, Theo, in a drowning accident. At the time of Theo's death he had been living in California and dating a new guy, Jackson, but Griffin always believed they belonged together and that Theo would find his way back to him. When Theo passes away, Griffin's entire future feels out of reach, and the only person who he feels truly understands him is Jackson. Despite Jackson's understanding, and the two opening up to each other over time, Griffin's mental state continues to deteriorate. He keeps getting stuck in obsessive compulsive spirals, which cause him to make destructive decisions. He knows the only way to fix it and move forward is to confront his past with Theo.
This book is the perfect queer contemporary with a major focus on mental health; Griffin's OCD playing just as big of a part as his grief and depression do. The accurate depiction of Griffin's OCD is aided by the fact that the writer himself has the disorder. This great representation allows for teens with OCD to truly see themselves in Griffin.
Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.