Depression and Mental Illness*

The Death of Jayson Porter Adoff, Jaime

In the Florida projects, sixteen-year-old Jayson struggles with the harsh realities of his life which include an abusive mother, a drug-addicted father, and not fitting in at his predominately white school, and bring him to the brink of suicide.

Border Crossing Anderson, Jessica Lee

Manz, a troubled fifteen-year-old, ruminates over his Mexican father's death, his mother's drinking, and his stillborn stepbrother until the voices he hears in his head take over and he cannot tell reality from delusion. Breaking Butterflies Anjelais, M.

Promised to each other before they were born, Cadence and Sphinxie, separated after he deliberately cut her face, are drawn back together at age sixteen, but Cadence is even less stable mentally and Sphinxie, sweet, plain, and attracted to his brilliance, tries to be loyal but fears for her life. Head Case Aronson, Sarah

Seventeen-year-old Frank Marder struggles to deal with the aftermath of an accident he had while driving drunk that killed two people, including his girlfriend, and left him paralyzed from the neck down. Thirteen Reasons Why Asher, Jay

High school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing seven cassette tapes recorded by his crush, Hannah Baker, who committed suicide, and spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death.

Cameron and the Girls Averett, Edward

A boy suffering from schizophreniform disorder falls into a love triangle with a girl in his junior high class--and a girl in his head.

Jars of Glass Barkley, Brad and Heather Hepler

Two sisters, aged fourteen and fifteen, offer their views of events that occur during the year after their mother is diagnosed with schizophrenia and their family, including a recently adopted Russian orphan, begins to disintegrate.

Never Ending Bedford, Martyn

Traumatized by grief and guilt after her younger brother dies during a family vacation, fifteen-year-old Shiv is sent away to an exclusive clinic that claims to "cure" people like her.

Drowning Instinct Bick. Ilsa J. Jenna Lord's first sixteen years were not a fairy tale. Her father is a controlling psycho and her mother is a drunk. She used to count on her older brother until he shipped off to Iraq. And then, of course, there was the time she almost died in a fire. Other Topics: Family Abuse, Alcohol Abuse, Cutting Dear Life, You Suck Blagden, Scott

Irreverent, foul-mouthed, seventeen-year-old Cricket Cherpin, living under the watchful eye of Mother Mary at a Catholic boys' home in Maine, has such bleak prospects he is considering suicide when Wynona Bidaban steps into his world.

Hate List: a novel Brown, Jennifer

Sixteen-year-old Valerie, whose boyfriend Nick committed a school shooting at the end of their junior year, struggles to cope with integrating herself back into high school life, unsure herself whether she was a hero or a villain.

The Chance You Won’t Return Cardi, Annie

While navigating high school, driver's education, and her first crush, teenager Alex Winchester must deal with a devastating family secret.

Finding Alice Carlson, Melody

On the outside, Alice Laxton appears to be a normal college student, but as her senior year becomes more stressful, her schizophrenia progresses, disrupting her life and forcing her to seek experimental treatment.

Walkaway Carter, Aiden R.

Fifteen-year-old Andy, fed up with his alcoholic father and annoying older brother, leaves their northern Wisconsin cabin on his version of a walkabout, leaving his medications to combat depression, anxiety, and delusions behind. Hush Chayil, Eishes

After remembering the cause of her best friend Devory's suicide at age nine, Gittel is determined to raise awareness of sexual abuse in her Borough Park, New York, community, despite the rules of Chassidim that require her to be silent.

Undone Clarke, Cat

After the suicide of her gay best friend Kai, Jem Halliday reads letters he left her encouraging her to come out of her shell and Jem does just that, but only to infiltrate the group of popular students who released a video that "outed" Kai so that she can take revenge.

Little Black Lies Cohen, Tish

Starting her junior year at an ultra-elite Boston school, sixteen- year-old Sara, hoping to join the popular crowd, hides that her father not only is the school janitor, but also has obsessive- compulsive disorder.

You Know Where to Find Me Cohn, Rachel

In the wake of her cousin's suicide, overweight and introverted seventeen-year-old Miles experiences significant changes in her relationships with her mother and father, her best friend Jamal and his family, and her cousin's father, while gaining insights about herself, both positive and negative.

Waiting for You Colasanti, Susane

Fifteen-year-old high school sophomore Marisa, who has an anxiety disorder, decides that this is the year she will get what she wants--a boyfriend and a social life--but things do not turn out exactly the way she expects them to. Oblivion Dawn, Sasha Sixteen-year-old Callie Knowles fights her compulsion to write constantly, even on herself, as she struggles to cope with foster care, her mother’s life in a mental institution, and her belief that she killed her father, a minister, who has been missing for a year. Some-thing Like Normal Doller, Trish

When Travis returns home from Afghanistan, his parents are splitting up, his brother has stolen his girlfriend and car, and he has nightmares of his best friend getting killed but when he runs into Harper, a girl who has despised him since middle school, life actually starts looking up. Fell of Dark Downes, Patrick

Chronicles the lives of two mentally ill boys--Erik, who believes he is a saint, and Thorn, who believes he is a demon-- as their minds devolve into hallucinations, showing the way their worlds intersect, and culminating in a final stand-off.

Tears of a Tiger Draper, Sharon M.

The death of high school basketball star Rob Washington in an automobile accident affects the lives of his close friend Andy, who was driving the car, and many others in the school.

Playlist for the Dead Falkoff, Michelle

After his best friend, Hayden, commits suicide, fifteen-year-old Sam is determined to find out why--using the clues in the playlist Hayden left for him. Schizo Firmston, Kim

When Dan's mother stops taking her medication for schizophrenia it is up to him to keep the family together.

Suicide Notes: a novel Ford, Michael Thomas

Fifteen-year-old Jeff wakes up on New Year's Day to find he has been admitted to the psychiatric ward after trying to kill himself and is offended that anyone would think he has anything in common with the other "crazies" in the hospital with him, but as his stay lengthens he begins to see he is more like them than he thought.

I Was Here Forman, Gayle

In an attempt to understand why her best friend committed suicide, eighteen-year-old Cody Reynolds retraces her dead friend's footsteps and makes some startling discoveries.

The Weight of Zero Fortunati, Karen

A seventeen-year-old suffering from bipolar disease wants to commit suicide, but a meaningful relationship and the care of a gifted psychiatrist alter her perception of her diagnosis as a death sentence.

Be Not Afraid Galante, Cecilia

Since her mother's suicide, high school junior Marin has been able to see others' pain as colors and shapes, but what she sees in the head of classmate Cassie, who forced her to participate in a weird conjoining rite, is much more frightening and deadly. Girl in Pieces Glasgow, Kathleen

As she struggles to recover and survive, seventeen-year-old homeless Charlotte "Charlie" Davis cuts herself to dull the pain of abandonment and abuse.

Fat Kid Rules the World Going, K.L.

Seventeen-year-old Troy, depressed, suicidal, and weighing nearly three hundred pounds, gets a new perspective on life when Curt, a semi-homeless teen who is a genius on guitar, asks Troy to be the drummer in a rock band. Running for My Life Gonzalez, Ann

After fourteen-year-old Andrea McKane's mother is diagnosed with schizophrenia, Andrea copes with the abuse and absence of a beloved parent, and her fear of sharing a similar fate, by running. Born Ugly Goobie, Beth

Shir has always tried to be invisible, but is still tormented by the bullies at her school and treated like an outcast in her own home, leaving her with only two places where she feels she can escape--at her part-time job delivering groceries and at her secret retreat by the river--but when her job leads her into a world of uncertainty and a stranger invades her haven by the river, Shir's whole world is turned upside down.

Ordinary People Guest, Judith

After spending eight months in a mental institution following a suicide attempt, seventeen-year-old Conrad returns home and finds that he must rebuild his life.

Get Well Soon Halpern, Julie

Anna Bloom, confined to a mental hospital by her parents who do not know how to deal with her depression and panic attacks, writes letters to her best friend Tracy sharing the funny details of her life and the people she is getting to know at Lakeland.

Have a Nice Day Halpern, Julie

Anna struggles to adjust after a three-week stay in the mental hospital, and, although she misses Justin, Anna is weary to ask about the goings on back at the hospital and begins to suspect she may be the cause of tension between her parents.

Paperweight Haston, Meg

Seventeen-year-old Stevie is trapped. In her life. In her body. And now in an eating-disorder treatment center on the dusty outskirts of the New Mexico desert. ... Her dad has signed her up for sixty days of treatment. But what no one knows is that Stevie doesn't plan to stay that long. There are only twenty- seven days until the anniversary of her brother Josh's death--the death she caused. And if Stevie gets her way, there are only twenty-seven days until she, too, will end her life. Impulse Hopkins, Ellen

Three teens who meet at Reno, Nevada's Aspen Springs mental hospital after each has attempted suicide connect with each other in a way they never have with their parents or anyone else in their lives. Rumble Hopkins, Ellen

Eighteen-year-old Matt's atheism is tested when, after a horrific accident of his own making that plunges him into a dark, quiet place, he hears a voice that calls everything he has ever disbelieved into question.

A Long Way Down Hornby, Nick

A former talk-show host, a musician, a teenage girl, and a mother, each intending to commit suicide, find themselves together on the roof of a London building and begin to contemplate their individual choices and circumstances.

Try Not to Breathe Hubbard, Jennifer R.

The summer sixteen-year-old Ryan is released from a mental hospital following his suicide attempt, he meets Nicki, who gets him to share his darkest secrets while hiding secrets of her own.

Fragments

Johnston, Jeffry

Chase is haunted by fragmented memories of the accident that changed his life and struggles to put the crash behind him, but first he must face the truth about what he has done and how it has changed him. Silhouetted by the Blue Jones, Traci L.

After the death of her mother in an automobile accident, seventh-grader Serena, who has gotten the lead in her middle school play, is left to handle the day-to-day challenges of caring for herself and her younger brother when their father cannot pull himself out of his depression.

Back Home Keller, Julia

Thirteen-year-old Rachel Browning understands that her father will be different after being injured in the Iraq War, but no one is prepared for the impact that his traumatic brain injury and other wounds have on the entire family.

One Thing Stolen Kephart, Beth

Nadia Cara is in Florence, Italy, with her family because her professor father is researching the 1966 flood, but Nadia herself is in trouble--she has turned into a kleptomaniac and she feels detached from everything, except for an elusive Italian boy whom no one but herself has seen.

Detached Kilbourne, Christina

Anna is not like other people. She's always felt like she didn't belong: not with other kids, not with her family, not in her body. It isn't until her grandparents are killed in a tragic accident, however, that Anna starts to feel untethered. She begins to wonder what it would be like if she didn't exist, and the thought of escaping the aimless drifting is the only thing that brings her comfort. When Anna overdoes on prescription painkillers, the doctors realize she has been suffering from depression and start looking for a way to help her out of the desperate black hole she never thought she would escape. It's then that rock bottom comes into sight and the journey back to normal begins.

Everybody Sees the Ants: a novel King, A.S.

Overburdened by his parents' bickering and a bully's attacks, fifteen-year-old Lucky Linderman begins dreaming of being with his grandfather, who went missing during the Vietnam War, but during a visit to Arizona, his aunt and uncle and their beautiful neighbor, Ginny, help him find a new perspective.

Other topics: bullying I Crawl Through It King, A.S.

A surrealist novel about four teenagers who find unconventional ways to escape standardized tests and their perilous world, and discover that the only escape from reality is to face it.

Finding Audrey Kinsella, Sophie

Fourteen-year-old Audrey is making slow but steady progress dealing with her anxiety disorder when Linus comes into the picture and her recovery gains momentum. My Time as Caz Hazard Kyi, Tanya Lloyd

Caz is forced to take a long hard look at her actions when one of her classsmates, a girl who was constantly bullied or ignored, commits suicide.

Hold Still LaCour, Nina

Caitlin wrestles with her feelings of devastation and helplessness after her friend Ingrid commits suicide, and she turns to her family and newfound friends for help while encountering love, broadening her horizons, and using Ingrid's journal to heal. The Half Life of Molly Pierce Leno, Katrina

Molly, a seventeen-year-old girl who suffers from dissociative identity disorder, has played host to Mabel, a completely distinct personality, for most her life. When Molly faces a crisis Mabel doesn't know she can handle, Mabel lets Molly in on her secrets. Everything Beautiful in the World Levchuk, Lisa

Toward the end of the disco era, seventeen-year-old Edna refuses to visit her mother, who is in a New York City hospital undergoing cancer treatment, and barely speaks to her father, who finally puts her in psychotherapy, while her crush on an art teacher turns into a full-blown affair. Backlash Littman, Sarah Darer

When Christian, a boy she knows only through Facebook, posts a lot of nasty comments on her page, fifteen-year-old Lara tries to kill herself--but that is only the beginning of the backlash for her sister, Sydney; her former friend Bree; and her classmates.

The Boyfriend List Lockhart, E.

A Seattle fifteen-year-old explains some of the reasons for her recent panic attacks, including breaking up with her boyfriend, losing all her girlfriends, tensions between her performance- artist mother and her father, and more.

When We Collided Lord, Emery

Can seventeen-year-old Jonah save his family restaurant from ruin, his mother from her sadness, and his danger-seeking girlfriend Vivi from herself?

Boy Toy Lyga, Barry

After five years of fighting his way past flickers of memory about the teacher who molested him and the incident that brought the crime to light, eighteen-year-old Josh gets help in coping with his molester's release from prison when he finally tells his best friends the whole truth.

Goth Girl Rising Lyga, Barry

Kyra, who is also known as Goth Girl, returns home from the Maryland Mental Health Unit to find out that things have changed, particularly her friend Fanboy, who has transformed into somebody she barely recognizes, which causes her anger and dark memories to return. Holding on to Zoe Lyon, George Ella

After sixteen-year-old Jules loses her boyfriend she experiences complications from the pregnancy that drove him away and suddenly, some of the people closest to her are behaving as if her baby is not real.

Jellicoe Road Marchetta, Melina

Abandoned by her drug-addicted mother at the age of eleven, high school student Taylor Markham struggles with her identity and family history at a boarding school in Australia.

Saving Francesca Marchetta, Melina

Sixteen-year-old Francesca could use her outspoken mother's help with the problems of being one of a handful of girls at a parochial school that has just turned co-ed, but her mother has suddenly become severely depressed.

Martinez, Manuel Luis

Sixteen-year-old Robert Lomos, living with his grandmother in San Antonio since his father abandoned the family and his mother suffered a breakdown and moved with his little brother to California, struggles to earn the money to follow her and put his family back together.

Cut McCormick, Patricia

While confined to a mental hospital, thirteen-year-old Callie slowly comes to understand some of the reasons behind her self-mutilation, and gradually starts to get better.

My Brother’s Keeper McCormick, Patricia

Thirteen-year-old Toby Malone struggles to keep his family together after his father leaves; however, keeping his older brother Jake's drug habit from their mother is getting harder and harder.

Shadow People McDonald, Joyce

When his family moves to a secluded area in western New Jersey after his brother is murdered, Gabriel finds himself involved with three other teenagers, each with his or her own problems, in a series of increasingly violent acts.

100 Days McInnes, Nicole

A teen girl suffers from progeria, a rare disease that causes her to age rapidly. This is the story of three unlikely friends learning to live life to its fullest before ultimately letting it go.

The Last Domino Meyer, Adam

Vulnerable following his brother's suicide, a high school boy comes under the thrall of a darkly violent classmate and events at home and at school go chillingly out of control. Aimee: a novel Miller, Mary Beth

After she is accused of playing a role in her best friend's death, a young woman battles depression, anger, guilt, loneliness, and the problems of her own family as well as those of the families of her old friends. Echo Morgenroth, Kate

After Justin witnesses his brother's accidental shooting death, he must live with the repercussions, as the same horrific day seems to happen over and over.

How to Make a Bird Murray, Martine

Seventeen-year-old Mannie Clarkeson, a girl living in small- town Australia, leaves home in the middle of the night adorned in her mother's red silk evening gown and on a bicycle aimed toward Melbourne, but while she is looking to start a new life there are questions that need to be answered.

All the Bright Places Niven, Jennifer

Told in alternating voices, when Theodore Finch and Violet Markey meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, both teetering on the edge, it's the beginning of an unlikely relationship, a journey to discover the "natural wonders" of the state of Indiana, and two teens' desperate desire to heal and save one another. Crazy: a novel Nolan, Han Fifteen-year-old loner Jason struggles to hide his father's declining mental condition after his mother's death, but when his father disappears he must confide in the other members of a therapy group he has been forced to join at school. Two or Three Things I Forgot to Tell You Oates, Joyce Carol When their best friend, Tink, dies from an apparent suicide, high school seniors Merissa and Nadia are alienated from each other by their secrets and their ability to cope with Tink's suicide. Other Topics: Cutting, Grief, and Loss

After the Wreck, I Picked Myself Up, Spread My Wings And Flew Away Oates, Joyce Carol

Blaming herself for the car accident on the Tappan Zee Bridge that killed her mother, fifteen-year-old Jenna undergoes a difficult physical and emotional recovery. Dirty Little Secrets Omololu, C.J.

When her unstable mother dies unexpectedly, sixteen-year-old Lucy must take control and find a way to keep the long-held secret of her mother's compulsive hoarding from being revealed to friends, neighbors, and especially the media.

I Will Save You Pena, Matt de la Kidd, unhappy with his life in a group home and job at the beach, learns lessons about identity, love, and friendship through his relationships with Olivia, a rich girl from Cardiff, and Devon, a mysterious teen driven by a death wish.

Far from Xanadu Peters, Julie Ann

Sixteen-year-old Mary-Elizabeth "Mike" Szabo, struggling to understand her father's suicide and her own homosexuality, reaches the breaking point when she falls in love with Xanadu, an exotic girl who has moved to small Coalton, Kansas, from the big city. Blood Wounds Pfeffer, Susan Beth

Willa's life as part of a loving, blended family is torn apart when her estranged father kills his new wife and children and heads east in pursuit of her and her mother, and while in police protection, Willa learns her mom has been harboring secrets, and tries to decide whether to share a devastating secret of her own.

The Cellar Preston, Natasha

For months, Summer is trapped in a cellar with the man who took her and three other girls: Rose, Poppy, and Violet.

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock Quick Matthew

A day in the life of a suicidal teen boy saying good-bye to the four people who matter most to him.

Scars Rainfield, Cheryl

Fifteen-year-old Kendra, a budding artist who has not felt safe since she began to remember devastating memories of childhood sexual abuse, cannot seem to recall her abuser's identity and copes with the stress by cutting herself.

Under the Wolf, Under the Dog Rapp, Adam

Sixteen-year-old Steve struggles to make sense of his mother's terminal breast cancer and his brother's suicide. The Things a Brother Knows Reinhardt, Dana

Although they have never gotten along well, seventeen-year-old Levi follows his older brother Boaz, an ex-Marine, on a walking trip from Boston to Washington, D.C. in hopes of learning why Boaz is completely withdrawn.

Cuts Like a Knife Ryan, Darlene When Mac begins saying goodbye to everyone she knows, Daniel becomes convinced he has to save her from hurting herself. Or worse. Other Topics: Suicide, Friendship

Last Night I Sang to the Monster Saenz, Benjamin Alire Eighteen-year-old Zach does not remember how he came to be in a treatment center for alcoholics, but through therapy and caring friends, his amnesia fades and he learns to face his past while working toward a better future.

Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood

Saenz, Benjamin Alire

Sammy Santos and Juliana Rios live amongst the racism, discrimination, and everyday violence during the Vietnam years of the 1960s in a small town in Southern New Mexico.

Bait Sanchez, Alex

Diego keeps getting into trouble because of his explosive temper until he finally finds a probation officer who helps him get to the root of his anger so that he can stop running from his past. A Blue So Dark Schindler, Holly

As fifteen-year-old Aura struggles alone to cope with the increasingly severe symptoms of her mother's schizophrenia, she wishes only for a normal life, but fears that her artistic ability and genes will one day result in her own insanity.

Black Box: a novel Schumacher, Julie

When her sixteen-year-old sister is hospitalized for depression and her parents want to keep it a secret, fourteen-year-old Elena tries to cope with her own anxiety and feelings of guilt that she is determined to conceal from outsiders.

Challenger Deep Shusterman, Neal A teenage boy struggles with schizophrenia.

I'll Be There Sloan, Holly Goldberg

Raised by an unstable father who keeps constantly on the move, Sam Border has long been the voice of his silent younger brother, Riddle, but everything changes when Sam meets Emily Bell and, welcomed by her family, the brothers encounter normalcy for the first time. Saving Red Sones, Sonya

Right before winter break, fourteen-year-old Molly Rosenberg reluctantly volunteers to participate in Santa Monica's annual homeless count, just to get her school's community service requirement out of the way. But when she ends up meeting Red, a spirited homeless girl only a few years older than she is, Molly makes it her mission to reunite her with her family in time for Christmas. This turns out to be extremely difficult- because Red refuses to talk about her past. There are things Molly won't talk about either. Like the awful thing that happened last winter. She may never be ready to talk about that. Not to Red, or to Cristo, the soulful boy she meets while riding the Ferris wheel one afternoon. When Molly realizes that the friends who Red keeps mentioning are nothing more than voices inside Red's head, she becomes even more concerned about her well-being. Permanent Record Stella, Leslie

Sixteen-year-old Badi Hessamizadeh struggles with his Iranian- American identity, depression, and bullying while at a new school under the name of Bud Hess, but after strange letters arrive at the local newspaper, suspicion falls on Bud and he and his new friend, Nikki, try to uncover who is really to blame. Crosses

Stoeher, Shelley

Unhappy at home, Nancy and her friend Katie adopt punk lifestyles and find relief in cutting themselves, until Nancy is forced to confront her problems. The Spectacular Now Tharp, Tim

In the last months of high school, charismatic eighteen-year-old Sutter Keely lives in the present, staying drunk or high most of the time, but that could change when he starts working to boost the self-confidence of a classmate, Aimee.

The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B Toten, Teresa

Adam not only is trying to understand his OCD, while trying to balance his relationship with his divorced parents, but he's also trying to navigate through the issues that teenagers normally face, namely the perils of young love.

Lost It Tracy, Kristen

High school junior Tess Whistle is dealing with a lot of problems, including being deserted by her parents who have gone to live at an outdoor survival camp, and having her best friend sent away for therapy, so she pins all her hopes and anxieties on her new boyfriend Ben Easter, who may or may not be up to the challenge.

Inside Out Trueman, Terry

A sixteen-year-old with schizophrenia is caught up in the events surrounding an attempted robbery by two other teens who eventually hold him hostage.

OCD, the Dude, and Me Vaughn, Lauren Roedy

Danielle Levine stands out even at her alternative high school-- in appearance and attitude--but when her scathing and sometimes raunchy English essays land her in a social skills class, she meets Daniel, another social misfit who may break her resolve to keep everyone at arm's length. Trigger Vaught, Susan

Teenager Jersey Hatch must piece his life back together after he tries to shoot himself in the head, and as he rebuilds his mind and his body, he learns some surprising truths about his former life.

It’s Kind of a Funny Story Vizzini, Ned

New York City teenager Craig Gilner succumbs to academic and social pressures at an elite high school and enters a psychiatric hospital after attempting suicide.

My Heart and other Black Holes Warga, Jasmine

Seventeen-year-old Aysel's hobby--planning her own death-- takes a new path when she meets a boy who has a similar plan of his own.

Breathless Warman, Jessica

At boarding school, Katie tries to focus on swimming and becoming popular instead of the painful memories of her institutionalized schizophrenic older brother.

Miles From Ordinary Williams, Carol Lynch

Thirteen-year-old Lacey must face the reality of what life with her mother means for both of them as her mother's mental illness spins terrifyingly out of control.

Other topics: family problems What They Always Tell Us Wilson, Martin

Sixteen-year-old Alex feels so disconnected from his friends that he starts his junior year at a Tuscaloosa, Alabama, high school by attempting suicide, but soon, a friend of his older brother draws him into cross-country running and a new understanding of himself. Blind Faith Wittlinger, Ellen

While coping with her grandmother's sudden death and her mother's resulting depression and fascination with a spiritualist church, whose ministers claim to communicate with the dead, fifteen-year-old Liz finds herself falling for a new neighbor whose mother is dying of cancer. How to Save a Life Zarr, Sara

Told from their own viewpoints, seventeen-year-old Jill, in grief over the loss of her father, and Mandy, nearly nineteen, are thrown together when Jill's mother agrees to adopt Mandy's unborn child but nothing turns out as they had anticipated.

*Plot summaries and images provided by Follett.