This month, we offer a variety of stories about teens facing mental health challenges, ranging from depression and suicidal ideation to anxiety and self-esteem issues, and learning that their condition does not define who they are.
In Ab(solutely) Normal: Short Stories That Smash Mental Health Stereotypes, sixteen authors create a variety of stories about teens facing mental health conditions and learning they do not have to be defined by those conditions.
Amy Zhang’s novel The Cartographers follows Ocean Sun, whose acceptance to a prestigious college meets her mother’s high expectations, but leaves her feeling adrift and depressed, and considering suicide. When she meets a white graffiti artist in a subway station, she begins to understand there are other ways to live.
Since Halley’s younger sister died of a peanut allergy two years ago in Ann Hood’s book Clementine, she has struggled with grief, depression, and suicidal thoughts, but a stay at a “low-rent Outward Bound” program helps her to slowly heal.
In Friday I’m in Love by Camryn Garrett, Mahalia is determined to throw herself a queer coming-out party that also celebrates her Blackness, but challenging friendships, anxiety, and experiences of racism and homophobia threaten to derail her self-esteem.
Jawara Pedican’s novel The Hoop and the Harm follows Udoka, who has always loved basketball with a passion. His level of play could take him to the pros, but his older brother’s obsessive mentoring plus his own self-doubt has him wondering if he can really keep playing at all. Can a psychologist help him work through his anxieties?
Jen St. Jude’s novel If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come tells how on the morning Avery decides she will end her life because of a falling out with her best friend and secret crush Cass, everyone learns an unstoppable asteroid will hit the planet in nine days. To spare her family and friends, Avery puts off her decision and meets Cass. Can they rebuild their friendship before the end?
In The Immeasurable Depth of You by Maria Ingrande Mora, Brynn’s obsession with death, anxiety, and isolation worries her mother so much that she is sent to spend the summer with her father, who lives on a houseboat in the Everglades. There she meets Skylar, who is athletic, confident, and outgoing. But Skylar harbors a secret that will draw Brynn out of her own darkest thoughts.
Carolina Ixta’s book, Shut Up, This Is Serious shows how Leti and Belén face a tough road ahead as daughters of hardworking immigrant families, especially when Leti realizes that she is pregnant and her family will never accept her Black boyfriend. Meanwhile, Belén’s father abandons her family and makes her dream of college harder to reach. Can the two face the legacy of familial abuse and find their future together?
In Skater Boy by Anthony Nerada, Wes has earned his reputation as a bad boy, hanging out with his friends, failing school, and bullying others. But when his mother takes him to the Nutcracker, he is immediately attracted to Tristan, the Black star of the show. Can he come out, face his own family trauma, and grow out of his inability to open up to others by starting a relationship with Tristan?
~posted by Wally B.
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