Picture Books
Right Now I Am Fine by Daniela Owen
This book is a mindfully written self-help guide to aid children in dealing with stress and anxiety, by uncovering their emotions and following a simple calming routine.
Star Wars: Search Your Feelings by Calliope Glass & Caitlyn Kennedy
Happy, hopeful, lonely, sad, excited , anxious, guilty, mad. The galaxy is an emotional place. Feelings are still felt way out there in space. You are not alone, so don’t be blue. Just search your feelings. You know it to be true!
Catching Thoughts by Bonnie Clark
A child learns to acknowledge an unwanted thought, show it compassion, and then actively let it go so she can focus on positive thoughts instead.
Why Do We Cry? by Fran Pintadera
When Mario asks his mother why we cry, her answer comes in sweet imagery. She speaks of grey storm clouds, locked boxes and a vast ocean. She explains that we cry for many reasons–sometimes we cry because we’re sad. Other times we cry because we’re lonely. Often we cry because we’re frustrated. And through all these emotions, our tears can calm us, heal us and help us grow.
You’ve Got Dragons by Kathryn Cave and Nick Maland
A young boy discovers that he has worries and fears that appear to him as dragons and shares what he learns about living with them.
Way Past Jealous by Hallee Adelman
Yaz is so jealous of her friend Debby’s drawing ability and the attention it brings that she does something mean, then must find a way to set things right.
BIG Feelings by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman
A group of kids express a multitude of feelings and discover they are not alone.
The Princess and the Fog by Lloyd Jones
Explains what depression is and how it affects people through a story about a princess and a fog around her that she cannot get rid of on her own.
Pockets Full of Rocks by Yair Engelberg
A young daughter presents questions to her depressed father.
I Feel…Meh by DJ Corchin
Sometimes I feel meh and I don’t want to play. I don’t want to read and I have nothing to say. Sometimes you just feel…meh. You don’t really feel like doing anything or talking to anyone. You’re not even sure how you’re feeling inside. Is that bad? With fun, witty illustrations and simple, straightforward text, I Feel…Meh tackles apathy, recognizing it as a valid emotion, while also offering practical steps to get you out of your emotional slump.
Why Are You So Quiet? by Jaclyn Desforges
Into a world where it often seems nobody is listening comes a poignant story that celebrates the power of silence. “Why are you so quiet?” Her teacher implores it, her classmates shout it, even her mom wonders it. Everyone, it seems, is concerned for Myra Louise. So, in search of an answer to the tiresome question nobody will stop asking, she invents a listening machine. If the raindrops, or the crickets, or the dryers at the laundromat can tell her why they’re so quiet, maybe Myra Louise can finally make everybody understand. But the more she listens, the less interested she becomes in finding any answer at all. Because Myra Louise comes to realize that all she really needs is someone else to listen alongside her.
I Am a Warrior Goddess by Jennifer Adams
Celebrates women and girls with big aspirations as a young girl connects with the earth, takes care of her body, and finds strength in kindness, thereby making her a warrior goddess.
I Said No! by Zack King
Written from a kid’s point of view, I said no!, helps kids set healthy boundaries for their private parts, and describes how to deal with inappropriate behavior by others.
Up and Down the Worry Hill by Dr. Aureen Pinto Wagner
In this book, Dr. Wagner, an expert in the treatment of childhood OCD, uses the metaphor of the Worry Hill to describe OCD and its treatment clearly and simply through the eyes of a child. Children and adults will identify with Casey’s struggle with OCD, his sense of hope when he learns about treatment, his relief that neither he nor his parents are to blame, and eventually, his victory over OCD.
Why is Mom So Mad? A Book About PTSD and Military Families by Seth Kastle
Why is Dad So Mad? A Book About PTSD and Military Families by Seth Kastle
After a decade fighting wars on two fronts, tens of thousands of service members are coming home having trouble adjusting to civilian life; this includes struggling as parents. “Why Is Mom So Mad?” is a narrative story told from a family’s point of view (father and children) of a service member who struggles with PTSD and its symptoms. Many service members deal with anger, forgetfulness, sleepless nights, and nightmares. This book explains these and how they affect Mom. The moral of the story is that even though Mom gets angry and yells, she still loves her family more than anything.
Too Sticky! Sensory Issues with Autism by Jen Malia
With help from her family and teacher, Holly overcomes her dislike of having sticky hands to participate in a science experiment. Includes author’s note about living with autism and sensory issues and a recipe for making slime.
Hector’s Favorite Place by Jo Rooks
Hector is a shy hedgehog and aims to help kids who may not want to venture out and try new activities for fear of making mistakes. It also highlights that friendships could be affected if a child keeps saying no to invitations from friends.
Armond Goes to a Party by Nancy Carlson
A boy with Asperger’s overcomes his social challenges to help a friend celebrate her birthday.
My Dad Loves Me; My Dad Has a Disease by Claudia Black
Children who grow up in addicted families usually learn at a very young age that it is not safe for them to openly talk about their family experiences. Through sharing their thoughts and feelings, children can develop a better understanding of addiction and how it affects their parent(s). Written from a child’s point of view, My dad loves me, me dad has a disease has been used to help thousands of children. It has become a springboard to help children from families ravaged by addiction to experience their own recovery process.
Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes
A mouse named Wemberly, who worries about everything, finds that she has a whole list of things to worry about when she faces the first day of nursery school.
Our Gracie Aunt by Jacqueline Woodson
When a brother and sister are taken to stay with their mother’s sister because their mother neglects them, they wonder if they will see their mother again.
Chapter Books
OCDaniel by Wesley King
A thirteen-year-old boy’s life revolves around hiding his obsessive compulsive disorder until a girl at school, who is unkindly nicknamed Psycho Sara, notices him for the first time and he gets a mysterious note that changes everything.
Closer to Nowhere by Ellen Hopkins
Told in two voices, sixth-grade cousins Hannah and Cal learn a lot about family when circumstances throw them together under one roof and Hannah’s love of order clashes with Cal’s chaotic behavior.
The Science of Breakable Things by Tai Keller
Middle schooler Natalie’s year-long assignment to answer a question using the scientific method leads to truths about her mother’s depression and her own cultural identity.
Finding Perfect by Elly D. Swartz
With some help from her siblings and friends, Molly is able to face her OCD and be strong enough to get help for it.
Some Kind of Happiness by Claire Legrand
Finley Hart is sent to her grandparents’ house for the summer, but her anxiety and overwhelmingly sad days continue until she escapes into her writings which soon turn mysteriously real and she realizes she must save this magical world in order to save herself.
A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass
Afraid that she is crazy, thirteen-year-old Mia, who sees a special color with every letter, number, and sound, keeps this a secret until she becomes overwhelmed by school, changing relationships, and the death of her beloved cat, Mango.
(Don’t) Call Me Crazy anthology
An anthology of essays and illustrations that illuminate mental health topics in a straightforward way.
The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall
In 1963, thirteen-year-old Arthur is sentenced to community service helping the neighborhood Junk Man after he throws a brick at the old man’s head in a moment of rage, but the junk he collects might be more important than he suspects.
Small As An Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson
Abandoned by his mother in an Acadia National Park campground, Jack tries to make his way back to Boston before anyone figures out what is going on, with only a small toy elephant for company.
How to Speak Dolphin by Ginny Rorby
Since her mother died, twelve-year-old Lily has struggled to care for her severely autistic half-brother, Adam, in their Miami home, but she is frustrated and angry because her oncologist step-father, Don, expects her to devote her time to Adam, and is unwilling to admit that Adam needs professional help–but when Adam bonds with a young dolphin that was recently brought into captivity, Lily is confronted with another dilemma: her family or the dolphin’s freedom.
Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff
After her brother Jared dies, ten-year-old Annie worries about the hidden dangers of everything, from bug bites to bicycle riding, until she is befriended by a new neighbor who is grieving her own loss.
All the Greys on Greene Street by Laura Tucker
SoHo, 1981. Twelve-year-old Olympia is an artist — and in her neighborhood, that’s normal. Her dad and his business partner Apollo bring antique paintings back to life, while her mother makes intricate sculptures in a corner of their loft, leaving Ollie to roam the streets of New York with her best friends Richard and Alex, drawing everything that catches her eye. Then everything falls apart. Ollie’s dad disappears in the middle of the night, leaving her only a cryptic note and instructions to destroy it. Her mom has gone to bed, and she’s not getting up. Apollo is hiding something, Alex is acting strange, and Richard has questions about the mysterious stranger he saw outside. And someone keeps calling, looking for a missing piece of art…. Olympia knows her dad is the key — but first, she has to find him, and time is running out.
For Black Girls Like Me by Mariama Lockington
Eleven-year-old Makeda dreams of meeting her African American mother, while coping with serious problems in her white adopted family, a cross-country move, and being homeschooled.
Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
Ten-year-old Caitlin, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, struggles to understand emotions, show empathy, and make friends at school, while at home she seeks closure by working on a project with her father.
We Say #NeverAgain by the Parkland Student Journalists
This collection of essays looks at the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland and the fight for gun control– as told by the student reporters for the school’s newspaper and TV station. They provide an inside look at that tragic day and the events that followed that only they could tell. The essays showcase how the teens have become media savvy and the skills they have learned and honed: harnessing social media, speaking to the press, and writing effective op-eds.
Sheets by Brenna Thummler
For Marjorie Glatt, being thirteen years old isn’t quite the same as it is for everyone else. Responsible for running her family’s laundromat while trying to survive middle school, Marjorie’s daily struggles include persnickety customers, snippy classmates, agonizing swim lessons, and laundry… always, always laundry. Wendell is a bit different, too. Wendell is a ghost. His daily struggles include Dead Youth support groups and unavoidable stains. But when he escapes from the Land of Ghosts and bumbles into Marjorie’s laundromat–the perfect ghost playground–his attempts at fun and friendship begin to harm the family business.
Your Brain Needs a Hug by Rae Earl
Offers advice and coping strategies on such topics as mental health, social media, family, friendship, and getting through difficult days.
Living the Confidence Code by Katty Kay
Confidence is your fuel. It turns your thoughts into action; your dreams into reality. The best way to understand confidence and learn how to harness its secret powers is to see it in action for yourself. So take a look at these thirty stories of real girls. From Bali to Brazil, South Africa to Seattle, Australia to Afghanistan, these girls are pursuing their passions, struggling and stumbling, but along the way figuring out how to build their own special brand of confidence. These inspiring stories prove that no matter who you are–or how old you are–nothing is out of reach when you decide to try.
When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt
During the summer of 1971 in a small Texas town, thirteen-year-old Toby and his best friend Cal meet the star of a sideshow act, 600-pound Zachary, the fattest boy in the world.
Courage for Beginners by Karen Harrington
Twelve-year-old Mysti Murphy of Texas wishes she were a character in a book. If her life were fiction, she’d know how to solve her problems at school, take care of her family when her dad has to spend time in the hospital, and deal with her family’s secret: that her mother is agoraphobic and never leaves the house.
Swing Sideways by Nancy Turner Steveson
Annie has a “summer of freedom’ in the country. She makes a friend, and tries to fix what’s broken between her mother and grandfather.
Get Well Soon by Julie Halpern
When her parents confine her to a mental hospital, an overweight teenage girl, who suffers from panic attacks, describes her experiences in a series of letters to a friend.