Mental Illness in YA Month Wrap Up

So Mental Illness in YA Month has come to a close! I hope you have enjoyed the event as much as I have in putting it together! If there are some posts you think you've missed, you can find links to all posts  in the Mental Illness in YA Month Schedule. There's still a few hours left to enter the giveaways if you haven't yet, and can do so here: Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman giveaway, White Rabbit, Red Wolf by Tom Pollock proof giveaway, and Colour Me In by Lydia Ruffles proof giveaway.

There are a lot of people I have to thank. Thank you to Akemi Dawn Bowman, Tom Pollock, Ashley Woodfolk, Eric Smith, Mike Schlossberg, and Lydia Ruffles for contributing to the event either by interview or guest post. Thank you to Hannah of A Cup of Wonderland, Hannah of Sprinkled With Words, and Georgia of Georgia's Bookish Thoughts for contributing with guest posts.

Thank you to Dahlia Adler, Katherine Locke, C. G. Drews, @EmmmaBooks, Kari Hagen, Aisha Bushby, Jessica Walton, Becky, Barker & Jones, Nass, Kate Mallinder, Lydia Ruffles, Becca Allen, Christina Banach, and Becca for all the amazing book recommendations that led to either me reading those books, or putting them in reading lists.

And thank you to you for reading my posts throughout the month, commenting, and contributing to the conversation. I feel so strongly about the importance of talking about mental illness to combat stigma, and I think books are such are safe way of having those conversations. I've really enjoyed reading all the very different books I've read, and the different experiences, struggles, views and opinions shown through those books. It's been a great month, and I'm very looking forward to reading the YA novels featuring mental illness that are published in the future.

Thank you for joining me along for this ride!

--
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Mental Illness in YA Month Reading List: YA Novels Featuring Mental Illness Wishlist

Mental Illness in YA Month is coming to an end, so I thought my penultimate post should highlight YA novels and teen non-fic featuring/about mental illness that are yet to come out that I'm highly anticipating! These are the books on my wishlist, in order of publication.

Colour Me In by Lydia Ruffles
Published on 8th August 2018

Nineteen-year-old actor Arlo likes nothing more than howling across the skyline with best friend Luke from the roof of their apartment.

But when something irreparable happens and familiar black weeds start to crawl inside him, Arlo flees to the other side of the world, taking only a sketchbook full of maps.

With its steaming soup and neon lights, this new place is both comforting and isolating.

There, Arlo meets fellow traveller Mizuki. Something about her feels more like home than he's felt in a while. But what is Mizuki searching for?

HOW FAR CAN YOU OUTRUN YOURSELF . . .
BEFORE YOU LOSE YOUR WAY BACK? From Goodreads.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Reading List: YA Novels Featuring Mental Illness Wishlist

Mental Illness in YA Month Discussion: What Do We Want to See More & Less of in YA Novels Featuring Mental Illness?

This is the final discussion post inspired by young adult podcast YA Oughta's Mental Health episode, which featured Lydia Ruffles and Tom Pollock in conversation with Chloe Seager and Katherine Dunn, in which they talked about writing about mental illness, representation, and many other things. Towards the end of the episode, they discussed what they want to see more or less of in YA novels featuring mental illness, and I thought that would be an interesting discussion to have.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Discussion: What Do We Want to See More & Less of in YA Novels Featuring Mental Illness?

Mental Illness in YA Month Review: All the Ways the World Can End by Abby Sher

All the Ways the World Can End by Abby Sher (Review Copy) - Lenny is preparing for the apocalypse. Every night, she researches vacuum decay, designer pathogens, that inexplicable sleeping sickness knocking people out in Kazakhstan. Not many sixteen-year-olds are this consumed with the end of the world. But Lenny needs to have some sense of control. Her dad is dying of cancer. Her best friend Julian is graduating early and moving three states away. She's having to rehearse for a toe-curling interpretive dance show at school, and deal with her mum's indefatigable jolliness and smoothie-making in the face of the disaster they are confronting. The one thing keeping her hopeful is Dr Rad Ganesh - her father's oncologist. Surely Lenny can win him round to her charms - and he can save her father? From Goodreads.

I was sent this ARC for free by Hot Key Books for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Trigger Warning: This book features self-harm, homophobic language (overheard on a train), and the protagonist using ableist language.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Review: All the Ways the World Can End by Abby Sher

Mental Illness in YA Month Reading List: YA Novels Featuring Boys With Eating Disorders

Yesterday, I reviewed The Art of Starving by Sam J. Smith, about Matt, a guy with an eating disorder. I want to share a quote with you from the book again, because I think it's important to think about.

'Thanks to the magic of Afterschool Specials, I know that a disconnect between what I see and what others see is a very banal aspect of eating disorders. Here is the thing--what I have is not an eating disorder. I'm pretty sure boys can't even get eating disorders. Lord knows there aren't any afterschool specials about it.' (p12)

Just let that sink in for a second. 'I'm pretty sure boys can't even get eating disorders.' Of course boys can, it's just that society doesn't talk about it. To quote the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA):

"Despite the stereotype that eating disorders only occur in women, about one in three people struggling with an eating disorder is male. [...] In the United States alone, eating disorders will affect 10 million males at some point in their lives. But due in large part to cultural bias, they are much less likely to seek treatment for their eating disorder. The good news is that once a man finds help, they show similar responses to treatment as women. Several factors lead to men and boys being under- and undiagnosed for an eating disorder. Men can face a double stigma, for having a disorder characterized as feminine or gay and for seeking psychological help. Additionally, assessment tests with language geared to women and girls have led to misconceptions about the nature of disordered eating in men." From NEDA's website.

We need to have more conversations around eating disorders in men and boys, and so we need more YA novels featuring teen boys who have eating disorders. As well as The Art of Starving and Four Weeks, Five People by Jennifer Yu, here are a some more novels featuring boys with eating disorders I discovered when doing research.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Reading List: YA Novels Featuring Boys With Eating Disorders

Mental Illness in YA Month Review: The Art of Starving by Sam J. Miller

The Art of Starving by Sam J. Miller (Bought) - Matt hasn’t eaten in days.

His stomach stabs and twists inside, pleading for a meal. But Matt won’t give in. The hunger clears his mind, keeps him sharp—and he needs to be as sharp as possible if he’s going to find out just how Tariq and his band of high school bullies drove his sister, Maya, away.

Matt’s hardworking mom keeps the kitchen crammed with food, but Matt can resist the siren call of casseroles and cookies because he has discovered something: the less he eats the more he seems to have . . . powers. The ability to see things he shouldn’t be able to see. The knack of tuning in to thoughts right out of people’s heads. Maybe even the authority to bend time and space.

So what is lunch, really, compared to the secrets of the universe?

Matt decides to infiltrate Tariq’s life, then use his powers to uncover what happened to Maya. All he needs to do is keep the hunger and longing at bay. No problem. But Matt doesn’t realize there are many kinds of hunger… and he isn’t in control of all of them.

A darkly funny, moving story of body image, addiction, friendship, and love, Sam J. Miller’s debut novel will resonate with any reader who’s ever craved the power that comes with self-acceptance. From Goodreads.

Trigger Warning: This book features suicidal ideation, self-harm and homophobia.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Review: The Art of Starving by Sam J. Miller

Mental Illness in YA Month Discussion: The Responsibilities of Authors With and/or Writing About Mental Illness

This is the third post which was inspired by young adult podcast YA Oughta's Mental Health episode, which featured Lydia Ruffles and Tom Pollock in conversation with Chloe Seager and Katherine Dunn, in which they talked about writing about mental illness, representation, and many other things. One of the things they talked about that I'd like to discuss is, is there any responsibility for the author

1. Who has a mental illness to write about it?
2. Who writes about a character who has a mental illness to name the diagnosis?

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Discussion: The Responsibilities of Authors With and/or Writing About Mental Illness

Mental Illness in YA Month Review: Are We All Lemmings & Snowflakes? by Holly Bourne (#Ad)

Are We All Lemmings & Snowflakes? by Holly Bourne

I was sent this proof for free by Usborne for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Welcome to Camp Reset, a summer camp with a difference. A place offering a shot at "normality" for Olive, a girl on the edge, and for the new friends she never expected to make – who each have their own reasons for being there. Luckily Olive has a plan to solve all their problems. But how do you fix the world when you can’t fix yourself? From Goodreads.

Trigger Warning: This book features suicide ideation, and discussion of sexual child abuse and selfharm.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Review: Are We All Lemmings & Snowflakes? by Holly Bourne (#Ad)

Mental Illness in YA Month: Georgia of Georgia's Bookish Thoughts - On Seeing My Mental Illness in a YA Novel

Back in June, I went to a launch party where I met Georgia of Georgia's Bookish Thoughts, and it turned out to be a very serendipitous and fortuitous meeting. We got talking about YA books and book blogging, and I mentioned I was holding Mental Illness in YA Month. She asked what I had been reading for the event, and when I mentioned Pointe by Brandy Colbert, she asked me if I had read Little & Lion, and told me how important it was to her. Fortunately, she agreed to write a last-minute guest post to tell you what she told me about why Little & Lion is just so important.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month: Georgia of Georgia's Bookish Thoughts - On Seeing My Mental Illness in a YA Novel

Mental Illness in YA Month Review: Pointe by Brandy Colbert

Pointe by Brandy Colbert (Bought) - Theo is better now.

She's eating again, dating guys who are almost appropriate, and well on her way to becoming an elite ballet dancer. But when her oldest friend, Donovan, returns home after spending four long years with his kidnapper, Theo starts reliving memories about his abduction—and his abductor.

Donovan isn't talking about what happened, and even though Theo knows she didn't do anything wrong, telling the truth would put everything she's been living for at risk. But keeping quiet might be worse. From Goodreads.

Trigger Warning: This book features paedophilia, rape, grooming, anorexia and self-harm.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Review: Pointe by Brandy Colbert

Mental Illness in YA Month Reading List: Teen Non-Fiction on Mental Illness and Mental Health

Having representation of teens with mental illness is important, but it's also important to understand our mental health and how to look after ourselves, and also to hear from those who have made it through. So today for Mental Illness in YA Month, I'm sharing with you teen non-fiction titles that cover mental illness/health.

Mind Your Head by Juno Dawson

We all have a mind, so we all need to take care of our mental health as much as we need to take care of our physical health. And the first step is being able to talk about our mental health. Juno Dawson leads the way with this frank, factual and funny book, with added information and support from clinical psychologist Dr Olivia Hewitt. Covering topics from anxiety and depression to addiction, self-harm and personality disorders, Juno and Olivia talk clearly and supportively about a range of issues facing young people's mental health - whether fleeting or long-term - and how to manage them, with real-life stories from young people around the world.

With witty illustrations from Gemma Correll. From Goodreads.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Reading List: Teen Non-Fiction on Mental Illness and Mental Health

Mental Illness in YA Month Review: The Art of Feeling by Laura Tims

Review: The Art of Feeling by Laura Tims (Bought) - Perfect for fans of Jennifer Niven’s New York Times bestseller All the Bright Places, this contemporary YA novel explores the friendship between a girl in constant pain and a boy who feels nothing at all.

Since the car accident, Samantha Herring has been in pain, not only from her leg injury, but also from her mother’s death, which has devastated her family. After pushing away her friends, Sam has receded into a fog of depression.

But then Sam meets Eliot, a reckless loner with an attitude and an amazing secret—he can’t feel any pain. At first, Sam is jealous. But then she learns more about his medical condition…and his self-destructive tendencies. In fact, Eliot doesn’t seem to care about anything at all—except maybe Sam. As they grow closer, they begin to confront Sam’s painful memories of the accident—memories that may hold a startling truth about what really happened that day. From Goodreads.

Trigger warning: This book features sexual harassment, violence animal death, and discussion of suicide and self-harm.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Review: The Art of Feeling by Laura Tims

Mental Illness in YA Month Discussion: Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman and How Your Mental Illness Affects Loved Ones

This discussion links to my discussion on The Astonishing Colour of After by Emily X. R. Pan and Living With a Depressed Parent - I am the child of depressed parents. But I'm also my parents' daughter who has anxiety.

When reading Challenger Deep, something I really loved was how Caden's parents really care and try to get him the help he needs. When I read the following quote, it really struck a chord with me.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Discussion: Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman and How Your Mental Illness Affects Loved Ones

Mental Illness in YA Month Review: Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman (Bought) - A captivating novel about mental illness that lingers long beyond the last page, Challenger Deep is a heartfelt tour de force by New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman.

Caden Bosch is on a ship that's headed for the deepest point on Earth: Challenger Deep, the southern part of the Marianas Trench.

Caden Bosch is a brilliant high school student whose friends are starting to notice his odd behavior.

Caden Bosch is designated the ship's artist in residence to document the journey with images.

Caden Bosch pretends to join the school track team but spends his days walking for miles, absorbed by the thoughts in his head.

Caden Bosch is split between his allegiance to the captain and the allure of mutiny.

Caden Bosch is torn. From Goodreads.

Trigger Warning: This book features a suicide attempt, and problematic language when discussing suicide.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Review: Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

Mental Illness in YA Month: Lydia Ruffles with A Tale of Two Lists + Giveaway

I'm so excited to have Lydia Ruffles, UKYA author of The Taste of Blue Light and upcoming Colour Me In, stopping by today to talk about why she writes about mental health in her novels.

A Tale of Two Lists

I said an enthusiastic and, as it turns out, complacent 'yes, please' when Jo invited me to do a guest blog on why I write about mental health for her Mental Illness in YA month. It seemed like the question was made for me. This'lll be easy, I thought.

(Spoiler alert: it wasn't.)

The main characters in my two books - 17-year-old art student Lux Langley in The Taste of Blue Light and 19-year-old actor Arlo Thomas in Colour Me In – both have a mental illness. (They also have friends, family, first love, adventures, goals, agency, etc – more on this later.)

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month: Lydia Ruffles with A Tale of Two Lists + Giveaway

Mental Illness in YA Month Review: Colour Me In by Lydia Ruffles

Colour Me In by Lydia Ruffles (eProof) - Nineteen-year-old actor Arlo likes nothing more than howling across the skyline with best friend Luke from the roof of their apartment.

But when something irreparable happens and familiar black weeds start to crawl inside him, Arlo flees to the other side of the world, taking only a sketchbook full of maps.

With its steaming soup and neon lights, this new place is both comforting and isolating.

There, Arlo meets fellow traveller Mizuki. Something about her feels more like home than he's felt in a while. But what is Mizuki searching for?

HOW FAR CAN YOU OUTRUN YOURSELF . . .
BEFORE YOU LOSE YOUR WAY BACK? From Goodreads.

I received this eProof for free from Hodder Chlildren's Books via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Review: Colour Me In by Lydia Ruffles

Mental Illness in YA Month: Other Discussions Surrounding Mental Illness in YA

There are many people who have also been talking about the importance mental illness representation in YA, and discussion around it. I wanted to share some of the other important discussions and posts that have covered the subject.

• Shannon of It Starts at Midnight, Kayla of The Thousand Lives (no longer running), and Inge of Bookshelf Reflections (no longer running) held Shattering Stigmas, a blog event to discuss mental illness in YA, in 2015.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month: Other Discussions Surrounding Mental Illness in YA

Mental Illness in YA Month Review: Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn

Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn (Bought) - When you've been kept caged in the dark, it's impossible to see the forest for the trees. It's impossible to see anything, really. Not without bars . . .

In Stephanie Kuehn's brilliant debut Charm & Strange, Andrew Winston Winters is at war with himself.

He's part Win, the lonely teenager exiled to a remote Vermont boarding school in the wake of a family tragedy. The guy who shuts all his classmates out, no matter the cost.

He's part Drew, the angry young boy with violent impulses that control him. The boy who spent a fateful, long-ago summer with his brother and teenage cousins, only to endure a secret so monstrous it led three children to do the unthinkable.

Over the course of one night, while stuck at a party deep in the New England woods, Andrew battles both the pain of his past and the isolation of his present.
Before the sun rises, he'll either surrender his sanity to the wild darkness inside his mind or make peace with the most elemental of truths-that choosing to live can mean so much more than not dying. From Goodreads.

Trigger Warning: This book features child sexual abuse, violence, and suicide.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Review: Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn

Mental Illness in YA Month: Mike Schlossberg on Fighting Mental Illness Stigma Through Writing

Today, I'm glad to have Mike Schlossberg, author of Redemption, stopping by the blog for Mental Illness in YA Month, with a wonderful guest post about fighting the stigma surrounding mental illness by writing about it.

Let me start with a bit of a confession: When it comes to ensuring that mental illness is adequately discussed in society, I’m biased as hell. one in five American adults actively suffer from mental illness, and I’m one of them.

That being said, hiya! My name is Mike Schlossberg. My full-time job is to serve as a State Representative for the 132nd District of Pennsylvania, serving the people off Allentown and South Whitehall Township. I also write, and recently completed Redemption, my Young Adult, science fiction thriller about depression, anxiety and the end of the world.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month: Mike Schlossberg on Fighting Mental Illness Stigma Through Writing

Mental Illness in YA Month Review: On a Scale of One to Ten by Ceylan Scott

On a Scale of One to Ten by Ceylan Scott (Review Copy) - Tamar is admitted to Lime Grove, a psychiatric ward for teenagers, where the psychologists ask her endless questions. But there's one question Tamar can't - won't - answer: What happened to her friend Iris? A uniquely powerful, devastating novel of friendship, fragility and forgiveness. From Goodreads.

I was sent this ARC for free by Chicken House for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Trigger Warning: This book features mental illness stigma, self-harm, several suicide attempts, and suicide. This review discusses the self-harm and attempted suicide in this book.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Review: On a Scale of One to Ten by Ceylan Scott

Mental Illness in YA Month Review: For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig (#Ad)

For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig

I was sent this proof for free by The Bent Agency for the purposes of providing an honest review.

A young woman with a dangerous power she barely understands. A smuggler with secrets of his own. A country torn between a merciless colonial army, a terrifying tyrant, and a feared rebel leader. The first book in a new trilogy from the acclaimed Heidi Heilig blends traditional storytelling with ephemera for a lush, page-turning tale of escape and rebellion. For a Muse of Fire will captivate fans of Sabaa Tahir, Leigh Bardugo, and Renée Ahdieh.

Jetta’s family is famed as the most talented troupe of shadow players in the land. With Jetta behind the scrim, their puppets seem to move without string or stick—a trade secret, they say. In truth, Jetta can see the souls of the recently departed and bind them to the puppets with her blood. But the old ways are forbidden ever since the colonial army conquered their country, so Jetta must never show, never tell. Her skill and fame are her family’s way to earn a spot aboard the royal ship to Aquitan, where shadow plays are the latest rage, and where rumor has it the Mad King has a spring that cures his ills. Because seeing spirits is not the only thing that plagues Jetta. But as rebellion seethes and as Jetta meets a young smuggler, she will face truths and decisions that she never imagined—and safety will never seem so far away.

Heidi Heilig creates a vivid, rich world inspired by Asian cultures and French colonialism. Her characters are equally complex and nuanced, including the bipolar heroine. Told from Jetta’s first-person point-of-view, as well as chapters written as play scripts and ephemera such as telegrams and letters, For a Muse of Fire is an engrossing journey that weaves magic, simmering romance, and the deep bonds of family with the high stakes of epic adventure. From Goodreads.

Trigger Warning: This book features offpage mass murder, but seeing the result of mass murder on page - the dead bodies, on page murder, off page torture, racism, suicidal ideation and discusses suicide.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Review: For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig (#Ad)

Mental Illness in YA Month Discussion: On Looking For Representation in YA Novels Featuring Mental Illness

This is the second post which was inspired by young adult podcast YA Oughta's Mental Health episode, which featured Lydia Ruffles and Tom Pollock in conversation with Chloe Seager and Katherine Dunn, in which they talked about writing about mental illness, representation, and many other things. This time, I want to discuss readers looking for representation of their mental illness in YA novels.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Discussion: On Looking For Representation in YA Novels Featuring Mental Illness

Mental Illness in YA Month Review: The Definition of Us by Sarah Harris

The Definition of Us by Sarah Harris - Florence is pretty sure she's not got much in common with the other patients at Manor Lane Diagnostic & Therapy Centre. Wilf has ADHD and a tendency to punch doors, Andrew's ASD means he likes to run to a schedule as precise as a Japanese train, and Jasper would be far too perky if it wasn't for his moods at mealtimes.

It's only when Howard Green, the centre's psychotherapist goes missing that they start to share some common ground. They've told Howard things they've never told anyone before. They trusted him and were making progress. Starting again with someone else is an unbearable prospect. Together the four of them decide that they need answers and set off on a roadtrip, vowing to track him down. From Goodreads.

I received this eProof for free from Piatkus via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Trigger Warning: This book features discussion of suicide.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Review: The Definition of Us by Sarah Harris

Mental Illness in YA Month: Hannah of Sprinkled With Words - I'm Tired of the Repetitive Mental Illness Rep I'm Seeing in YA

Today, Hannah of Sprinkled With Words is stopping by with a guest post to talk about the clichés of mental illness she's tired of seeing in YA novels.

The plot of someone being ‘saved’ from their mental health illness has become such a hateful cliché that whenever I see a contemporary novel about mental illness, I’m always a little wary. Thankfully, it seems to have been phased out by authors in the last few years, but it still crops up occasionally. And, sadly, it seems that there’re even more clichés to come.

I’ve had mental health illnesses for about six years now, and I am so tired of bad rep in literature. But yes, I can hear people saying - this might have been an issue a few years ago, but nowadays when you read about mental health illnesses, it’s done so much better! And yes, it is, I agree. This cliché is, thankfully, now just that.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month: Hannah of Sprinkled With Words - I'm Tired of the Repetitive Mental Illness Rep I'm Seeing in YA

Mental Illness in YA Month Review: Underwater by Marisa Reichardt

Underwater by Marisa Reichardt (proof) - “Forgiving you will allow me to forgive myself.”

Morgan didn’t mean to do anything wrong that day. Actually, she meant to do something right. But her kind act inadvertently played a role in a deadly tragedy. In order to move on, Morgan must learn to forgive—first someone who did something that might be unforgivable, and then herself.

But Morgan can’t move on. She can’t even move beyond the front door of the apartment she shares with her mother and little brother. Morgan feels like she’s underwater, unable to surface. Unable to see her friends. Unable to go to school.

When it seems Morgan can’t hold her breath any longer, a new boy moves in next door. Evan reminds her of the salty ocean air and the rush she used to get from swimming. He might be just what she needs to help her reconnect with the world outside. From Goodreads.

I was sent this proof for free by Macmillan Children's Books for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Trigger Warning: This book features a school shooting.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Review: Underwater by Marisa Reichardt

Mental Illness in YA Month Reading List: UKYA Novels Featuring Mental Illness

Today, I thought I'd share the UKYA novels we have that feature mental illness. As regular readers will know, I'm really passionate about diverse books, and more recently, interectionality within diverse books, and books by authors from marginalised groups. Unfortunately, mental illness is the only marginalisation in a lot - though not all - of the UKYA featuring mental illness. Meaning, for the most part, the charcters are white, cishet, non-disabled (otherwise), and Christian/athiest (or religion is not mentioned at all). This is really, reall disappointing, but kind of a trend we have in UKYA - we have very little intersectionality in our books, and it's really not ok.

However, I have shown which of the following books do feature characters with intersectional identities, those that are written by authors from marginalised groups where known, and thoseare #OwnVoices where known. And where the description doesn't make it clear, I say what mental illness the main characters have.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Reading List: UKYA Novels Featuring Mental Illness

Mental Illness in YA Month Review: Whisper to Me by Nick Lake (#Ad)

Whisper to Me by Nick Lake 

I was sent this review copy for free by Bloomsbury Chlildren's Books for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Cassie is writing a letter to the boy whose heart she broke. She’s trying to explain why. Why she pushed him away. Why her father got so angry when he saw them together. Why she disappears some nights. Why she won’t let herself remember what happened that long-ago night on the boardwalk. Why she fell apart so completely.

Desperate for his forgiveness, she’s telling the whole story of the summer she nearly lost herself. She’s hoping he’ll understand as well as she now does how love—love for your family, love for that person who makes your heart beat faster, and love for yourself—can save you after all. From Goodreads.

Trigger Warning: This book features self-harm, with Cassie's voice telling her to hurt herself, and murder.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Review: Whisper to Me by Nick Lake (#Ad)

Mental Illness in YA Month Review: The Lost & Found by Katrina Leno

The Lost & Found by Katrina Leno (Bought) - Sometimes you have to get lost before you can be found.

Lost: Frannie and Louis met in an online support group for trauma survivors when they were both little and have been pen pals ever since. They have never met face-to-face. They don’t even know each other’s real names. All they know is that they understand each other better than anyone else. And they both have a tendency to lose things. Well, not lose them, exactly. Things just seem to…disappear.

Found: In Louis’s mailbox is a letter, offering him a tennis scholarship—farther from home than he’s ever allowed himself to think of going.

In Frannie’s mailbox is a letter, informing her of her mother’s death—and one last wish.

Setting off from opposite coasts, Frannie and Louis each embark on a road trip to Austin, Texas, looking for answers—and each other. Along the way, each one begins to find important things the other has lost. And by the time they finally meet in person, they realize that the things you lose might be things you weren’t meant to have at all, and that you never know what you might find if you just take a chance. From Goodreads.

Trigger Warning: This book discusses suicide and self-harm, but neither happen on page. Also features ableist language that is challenged, and outdated language (which is quoted as it's used in a good point about ableism).

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Review: The Lost & Found by Katrina Leno

Mental Illness in YA Month: Interview with Eric Smith

Today for Mental Illness in YA Month, I have YA author of The Girl and the Grove, Eric Smith, stopping by to talk about his latest novel, and how his protagonist, Leila, has seasonal affective disorder.

Can you tell us a little about The Girl and the Grove?

Sure! It’s a novel about a recently-adopted teen who discovers that the voices she’s heard her whole life might be connected to who she really is, and follows them into a city park in the heart of Philadelphia. It could be that her biological origins hold some kind of magical secret, and that the answers lie in the natural world.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month: Interview with Eric Smith

Mental Illness in YA Month Review: The Girl and the Grove by Eric Smith

The Girl and the Grove by Eric Smith (eProof) - Teenager Leila’s life is full of challenges. From bouncing around the foster care system to living with seasonal affective disorder, she’s never had an easy road. Leila keeps herself busy with her passion for environmental advocacy, monitoring the Urban Ecovists message board and joining a local environmental club with her best friend Sarika. And now that Leila has finally been adopted, she dares to hope her life will improve.

But the voices in Leila’s head are growing louder by the day. Ignoring them isn’t working anymore. Something calls out to her from the grove at Fairmount Park. From Goodreads.

I received this eProof for free from Flux via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Trigger Warning: This book features racism.

Continue reading Mental Illness in YA Month Review: The Girl and the Grove by Eric Smith

Mental Illness in YA Month Discussion:: The Astonishing Colour of After by Emily X. R. Pan and Living With a Depressed Parent

I received this eProof for free from Orion Chlildren's Books via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Today, I want to talk about The Astonishing Colour of After by Emily X. R. Pan, which I reviewed back in April. But there is one particular element of this beautiful, heartbreaking story I want to focus more on today; Leigh's experience of living with her depressed mother.

As you may know by now, I have anxiety. What you won't know is that both my parents have depression. My Mum has had depression since I was around 11, and my Dad was diagnosed after I became an adult, so I understood depression more when he was diagnosed, and found it easier to deal with. But it's not something I fully understood as a pre-teen and a young teenager, and watching my Mum struggle was so, so hard.

In The Astonishing Colour of After, through flashbacks we get to see Leigh's memories of  how depression affected her mum, Dory. Her decline, her recovery, and then her relapse that led to her death by suicide (at least this is what she remembers. We find out later in the book that Dory has had depression a lot longer than Leigh realised). I found myself relating to Leigh so much in these scenes. Mum's depression was never as severe as Dory's - where Dory struggled to even get out of bed most days, my Mum always made it up - I still found it difficult to deal with the fact that there was nothing I could do, or anyone could do, to make her happy again.

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Mental Illness in YA Month Discussion: Who Gets to Tell Stories About Mental Illness?

A few weeks back I listened to young adult podcast YA Oughta's Mental Health episode, which featured Lydia Ruffles and Tom Pollock in conversation with Chloe Seager and Katherine Dunn, in which they talked about writing about mental illness, representation, and many other things. It's an incredible episode, and I highly recommend you read if you're interested in mental illness in YA and/or have a mental illness yourself. It was really thought provoking, and I took a lot of notes, and this is one of several discussion posts the episode inspired.

So I want to look at who gets to tell stories about characters with mental illness. So, two questions:

1. Is it ok for people without a mental illness write about characters with mental illness? 
2. Is it ok for people with a mental write about about a character with a different mental illness they don't have?

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Mental Illness in YA Month Review: When Reason Breaks by Cindy L. Rodriguez

When Reason Breaks by Cindy L. Rodriguez (Bought) - A Goth girl with an attitude problem, Elizabeth Davis must learn to control her anger before it destroys her. Emily Delgado appears to be a smart, sweet girl, with a normal life, but as depression clutches at her, she struggles to feel normal. Both girls are in Ms. Diaz’s English class, where they connect to the words of Emily Dickinson. Both are hovering on the edge of an emotional precipice. One of them will attempt suicide. And with Dickinson’s poetry as their guide, both girls must conquer their personal demons to ever be happy.

In an emotionally taut novel with a richly diverse cast of characters, readers will relish in the poetry of Emily Dickinson and be completely swept up in the turmoil of two girls grappling with demons beyond their control. From Goodreads.

Trigger Warning: This book features a suicide attempt and violence.

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Mental Illness in YA Month Reading List: Intersectional YA Novels Featuring Mental Illness

Yesterday, we had a guest post from Ashley Woodfolk, who spoke about how intersectional YA is important to learn empathy. Today, I thought I'd share with you the intersectional YA novels I know of where the protagonists also have a mental illness. This first list mentions the books I've previously read and reviewed, and those I'm not able to get to for Mental Illness in YA Month. I'll also include a list at the end of all intersectional books I'll be covering in this event.

Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

Darius doesn't think he'll ever be enough, in America or in Iran. Hilarious and heartbreaking, this unforgettable debut introduces a brilliant new voice in contemporary YA.

Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He's about to take his first-ever trip to Iran, and it's pretty overwhelming--especially when he's also dealing with clinical depression, a disapproving dad, and a chronically anemic social life. In Iran, he gets to know his ailing but still formidable grandfather, his loving grandmother, and the rest of his mom's family for the first time. And he meets Sohrab, the boy next door who changes everything.

Sohrab makes sure people speak English so Darius can understand what's going on. He gets Darius an Iranian National Football Team jersey that makes him feel like a True Persian for the first time. And he understand that sometimes, best friends don't have to talk. Darius has never had a true friend before, but now he's spending his days with Sohrab playing soccer, eating rosewater ice cream, and sitting together for hours in their special place, a rooftop overlooking the Yazdi skyline.

Sohrab calls him Darioush--the original Persian version of his name--and Darius has never felt more like himself than he does now that he's Darioush to Sohrab. When it's time to go home to America, he'll have to find a way to be Darioush on his own. From Goodreads.

Darius is Iranian-American, and has clinical depression. #OwnVoices for race.

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Mental Illness in YA Month: Ashley Woodfolk on Empathy and Intersectionality in YA

When I first started looking at the YA books I had on my shelves featuring mental illness and researching others I could read for this event, I realised that pretty much every one featured white, cishet, otherwise non-disabled, Christian/athiest (or no religion specified) characters. Apart from a few, most of the books I were coming across featured no intersectionality whatsoever. So I did more research and asked for recommendations, wanting the event to feature as many books with protagonists with intersecting identities as possible, and made a list. It featured 15 books in total, with 11 of them featuring protagonists of colour. Fortunately, since making that, I have discovered a few more books to add to the list, but there are still too few.

But during my search, on The Beauty That Remains' release day, YA debut author Ashley Woodfolk wrote an absolutely brilliant Twitter thread about intersectionality. Today, I'm really excited to have Ashley visiting the blog to expand on her Twitter thread, and the importance of intersectionality in YA.

Universal empathy is the key to making the world a better place.

That might sound like an oversimplification, but all the greatest crimes against humanity were perpetuated by lies that dehumanized a group of people. Empathy is essential to imagine people complexly--it’s seeing someone as being as real, as human, as you are. But empathy isn’t something that is easily obtained.

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Mental Illness in YA Month Review: The Beauty that Remains by Ashley Woodfolk

The Beauty that Remains by Ashley Woodfolk (Bought) - Music brought Autumn, Shay, and Logan together. Death wants to tear them apart.

Autumn always knew exactly who she was—a talented artist and a loyal friend. Shay was defined by two things: her bond with her twin sister, Sasha, and her love of music. And Logan always turned to writing love songs when his love life was a little less than perfect.

But when tragedy strikes each of them, somehow music is no longer enough. Now Logan can’t stop watching vlogs of his dead ex-boyfriend. Shay is a music blogger struggling to keep it together. And Autumn sends messages that she knows can never be answered.

Despite the odds, one band's music will reunite them and prove that after grief, beauty thrives in the people left behind. From Goodreads.

Trigger warning: This book features discussion of suicide, and panic attacks.

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