Cover Story: Mental Health and Tough Times

Here are our librarians' picks of the best teen reads in the Mental and Physical Health genre.

The Door of No Return

Kwame Alexander

West Africa, 1860. Kofi is an 11 year-old with the same things on his mind as many boys his age- why school is so stupid sometimes and how he can spend more time swimming with his best friend. Then his whole world is turned upside down as he is torn from his happy family life and sent on a terrifying journey into the unknown. Told in accessible verse, this is the first of a trilogy about the experience of many Africans 150 years ago. 

9781839133077 Andersen Press: 2023 ebook available 

My Heart and Other Breakables 

Alex Barclay 

Ellery Brown gives us a hilarious but heartfelt insight into her life in this story told in a diary format. Her mum has recently died, and Ellery uses her journal to express her innermost feelings, like wondering who her dad is and if she will ever meet him. With her best friend’s help, she discovers that all three of her potential dads are celebrity authors scattered across the globe on separate continents! So begins an epic adventure around the world.. 

9780008295202 HarperCollins: 2023 ebook available 

Glow Up Lara Bloom

Dee Benson

Lara shares her secrets dreams and fears with her online diary, asking questions like; will her football team be successful? Why is she so clumsy? How can she tame her hair? Then disaster strikes. Lara’s diary goes public and now everyone knows what she thinks (especially new boy Caiden, who Lara was determined to ‘glow up’ for). Can she salvage her self-respect and her budding romance from the catastrophe? A story about friendship, football and learning to love yourself. 

9781471412912 Hot Key: 2023 ebook available

Swimming on the Moon

Brian Conaghan

Anna is in a panic. Her parents’ marriage seems to be falling apart and she is terrified that if they split up she will be separated from her twin brother Anto, who can’t speak and depends on Anna. When she is invited to take part in a dance contest in Italy she thinks that she may have been thrown a lifeline. Surely a family holiday in a foreign country is just what her family needs to get things back to the way they were. Or is it? Heart-warming and sweet. 

9781526653925 Bloomsbury: 2023 ebook available 

What the World Doesn't See

Mel Darbon 

Told from both Maudie and Jake’s perspective, this book tells the story of two siblings grieving the loss of their dad and struggling when their mother disappears. When Jake is put into care, Maudie kidnaps him, hoping to bring their family back together. However caring for a brother with learning disabilities turns out to be much harder than she suspected. This novel is sure to tug at your heartstrings. 

9781474937849 Usborne: 2023 ebook available 

Read Between the Lines 

Malcolm Duffy

Told from both Maudie and Jake’s perspective, this book tells the story of two siblings grieving the loss of their dad and struggling when their mother disappears. When Jake is put into care, Maudie kidnaps him, hoping to bring their family back together. However caring for a brother with learning disabilities turns out to be much harder than she suspected. This novel is sure to tug at your heartstrings. 

9781474937849 Usborne: 2023 ebook available 

The Tiger Who Sleeps Under My Chair

Hannah Foley

1887. When Emma’s brother James’ behaviour deteriorates the family flees from London to avoid the scandal and threat of an asylum. In the present day, Rosie and Jude are friends thrown together by similar circumstances who discover a connection to these siblings from the past, and the power of Kersbrook – a little house in the Devonshire countryside. Two stories, over a hundred years apart, weave together in this enchanting novel about mental illness, friendship and connecting with the past.

9781803289823 Zephyr: 2023 ebook available

Wild

Ele Fountain

After the loss of his father, Jake begins to get into trouble and shuts out his workaholic mum. Trying to reconnect with her son, she decides to take him on her work trip into the rainforest to find an isolated and secretive native tribe. But danger is everywhere, with piranhas, snakes and bullet ants just some of the creatures they have to contend with. Forced to step up and save lives, will Jake change for the better? Full of excitement and adventure. 

9781782693840 Pushkin: 2023 ebook available 

Just Like Everyone Else

Sarah Hagger-Holt

Thirteen year-old Aidan can feel overwhelmed in his busy family home. He has four younger sisters and parents who want to discuss EVERYTHING. Aidan doesn't want to talk, especially about the fact that he thinks he might be gay. When Aidan’s mum tells him that she is going to have another baby, this time as a surrogate for a gay couple, Aidan is mortified by his expanding family, but also worried that his confusion about his own sexuality might be revealed. 

9781801315784 Usborne: 2023 ebook available 

Stone

Finbar Hawkins

Steeped in folklore and witchcraft, this is a modern tale of coming to terms with unimaginable grief. After Sam’s Dad dies suddenly he finds himself adrift in his life and attempts to connect with ancient traditions to make peace with his guilt. Scrying stones, tea-leaves, witchy romance and Norse gods all play a part in this meditative and eerily beautiful tale of finding joy after a great loss. 

9781838935658 Zephyr: 2023 ebook available 

The Lorikeet Tree 

Paul Jennings

When Emily and Alex’s father is diagnosed with a terminal illness they both deal with their grief in different ways. Emily finds solace in the thriving wildlife around their Australian home, but to her frustration Alex seems to be denying the situation and spends his time building his treehouse. Then along comes Ditto, a feral cat, and the simmering tensions in the family explode, threatening to tear the family apart. A moving story from a legendary Australian storyteller. 

9781910646878 Old Barn Books: 2023 ebook available 

The Haunting of Tyrese Walker

J P Rose

Since he arrived in Jamaica strange things have been happening to Tyrese Walker. He suffers from  blackouts and hallucinations, and is plagued by swarms of insects. Tyrese is convinced that he is being haunted, but is it just the stress of his father’s death getting to him? The answer may lie in a mysterious grave hidden in the nearby forest. Atmospheric and spooky. 

9781839132407 Andersen Press: 2022 ebook available 

Bad Influence

Tamsin Winter

For reasons that she doesn’t really understand, Amelia (nicknamed Maggot by her classmates) is constantly being picked on at school, and her confidence is fragile. When she meets a new boy that she likes her desperation to impress him makes her do something really foolish, and thanks to social media her moment of madness is soon seen by everyone in the school. This is a powerful, humorous and ultimately uplifting story about peer pressure and the perils of the online world. 

9781474979078 Usborne: 2023 ebook available