#1 How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
I enjoy books about mental health when they’re not ONLY about mental health. People, and therefore characters, should be more than just a diagnosis.
In this haunting book based on a teen’s POV on World War 3, Daisy’s struggle for survival juxtaposes beautifully with her disordered eating.
Daisy harnesses her determination to restrict her eating and starts using it to save her life, and the lives of those around her.
You’re totally in her head. Rosoff writes her voice impeccably.
#2 The Shock Of The Fall by Nathan Filer
Novelist Nathan used to be a mental health nurse and you can totally see this in his stunning depiction of schizophrenia.
What’s so moving is the reader is let into the lead character, Matthew’s, childhood, and you can start to see why he may’ve developed psychosis.
Schizophrenia isn’t just something that randomly happens to him.
I also love how Nathan isn’t afraid to make this book a political statement – showcasing the horror of NHS budget cuts on the services it provides to vulnerable people.
#3 The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The classic that just keeps giving.
I mean everyone should read this book just because it’s so life-affirming and gorgeously written and funny and eighties and HERMIONE and all the things!
The fact that it also gently handles a mental health issue is just an added bonus.
You will fall in love with Charlie – and find you laugh, cry and grow with him, as he learns to love himself.
Am I Normal Yet – Holly Bourne
All Evie wants is to be normal.
And now that she’s almost off her meds and at a new college where no one knows her as the-girl-who-went-nuts, there’s only one thing left to tick off her list…
But relationships can mess with anyone’s head – something Evie’s new friends Amber and Lottie know only too well.
The trouble is, if Evie won’t tell them her secrets, how can they stop her making a huge mistake?
