Books are the best teachers because they do more than describe an experience to you – they help you live it. These books deal with mental illness issues across the spectrum and invite you to experience just a little of what it’s like to live with one. Read on and start a conversation with these books that will change how you think about mental illness:

Our Chemical Hearts

Henry Page has never been in love before and now all at once it’s Grace Town and no one else – but Grace is recovering from a traumatic car crash over the summer and her broken relationship with her mother. Will love conquer all, or are there some wounds too hidden and too big to heal?

Still Life With Tornado

Obsessed with being “original,” artist Sarah has lost the ability to draw. Suddenly she starts running into past and future versions of herself as she wanders the urban sprawl of Philadelphia. Meanwhile, her parents’ toxic marriage has finally fallen apart, and so has their family. Can Sarah find her inspiration again and survive the tornado that is life?

Still Life With Tornado comes out 10/11, find out more here!

Mosquitoland

Mim Malone is on a mission to find her sick mother back in Ohio, but will the trip there be too much for her to handle alone? With her own mental illness to deal with, Mim will question what it means to be ‘sane’ and face her own demons.

Highly Illogical Behavior 

This novel takes a look at how trying to “fix” someone isn’t the answer, but how the genuine relationships we make often is. 

The First Time She Downed

Cassie O’Malley is trying to forget her time in a mental institution, but even with a new start in life, she finds it’s hard to escape her controlling mother. In order to move on, Cassie must confront her mother and her past, and learn to live with her trauma.

Thirteen Reasons Why

Ten years later, Jay Asher’s novel about bullying and teen suicide remains a touchstone for many.

Ripple

Tessa is addicted to what she can’t have – boys and freedom. But it’s all an act to escape her restrictive homelife. Meanwhile, Jack is an adrenaline junkie, living for the thrill of pulling of riskier and riskier pranks. At home he feels equally trapped as Tessa, as he must care for his mentally ill mother. Together they learn to accept or change their situations, and to find the better side of themselves hidden inside.

A World Without You 

Bo doesn’t believe he has a mental illness – he believes he has a superpower, just like all the students at Berkshire Academy. His superpower is the ability to travel through time. But when a close friend and classmate succumbs to her depression and takes her own life, Bo can’t accept that she’s really gone. Instead, he is certain she is lost somewhere in time and he is the one who can find her. As Bo becomes more and more determined to save Sofia, he has to decide whether to face his demons and reality, or continue to be with the girl he loves, even if he loses his own mind.

Looking for more book recommendations? Try these books to celebrate during Banned Books week!