Juvenile Crime—A Look Behind the Curtain

 

Anger is Only a Shadow , a contemporary young adult novel by award-winning author Elizabeth Acevedo, is a necessary and moving story for anyone who has dealt with mental illness in their families, with being a multicultural person or known youth with criminal backgrounds.  The main character is a D.C. high schooler, Lil, the middle child of immigrant parents from the indigenous Taino people of El Salvador and the Afro culture of the Dominican Republic. Most of the story is her experience in a youth detention center while waiting for her court hearing and the rest of the story is what her life is like after being released to her family but with an ankle monitor. Her older brother, who has always been looking after her, has gone away to college, but his behavior has changed and not in a good way. She feels burdened with finding out what is going on with him and her parents aren’t sure what to do. 

Lil reveals the positive influence that the poetry teacher at the youth detention center had on her through the “I Am From” writing prompts she is assigned. Even after leaving the center she still writes her own poems that reflect what’s going on in her mind at different points in the story. This is the strongest element of the book for me. Through Lil’s writing, her character goes through a process of seeing what is holding her back and getting to the place where she belongs. Even with several setbacks, the transformation that Lil goes through offers hope to others going through similar circumstances. 

Another strong aspect of the story is Lil’s relationship with her Abuela who is going through memory loss. She sometimes speaks in her native language and this reminds Lil of how much her brother loved the stories that her Abuela told them. This connection to her heritage is what ends up being a big factor in helping her brother at a dire time. Prior to reading this book I had read stories about characters with mental illness, however this is the first time I have read about a younger sibling who witnesses her older sibling’s mental health decline.  Acevedo provides additional mental health resources at the end of the book. 

Of course Lil’s time returning to school after the fallout of her crime is also an important part of her story. As a teacher myself, it reminded me of how much may be going on in the lives of my students that affects their behavior at school. It also makes me question some of the school rules that are strictly enforced without being able to make exceptions for students with special needs. Although it was sad to see that her two best friends, who were with her during her crime, were no longer at her school, it made her pivot to others that she had always been curious about from afar. 

I would highly recommend this book to anyone age 13 and up. Acevedo’s writing is reminiscent of Neal Shusterman and Angie Thomas, as they all express their stories with similar heart and authenticity. 

Thanks to NetGalley for sharing an advanced reader copy for me to read and review before the book is published in September 2026. 

Mental Health Books for YA & Middle Grades

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and no group can use it more than adolescents. In my 20+ years of being an educator and 15+ years as a school librarian, I can attest that offering books as bibliotherapy helps.  It helps the student and their caregivers when navigating difficult moments that they cannot bear alone.  

This past year I was awarded a grant that had me work alongside my high school's wellness center counselor to select books for student support groups, as well as adding specific books requested by students to the school library collection. In my experience, the books that touch on the survival aspect of mental health struggles are what readers want to read and learn about with the hopes of transferring those successes to their own lives. 

Here are the nonfiction and fiction books that I recommend for young adults and some middle grade readers:

Brave Face, a memoir, How I Survived Growing Up, Coming Out, and Depression by Shaun David Hutchinson. Young adult audience and up.

 

The Beasts in Your Brain, Understanding and Living with Anxiety and Depression by Katherine Speller. Young adult audience and up.

It Won't Ever Be the Same, A Teen's Guide to Grief and Grieving by Karie Leigh. Middle grade audience and up. 

The Anxious Generation, How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt. Young adult audience and up. 

The Amazing Generation, Your Guide to Fun and Freedom in a Screen Filled World by Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price.  Middle grade audience and up. 

Look Me in the Eye, My Life With Asperger's by John Elder Robison. Young adult audience and up.

One in a Million, a graphic memoir by Claire Lordon. Young adult audiences and up. 

Channel Kindness: Stories of Kindess and Community by Born This Way Foundation Reporters and Lady Gaga. Middle grade audiences and up.

Move, How Physical Activity Helps Maintain Mental Health by James Roland. Middle grade audiences and up. 

Brain on Fire, My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan. Young adult audience and up. 

Obsessed, a Memoir of My Life with OCD by Allison Britz. Young adult audiences and up.

Invisible Differences, A Story of Autism, Adulting, and Living a Life in Full Color by Julie Dachez, Madmoiselle Caroline, Edward Gauvin. Young adult audience and up. 

Art Cure, The Science of How the Arts Save Lives by Daisy Fancourt. Young adult audience and up.

Helping Teens Who Cut, Using DBT Skills to End Self-Injury by Michael Hollander. Young adult audience and up. 

Heads Up, Changing Minds on Mental Health by Melanie Siebert. Middle grade audience and up. 

Teen Guide: Social Anxiety by Mary Gerard. Middle grade audience and up.

Where to Start, A Survival Guide to Anxiety, Depression and Other Mental Health Challenges from Mental Health America and Gemma Correll. Middle grade audience and up. 

Puzzled: A Memoir About Growing up with OCD by Pan Cooke. Middle grade audience and up. 

Fitting Indian by Jyoti Chand and Tara Anand. Young adult audience and up. 
 

Age 16 by Rosena Fung. Middle grade audience and up. 

Weirdo by Tony Weaver, Jr., Jess & Cin Wibowo. Middle grade audiences and up. 

Shoot the Moon by Matt Beam. Young adult audience and up. 

Ash & Feather by Sharon Frances. Middle grade audience and up. 

Louder Than Hunger by John Schu. Middle grade audience and up. 

Ab(solutely) Normal, Short Stories that Smash Mental Health Stereotypes edited by Nora Shalaway Carpenter and Rocky Callan. Young adult audience and up. 

The Dark Matter of Mona Starr by Laura Lee Gulledge. Young adult audience and up. 

Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi. Young adult audience and up. 

Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert. Young adult audience and up. 

The Weight of Zero by Karen Fortunati. Young adult audience and up. 

How it Feels to Float by Helena Fox. Young adult audience and up.

Words on Bathroom Walls by Julia Walton. Young adult audience and up. 

It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini. Young adult audience and up. 

Chaos Theory by Nic Stone. Young adult audience and up. 

A World Without You by Beth Revis. Young adult audience and up.

Buzzing by Samuel Sattin and Rye Hickman. Middle grade audience and up. 

If you're looking for book suggestions with an elementary school audience, check out my list HERE.

Comment on your favorite books that touch on mental health topics that would be good for readers.

Blackout: NYC modern-day romance

There are some authors whose books I will read no matter what.  Now imagine my delight when six of these writers collaborated on one book!  Blackout the anthology of short stories by the best writers of today: Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon, is a must-have in any high school library collection.  The setting is exactly the same for all of the writers' tales: in NYC a massive blackout takes over the city and from there the stories take form.  From exes competing for the same summer internship to new crushes developing at a home for the elderly, there is a range of love stories for everyone to get into. There are even LGBTQIA relationships that develop with such care that no reader will be unaffected by them.  This is the perfect example of Black joy for young adult readers on up. 

What stood out to me about these stories is that they continued in the form of snapshots throughout the whole book.  It reminded me of a film or play taking place at the same time with fadeaway shots dimming at the close of a chapter and then picking up at the start of another one as the next part of the story unfolds for the characters there.  One might think this would be hard to keep track of all of the storylines, but this is where the writers truly shine in their depth of developing each character and their motivations.  One suggestion I have is to help those who have never been to NYC understand the layout of the boroughs, is to include a map to help with the movement of the storylines. The cover is also beautifully designed, by Erin Fitzsimmons, and has a surprise underneath the book jacket! I cannot decide how to display it in my bookshelf...

 Other anthologies that Blackout reminded me of are Black Boy Joy and Ancestor Approved. These are more for middle grade readers while Blackout is more for high school aged readers. 

Jagged Little Pill: The Novel, how music inspires a story

Jagged Little Pill was one of the first albums I bought and when I listened to the music of Alanis Morisette, as a 13 year old, I could feel the emotion behind her lyrics.  In high school I won front row tickets to her concert when she toured with Garbage and even got to meet her backstage!  She was every bit of lovely and kind as I imagined.  It continues to be one of the best moments of my adolescence. Here I am, 27 years later, reading the young adult novel of the same name based on the Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical by Eric Smith, Diablo Cody and Glen Ballard.  This is the first novelization of a musical that I have read and it didn't disappoint!  

The story is told from alternating points of view of five teenagers: Frankie, Jo, Nick, Phoenix and Bella.  It's the middle of the school year in a Connecticut suburb and nothing will be the same after a party that gets out of hand when Bella gets violated and the evidence is spread across social media.  Everyone's expectations of how they should respond in the wake of this incident drives the story:

• How will Nick, Bella's love interest who was supposed to look out for her act when his mother insists that he do nothing to jeopardize his college plans?  
• How will Frankie, Nick's adoptive sister, and her best-friend-with-benefits, Jo, support Bella along with their social activist club to make sure justice is served?  
• What can the new student, Phoenix, do to help as he falls for Frankie while taking care of his mom and hospitalized sister?

Using the musical and album, it's a journey for each character to get introspective as they risk losing the people they love in order to be true to themselves. The adults in the story have as many problems, if not more than the teens as they apply social pressure to everyone around them, including themselves.  This is a dynamic story where every character's choices have much to be debated.  Readers can think about how much race fits into their expectations of people's sexuality along with the #MeToo movement.  Who gets believed and why?  How do you communicate with someone with whom you've crossed the line of friendship? What do you do when you suspect your parent of having an addiction?

This book also stands out to me and will resonate with young adult readers because the authors interweave texting and chat conversations between the characters.  This is a more realistic way of storytelling as today's young people communicate in this way and will more likely read a book that includes this component of dialog.  

Teens can also choose an album or song that speaks to them and write a story idea inspired by the lyrics.  This type of writing prompt can help adolescents find the beauty in storytelling and even match other books with songs that would go along well with them!  As a fan of movie soundtracks, I love it when books name songs being played so I can play them and the story comes alive in a different way.  Literacy is about so much more than the words the page. It's a complete sensory experience if you allow yourself to engage in it. Smith includes a link to the cast recording so readers can listen to it for themselves:

Now that I have read the novel I am ready to watch the musical!