In SLJ: Mental Health in Middle Grade Fiction

Hop on over to School Library Journal’s site to see my recent article Not OK? That’s OK. Middle Grade Authors Provide Compassionate Portrayals of Mental Health and the accompanying book list 10 Middle Grade Novels That Address Mental Health with Compassion.

While there is no substitute for comprehensive mental health care education and treatment, many young readers may discover comfort, validation, and finally, the strength to ask for help, in the pages of these books. There is no shame in medication, therapy, or treatment, and they are not alone, these novels remind readers. For many, these messages may be the lifeline they desperately need. They will learn, like Sandanna’s Kiki, “Maybe, just maybe, my brain wasn’t some kind of monstrous thing I couldn’t trust. It was just a little different.” And different is OK.

The article features interviews with authors Chad Lucas, Barbara Dee, Sangu Mandanna, Lisa Allen-Agostini, Jimmy Matejek-Morris, Ellen Oh, Rosena Fung, and Nicole Melleby.

Filed under: Uncategorized