This month, I did a YA book display centered around Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. Mental health awareness is obviously important for all, but is particularly important for folks from marginalized backgrounds; people of color, LGBTQIA+ folks, and people with disabilities may be more likely to struggle with their mental health and may have more barriers to accessing resources. When I was creating this display, I was able to find some amazing books to include that handle mental health very skillfully, but YA desperately needs more books like these.
How I made the display:
I made a quick letter-sized flyer on Canva; you can download the PDF for free hereto use at your library, or make your own version! Mine included a brief sentence explaning the month, and a link to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, where there’s a lot of information and resources.
Books you could include in your display:
- “Little & Lion” by Brandy Colbert
- “Tiffany Sly Lives Here Now” by Dana L. Davis
- “Anger is a Gift” by Mark Oshiro
- “We Are the Ants” by Shaun David Hutchinson
- “The Beauty that Remains” by Ashley Woodfolk
- “A Quiet Kind of Thunder” by Sara Barnard
- “When I Was the Greatest” by Jason Reynolds
- “The Astonishing Color of After” by Emily X.R. Pan
- “Starfish” by Akemi Dawn Bowman
- “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” by Erika L. Sánchez
What’s your favorite book about mental health? Do you have any other diverse YA books focused on mental health in your library collection?
Books. Libraries. Also, cats. 