Over the last week or so, I’ve had the opportunity and pleasure of promoting teen depression and suicide awareness to my readers. Many of you have left comments: Sometimes about your own experiences or those of people you knew. It definitely took some courage, and I really appreciate that you were willing to be part of this really important conversation now and hopefully, you’ll continue to do so in the future.
In addition, Lesley Anne Cowan, Matt Beam, and Nina LaCour were able to come up with great guest post pieces. Lesley’s experience teaching and writing about at-risk teens is invaluable for speaking about the way teens hide the truth of their feelings from friends, peers, and adults as well as the need for parents to be involved in the recovery process. Similarly, Matt Beam’s post really touched me, not only because he was honest about his own experience with depression and suicidal thoughts as a teen, but also because he spoke to common stereotypes about the type of people who seriously think about suicide. As he said, had he allowed the stress and pressure of being a teen get the better of him, his best friend would probably have said, “no one saw it coming.” Finally, Nina LaCour wrote about her personal experience of having a classmate commit suicide when she was a teen, and how the questions she was mulling over about him found their way into her debut novel, Hold Still. Each of these posts are different from one another, reflecting not only the authors’ distinct writing styles, but also the different types of teens and adults who’ll be touched by their words. Here’s a big thank you to all the authors who took the time to contribute to this important awareness week.
Now some of you may have also followed along with the giveaway and reviews I posted already, so you might have some idea of books that fit the theme, which I would recommend. However, I’ve done a bit of research along with the help of some of my Twitter friends. Check out this list of books about suicidal teens and/or the suicide of a friend or family member:
- Hold Still by Nina LaCour
- Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
- Last December by Matt Beam
- Glimpse by Carol Lynch Williams
- Fall For Anything by Courtney Summers
- Crash Into Me by Albert Borris
- Entangled by Cat Clarke
- The Death of Jayson Porter by Jaime Adoff
- Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma
- Mothernight by Sarah Stovell
- By the Time You Read This, I’ll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters
- Impulse by Ellen Hopkins
- Looking For Alaska by John Green
- The Burn Journals by Brent Runyon
- Hate List by Jennifer Brown
- What Happened To Cass McBride by Gail Giles
- As She Grows by Lesley Anne Cowan
- Something Wicked by Lesley Anne Cowan
- Five Minutes More by Darlene Ryan
- Freewill by Chris Lynch
- Girl Saves Boy by Steph Bowe
- Under the Wolf, Under the Dog by Adam Rapp
- It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
- Bruiser by Neal Schusterman
- Swoon by Nina Malkin
- The Night Wanderer by Drew Hayden Taylor
- Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
* Books in bold are ones I’ve already read. (Edited to include more books read from the original list since it was initially published.)
If you know of any other books about teen depression and suicide or suicide of family members, please feel free to leave the suggestions in the comment box below. Also if you’ve read any of the one’s that aren’t bolded yet, please let me know what you thought of them. I want some more recommendations about which ones I should read first, etc. Thanks again to everyone who participated and enjoyed Suicide Awareness Week – your help made it even better than I could’ve imagined.
“Five Minutes More” by Darlene Ryan – a quick read about a girl trying to come to grips with her father’s suicide.
Thanks for your suggestion, Kelly. I did have it in the list, but it’s pretty long, so maybe you missed it.
The Suicide Year by Lena Prodan
The Perks of Being a Wall Flower by Stephen Chbosky
Trigger by Susan Vaught
Thanks for the additional suggestions, Nora. I’ll have to check these out, too.
I totally missed it
This is a wonderful resource!
That is the wonderful thing about the Internet, Kelly. There is always an easy way to get back to the article, even if you didn’t see it the first time around. It’s much more difficult with other media.
Glad you like the post so much! It means a lot to me to gather as much information on the YA books on the topic of suicide for my own benefit and that of other people.
God and I Broke Up by Katarina Mazetti and Maria Lundin (great to pair with Hold Still fans)
Stay with Me by Garret Freymann-Weyr
Thanks for the additional selections. Always looking for more books about this topic. Which reminds me – currently reading Delirium by Lauren Oliver, and it too has a similar aspect to it (though not the main focus).
After a suicide in my group of young friends, I had to write something about it, so I did. It came to the page as Sliding on the Edge and dealt with suicide and cutting. Two very troubling topics for me.
Thanks for your comment and for writing something about the topic, C. Lee. Yes, they are both important issues to address, and I’m sure that any book about them will reach an audience that needs it very much.