Mental Health Awareness - Tweens

Created on April 27, 2022, 10:37 am

Last Updated April 17, 2025, 11:30 am

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and May 5-11, 2024 is Children's Mental Health Awareness Week. Mental Health Awareness Month was established in 1949 to increase awareness of the vital importance of mental health and wellness in Americans’ lives and their overall health and well-being and to celebrate recovery from mental illness. It is also a time be aware of resources and information to support individuals and communities who may need mental health support. For more information, see www.samhsa.gov/mental-health-awareness-month, www.nimh.nih.gov, www.nami.org/get-involved/awareness-events/mental-health-awareness-month, www.thenationalcouncil.org/mental-health-awareness-month, and www.mhanational.org/mental-health-month.

1) Octopus moon

Author

Description

Pearl loves watching the majestic loggerhead turtles and octopuses glide through the water at the aquarium. Pearl finds it especially easy to identify with the octopuses, who have millions of touch receptors all over their bodies. They feel everything. Sometimes, Pearl wishes she was more like a turtle, with a hard outer shell—it hurts too much to feel everything. And the changes at the start of fifth grade don’t feel good to Pearl at all. New...

2) Once for yes

Author

Millington, Allie

Description

Told in alternating voices, this is the story of the Odenburgh, a semi-sentient apartment building that helps grieving eleven-year-old Prue and her neighbor Lewis unite the other tenants to save itself from demolition.

3) All the blues in the sky

Author

Description

When thirteen-year-old Sage's best friend dies, Sage struggles with grief and feels that she is at fault, but when she joins a grief group, she slowly learns to heal.

4) The anxious exile of Sara Salt

Author

Prendergast, Gabrielle

Formats:

Description

"Sara's little brother is born premature. He looks small and red, like a baby bird, so she calls him Birdy. Because she can't visit him often, she writes him letters about everything that's happened since he's been born-like how her mom and stepdad are sending her to Toronto to stay with her half-sister, Abby. And how Abby lives in this amazing storage container house on a vacant lot and hopes to build a whole community of them for unhoused people....

5) The trouble with Sunshine

Author

Méndez, Yamile Saied

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

"Doran's mom, Isa, taught her to be bold and challenge the rules if they don't seem fair. People are more important than rules. But she never taught Dorani how to do it all without her. So, when Isa dies on the way to speak with the principal about Dori's latest revolution, Dori loses her voice. Her grief and guilt become the loudest parts of her. Moving from vibrant Miami to quiet, middle-of-nowhere Wyoming with her aunt feels like the punishment...

6) The strongest heart

Author

Description

"Mo is used to his father's fits of rage. When Abbu's moods shake the house, Mo is safe inside his head, with his cherished folktales. The best way to respond is not to engage. Apparently, his mama knows that too--which is why she took a job on the other side of the world, leaving Mo alone with Abbu. With Mama gone, the two move to Texas to live with Mo's aunt and cousin Rayyan. The two boys could not be more different. Rayyan is achievement-driven...

7) Werewolf Hamlet

Author

Formats:

Description

For his magnet school legacy project, fifth-grader Angus is planning to stage a play he is writing titled "Werewolf Hamlet"--which is inspired by his seventeen-year-old brother whose behavior has changed radically.

8) Brianna Banana, helper of the day

Author

Series

Description

"In this illustrated early chapter book, Brianna is convinced she will finally make a friend in her class if she is chosen to be classroom helper, but the new girl, Rumi, is picked instead."-- Provided by publisher.

9) speechless

This entry no longer exists in the catalog

10) The wrong way home

Author

O'Shaughnessy, Kate

Formats:

Book, Playaway, eBook, Kindle, eAudiobook

Description

"When twelve-year-old Fern and her mother abruptly leave their isolated, off-the-grid community, Fern wants nothing more than to return, but things get murky as she slowly adjusts to her new life and discovers unsettling truths about her old one"-- Provided by publisher.

11) Gut reaction

Author

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

Tess Medina is dealing with the loss of her beloved father, a new school, and the troubling fact that the thing she enjoys most in life, baking, seems to be making her increasingly ill--something she is trying to hide from everybody.

Author

Description

Twelve-year-old Tully's attempt to swim across Lake Tahoe after a heartbreaking loss and become the youngest person to complete the famous "Godfather" swim takes a dangerous turn, forcing her to choose between safety and a win that could change everything. Told in verse format.

13) Wishing season

Author

Rissi, Anica Mrose

Formats:

Book, Playaway, eBook, eAudiobook

Description

"A moving middle grade story by Anica Mrose Rissi that will appeal to readers who loved The Thing about Jellyfish and Hello, Universe, about the enduring bond between twins: Anders, who has recently died, and Lily, who has to balance her grief and confusion with a brother who isn't quite gone--and how to navigate a world that is moving forward without him."-- Provided by publisher.

14) Where the water takes us

Author

Barillaro, Alan

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

"Eleven-year-old Ava's mom is about to have twins, and the pregnancy isn't going well. All Ava wants to do is stay by her mother's side, but instead, she is sent away to stay with her grandparents. Normally, spending time at the lake with Nonna and Nonno is wonderful. But everything is different now. While her mom's hospital visits are getting serious back home, Ava grapples with anxiety. As summer storms rock the island, electricity goes out at the...

15) The order of things

Author

Description

Eleven-year-old April must come to terms with the sudden death of her best friend, Zee.

Author

Formats:

Book, Playaway, eBook, Kindle, eAudiobook

Description

"Twelve-year-olds Reef and Theo have a mutual problem: their memories are getting mixed up, and that means that Reef is losing his memory of his mother, recently dead of COVID, which terrifies him--but for Theo his new memories are helping him deal with his domineering father"-- Provided by publisher.

17) Missing you

Author

Willian, Phellip

Description

"Following the loss of their mother, Thomas and Lara find an injured deer on the side of the road. Deciding to bring it home with them, they name the deer Lion and quickly become best friends. The new woodland creature soon fills their hearts with warmth and fun, easing their mourning. But when Lion grows more and more curious about the forest beyond their house, Thomas and Lara start to wonder if the forest is where Lion truly belongs. Will they...

Author

Description

Amie has spent her life perfectly in tune with Ba-ba, her fathershe plays the violin, his favorite instrument; she loves all his favorite foods, even if he cant eat them during his cancer treatments; and they talk about books, including Amies favorite series, Harry Potter. But after Ba-ba dies, Amie feels distanced from everyone close to her, like her mother and her best friends, Rio and Bella. More devastating still, she loses her ability to play...

19) Can't live without you

Author

Series

Dory Fantasmagory volume 6

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

Dory's separation anxiety from her mother turns into a ghostly, goofy escapade.

20) Spotlight striker

Author

Series

Sports Illustrated Kids Graphic Novels

Formats:

Graphic Novels & Manga, eComic

Description

Carlos Ramirez has always been the Strikers' best scorer. But the state's best team is coming to town, and Carlos hears that he'll have a very special fan in the stands. His uncle, a professional soccer player, will be watching his nephew's every move during the Strikers' biggest game of the year. As the pressure begins to set in, Carlos struggles to even hit the ball. Everyone has seen that Carlos is a gifted athlete, but noone knows whether he'll...