Mental Health in YA

By the end of this month, I will have shifted gears from novel writing to working on my dissertation, a transition that is both daunting and exciting. As a way of gearing myself up for this, I thought I'd put together a list of recent favorite YA reads that are focused on mental health issues. Because I have a particular interest in bibliotherapy, this makes up a great deal of the YA I read. So much so, that the last time I went to my local indie bookstore, the YA buyer shoved Corey Haydu's OCD LOVE STORY in my hands because she knew I'd dig it.

I love the nuance in these books. These aren't didactic issue books where the characters are defined by their diagnosis. These are complex stories about complex people, who are relatable and empathetic and real. These books remind me how powerful literature can be. Books can offer a sense of relatedness and understanding. They can offer hope, insight, and awareness. They can reduce stigma and provide a means to start the conversations we should all be having about emotional health and mental health treatment.

 

ECHO by Kate Morgenroth (PTSD)

 

LAST NIGHT I SANG TO THE MONSTER by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (addiction, depression, trauma)

 

CRAZY by Amy Reed (bipolar disorder)

 

DR. BIRD'S ADVICE FOR SAD POETS by Evan Roskos (depression, anxiety, abuse)

 

WILD AWAKE by Hilary Smith (bipolar disorder; grief)

 

A TRICK OF THE LIGHT by Lois Metzger (anorexia nervosa)

 

REALITY BOY by A.S. King (anger, impulse control, abuse)

 

What about you? Do you have any mental health focused YA to recommend?

Do I Bleed Red?

copyright material of Warner Bros.

So two weeks ago I went to see Pacific Rim, and surprise of all surprises, I loved it. (This should not actually be a surprise to anyone. At all. Ever.) Things to love about this film:

• Robots
• Giant sea monsters
• Aforementioned robots beating sea monsters to death
• Mako Mori
• Stacker Pentecost
• Mako. Mori.
• Stacker Pentecost.

I could continue the list, but I think we all know where it's going (Mako Mori and Stacker Pentecost). The point is I super duper enjoyed it, and I've been enjoying the art and fanfiction that's cropped up after immensely. 

One of the really interesting things to watch in fandom, though, is a sort of...struggle, I suppose, with the thematics underlying the film and where they come from, and how they inform several of the characters. The movies an incredibly humanistic one, that, as Del Torro says is about 'the world saving the world'. And people have taken that and run with it kind of to the exclusion to a very important part of the film: it's set in the Pacific, based out of Hong Kong and (as Travis Beachem has said) a lot of the philosophy about robots and the approach to fighting the kaiju is Pacific based (specifically Japanese). (Yo man, have you even seen Evangelion or Gundam?)

So there are all these really nice posts going around about how we're all human and we're all in this together and it's not true? And, to me in a lot of ways its symptomatic to our culture's (Western culture, but mostly the USA) approach to what diversity looks like and how we should react to it and that we all bleed red to the exclusion of all else.

As a woman of color, as a Black and Arab woman I can tell you my life experience is different from a White American's, from a Latin@ American's, from a Nigerian American's. The way I approach life is informed by my cultures, the way people approach me is informed by the way I look and the way they think about my culture and upbringing (regardless of how wrong they often are). And to say that you can tell a story about me or someone like me, and make it a 'human story' where my suffering and culture and difference doesn't matter seems, to me, incredibly disingenuous and hurtful. It's erasing a lot of things that make me the person that I am today, a lot  of the things that inform my strength and resilience, my ticks, the things I'm not willing to tolerate and the things I welcome with open arms. My culture certainly isn't the end all be all of me as a person! But it informs a lot of me.

Just like the cultures of the pacific inform the film Pacific Rim (hey, the Jaeger design that relies on two pilots is deeply rooted in the notion of community over the individual which actively works against  the very American lone cowboy hero trope).

And ignoring that and acting like all things are vanilla human is missing a whole lot of really important layers in this person, and in a chunk of narratives (both in writing and consuming them). 

Field Trip Friday: August 9, 2013

THIS WEEK IN WRITING

- s.e. smith looks at the myth of the crazy creative.

- Janice Hardy has a tip for getting to know your character -- and your plot.

- I really like this post from Ally Condie about turning in a draft.

- If you're a 2015 debut author, head over to The Freshman Fifteens!

- "Part of me would like to make an individual book for each and every child I come across, draw careful sweet portraits of all the Trayvons, Sams, Chitras, Sheilas, and Sadias. But I am less interested in that simple mirroring than in making stories that define the kinds of communities in which those children will grow up." Important piece from Christopher Myers at The Horn Book. (And on a related note, our girl Stephanie Kuehn wrote a great post on compassion, blame, and feeling responsible.)

- Apparently a book by Blake Snyder is to blame for every movie following the exact same formula. Nathan Bransford says this isn't an apocalypse for writers -- it's an opportunity.

- Kim Triedman helps you prepare your loved ones before they read the s-e-x scenes in your book.

- Agent Natalie Lakosil suggests the "plot dot test" for revising.

- "No matter how much of your heart and soul you pour into your work, it is not a horcrux." Kathleen Peacock shares three important things she learned in art school.

- SCBWI's 2013 Summer Conference took place last weekend, and you can catch up on all the keynotes, advice, and other goodies on their blog.

- GET READY: WriteOnCon starts Monday!


THIS WEEK IN READING

- Ally Carter points out that if you want YA books to become movies, you have to support those movies when they're released.

- Laurie Halse Anderson is adapting Speak to graphic novel with Emily Carroll of Into the Woods providing illustrations.

- Bookshelves of Doom breaks down your options for book recommendation engines.

- Zoë Marriott looks at the various ways that readers have entitlement issues regarding authors.

- Ron Charles reports on the mini-trend of exploding roses on book covers and how the photographer gets the effect.

- The Hub put together a guide to YA novels with LGBTQ characters (with more suggestions from Malinda Lo in the comments).

- Disability in YA wrapped up last week, and they've created a book list tagged with specific issues, with explanation for inclusion here.

- Guys, NO, this is the OPPOSITE of what you're supposed to do: Florida school offers "real-life" Hunger Games camp.

THIS WEEK IN PUBLISHING

- "Imagine a town where every single building is related to the books business." Welcome to South Korea’s Paju Bookcity.

- Agent Janet Kobobel Grant explains two things an agent isn't.

- The Justice Department "wants Apple to terminate existing book deals and compete on price."

- Ever wonder how a publishing auction works? Rachelle Gardner breaks down the terminology, and Virginia Boecker has a really cute post, complete with gifs, about the recent auction for her book, The Witch Hunter.

- "For the love of godiva," says Janet Reid, "post your email address!" (Also, make sure your name is somewhere easy to find!)

- Catherine Onder is moving from senior editor at Disney-Hyperion to editorial director at Bloomsbury Children's.

- The Washington Post is being purchased by Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive of Amazon.


THIS WEEK IN OTHER STUFF

- "[T]here’s the very real danger that “succeeding” will take up your whole life, while the big questions go untended." George Saunders gives Syracuse grads a memorable graduation speech.

- Twitter is rolling out new rules in response to threats against women.

- Ah, back to school, that time of year when retailers sell t-shirts with infantilizing, sexist comments to girls.

- In the wake of Russia's sweeping anti-gay legislation, George Takei (among others) calls for the Olympics to be moved.

- In youth culture, clothing, and context, Andrew Karre of Carolrhoda Books asks, "Why... are the clothes and sartorial sensibilities of youth culture (especially black youth culture) the only ones pundits are at pains to repeatedly insist still 'mean' exactly what they meant when they began? Why do the rules apply rigidly to them?

- Surprise! The new Dr. Who is a white guy!


THIS WEEK IN THE RANDOM

It's a bear hoedown.




Have a good weekend!

Fall, Reading, and Writing...Best Combo Ever!

FALL IS NEAR! Well, sort of.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about cheap peaches and cherries and squash, but usually by August I'm itching for autumn to come take over with a vengeance. There's a million reasons why, pretty well represented between Pinterest and Tumblr (apparently we are creatures of shared obsessions--) changing leaves! Cider! Scarves! Candles! Halloween! Caramel apples! Halloween! Harvest moons! Halloween!

I also feel like fall pairs pretty darn well with both writing and reading. With any season change comes a new wave of inspiration for writers and readers everywhere, and I can't help but get the warm and fuzzies whenever I see all the extra attention that is drawn to horror fiction when Halloween is near. In YA especially, it's like all these awesome stories show up out of the woodwork and there's new spookies to discover. People suddenly dig ghosts, and monsters, and super stereotyped witches, and clamor for them in their reading lists. There will always be the bitter few who scoff at the increase of interest, somewhere along the line of but we're true fans all year around! but personally I have a hard time feeling down about horror getting a little love from wherever it can.

When I was a kid, reading the tales from books like Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark seemed a whole lot spookier when there was just a slight chill to the air, and the darkness of night came just a little bit earlier. We also got book catalogs at my elementary school in the fall, and I remember marveling at the sparkling covers for the new choose-your-own-adventure Goosebumps books (Trapped in Bat Wing Hall, anybody!?) And on the type of fall day where staying inside is a must, libraries couldn't look more inviting and lovely.

I often wonder if other writers feel especially inspired with their craft during autumn like I do, if the crisp air and crunching leaves and tendency to eat more stews work like magic on anyone else. Siiiigh.

You're alright August, but I'm ready for you to get on along now...

photo credit: ul_Marga via photopin cc

Road Trip Wednesday #192: What Animal Would You Be?

Source.

Welcome to our 192nd Road Trip Wednesday!

 Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic. We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link - or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments.

This Week's Topic: If you could be any kind of animal, what would it be?
Road Trip Song of the Week: "The Animal" by Disturbed
  Next week’s topic: Summer is winding down, but it's not over just yet! What's your favorite beach read?

Debra Driza Does the Worm

MILA 2.0 author & YA Highwayer Debra Driza does the worm at SCBWI's Los Angeles conference -- frontward AND backward.

Now that's talent. 

Coming soon to another conference near you.

August BOOKMOBILE Book of the Month: CHARM & STRANGE by Stephanie Kuehn!

We always love it when a featured Bookmobile author gets to be one of our own and this month we're head over heels for this novel and its gripping plot, strong characters, and rip your heart out ending. Read with us:

CHARM & STRANGE by Stephanie Kuehn! 

To participate, buy a copy or borrow a copy of the book from the library/a friend/etc, then return on Monday, August 26th at 6pm PST/9pm EST for a live chat with Steph about CHARM & STRANGE here on YA Highway. Happy Reading!

CHARM & STRANGE
When you’ve been kept caged in the dark, it’s impossible to see the forest for the trees. It’s

impossible to see anything, really. Not without bars . . .

Andrew Winston Winters is at war with himself.

He’s part Win, the lonely teenager exiled to a remote Vermont boarding school in the wake of a family tragedy. The guy who shuts all his classmates out, no matter the cost.

He’s part Drew, the angry young boy with violent impulses that control him. The boy who spent a fateful, long-ago summer with his brother and teenage cousins, only to endure a secret so monstrous it led three children to do the unthinkable.

Over the course of one night, while stuck at a party deep in the New England woods, Andrew battles both the pain of his past and the isolation of his present.

Before the sun rises, he’ll either surrender his sanity to the wild darkness inside his mind or make peace with the most elemental of truths—that choosing to live can mean so much more than not dying.