For most of my younger life i let my dyslexia beat me and never even attempted reading. I was behind in my scheduled reading in school, and once secondary school hit i could get away with my inability to read an actual book cover to cover. I’m not saying this is the right way to do it, but it’s the way i did it.
Everyone has the books that changed their lives. Or at least, book lovers have books that have changed their lives. For many reasons people have important books. Books that you love just because you love them, a book that deeply effected you or a book that simply changed the way you think. I have a few books that have most definitely altered my life in some way. Here are the books that have changed my life.
I read Thirteen Reasons Why not so long ago, and enjoyed the story. The writing was okay and it had a unique twist on a teen suffering with mental health issues, being told from someone else’s point of view. However, recently the Netflix adaptation has been released and watched by millions, spreading this story further.
Title: Thirteen Reasons Why
Author: Jay Asher
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Mental Health
Publication Date: 6th August 2009
Publisher: Penguin
Pages: 286
Summary: Clay Jensen comes home from school to find outside his front door a mysterious box with his name on it. Inside he discovers a series of cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker – his classmate and crush. Only, she committed suicide two weeks earlier. On the first tape, Hannah explains that there are 13 reasons why she did what she did – and Clay is one of them. If he listens, Clay will find out how he got onto the list – what he hears will change his life forever.
Title: This Raging Light
Author: Estelle Laure
Genre: Contemporary, YA, Mental Health
Pages: 311
Publication Date: June 30th 2016
Publisher: Orchard Books
Summary: How is it that you suddenly notice a person? How is it that one day Digby was my best friend’s admittedly cute twin brother, and then the next he stole air, gave jitters, twisted my insides up?
Lucille has bigger problems than falling for her best friend’s unavailable brother. Her mom has gone, leaving her to look after her sister, Wren. With bills mounting up and appearances to keep, Lucille is raging against her life but holding it together – just.
Title: Highly Illogical Behaviour
Author: John Corey Whaley
Genre: YA, Mental Health, Contemporary, LGBTQ+
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Publication Date: 26th may 2016
Pages: 250
Summary: Sixteen year old Solomon has agoraphobia. He hasn’t left his house in three years, which is fine by him. At home, he is the master of his own kingdom–even if his kingdom doesn’t extend outside of the house.
Ambitious Lisa desperately wants to go to a top tier psychiatry program. She’ll do anything to get in.
When Lisa finds out about Solomon’s solitary existence, she comes up with a plan sure to net her a scholarship: befriend Solomon. Treat his condition. And write a paper on her findings. To earn Solomon’s trust, Lisa begins letting him into her life, introducing him to her boyfriend Clark, and telling him her secrets. Soon, Solomon begins to open up and expand his universe. But all three teens have grown uncomfortably close, and when their facades fall down, their friendships threaten to collapse as well.
Earlier this week was Mental Health Awareness Day. Mental health is something that i personally am very passionate about and am not afraid to talk about in the slightest. People need to be much more open about mental health and a little less afraid about what others think about the problems. It’s such a taboo topic in our society, lets be much more open and take mental health seriously! But this got me thinking about is mental health taken seriously in YA novels? I’m going to talk about my opinions in this post.
