1 in 5 people under the age of 18 suffers from mental illness. Mental illnesses
are disorders of
brain
function and are caused and result from a combination of genetics and
environment (TeenMentalHealth.org).
Through science and research, doctors are learning more about the human brain
and how it works. In
April of 2013, President Obama proposed a collaborative research initiative
called The BRAIN
Initiative (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies,
also referred to as
the
Brain Activity Map Project). The goal is to map the activity of every neuron in
the human brain.
The
cost for this proposal is more than $300 million per year for ten years (The BRAIN
Initiative). What these
scientists learn will lead to a greater understanding of mental illness and
their treatment, but
first
we as a society must start to see mental illness differently.
People with mental illnesses often don't seek treatment or help because if they
admit to having a
mental illness people will judge them and consciously or unconsciously treat
them differently.
They are
called crazy, weird, and strange, but mental illness isn't a choice. We must
stop stigmatizing
mental
illness and the treatment for mental illnesses if we want to create a real and
lasting change for
anyone with mental illness, whether it is ourselves, someone we love, or a
classmate.
Creating an open conversation about mental illness and how it affects everyday
activities,
decisions,
and emotions is a step in the right direction. That's why this week's picks are
stories that show
the
human face of mental illness and the impact it has on their life.
"Filled with moments of deep emotion and
unexpected humor, this
understated and wise novel explores the complexities of living with OCD and
offers the prospect of
hope, happiness and healing. Perfect for readers who love ELEANOR & PARK and ALL
THE BRIGHT
PLACES."
The instant Adam Spencer Ross meets Robyn Plummer in his Young Adult OCD Support
Group, he is
hopelessly, desperately drawn to her. Robyn has an hypnotic voice, blue eyes the
shade of an angry
sky,
and ravishing beauty that makes Adam’s insides ache. She’s also just been
released from a
residential
psychiatric program—the kind for the worst, most difficult-to-cure cases; the
kind that Adam and
his
fellow support group members will do anything to avoid joining.
Adam immediately knows that he has to save Robyn, must save Robyn, or die
trying. But is it really
Robyn who needs rescuing? And is it possible to have a normal relationship when
your life is
anything
but?
“Achingly authentic.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred
“Toten does a masterful job of bringing Adam to life. . . . Like Augustus Waters
before him, Adam
Spencer Ross will renew your faith in real-life superheroes and shatter your
heart in equal
measures.”
—Kirkus Reviews, Starred
“This book made me laugh, cry, think, and kept me coming back for more.” —The
Guardian
“Adam is a protagonist that readers will root for.” —VOYA
“Honest, fresh, and funny . . . Toten employs information about OCD like grace
notes in this deft
and
compelling narrative.” —Booklist
“Adam is a fresh and complex character, and far more than the sum of his
symptoms.” —Publishers
Weekly
Winner of the 2013 Governor General's Literary Award for Children's Text
"I am a collection of oddities, a circus of
neurons and
electrons:
my heart is the ringmaster, my soul is the trapeze artist, and the world is my
audience. It sounds
strange because it is, and it is, because I am strange."
About:
After the sudden collapse of her family, Mim Malone is dragged from her home in
northern Ohio to
the
“wastelands” of Mississippi, where she lives in a medicated milieu with her dad
and new stepmom.
Before
the dust has a chance to settle, she learns her mother is sick back in
Cleveland.
So she ditches her new life and hops aboard a northbound Greyhound bus to her
real home and her
real
mother, meeting a quirky cast of fellow travelers along the way. But when her
thousand-mile
journey
takes a few turns she could never see coming, Mim must confront her own demons,
redefining her
notions
of love, loyalty, and what it means to be sane.
Told in an unforgettable, kaleidoscopic voice, MOSQUITOLAND is a modern American
odyssey, as
hilarious
as it is heartbreaking.
“Ori’s dead because of what happened out
behind the theater, in
the
tunnel made out of trees. She’s dead because she got sent to that place upstate,
locked up with
those
monsters. And she got sent there because of me.”
About:
On the outside, there’s Violet, an eighteen-year-old dancer days away
from the life of her
dreams when something threatens to expose the shocking truth of her
achievement.
On the inside, within the walls of the Aurora Hills juvenile detention
center, there’s
Amber,
locked up for so long she can’t imagine freedom.
Tying their two worlds together is Orianna, who holds the key to
unlocking all the girls’
darkest mysteries . . .
What really happened on the night Orianna stepped between Violet and her
tormentors? What really
happened on two strange nights at Aurora Hills? Will Amber and Violet and
Orianna ever get the
justice
they deserve—in this life or in another one?
In prose that sings from line to line,Nova Ren Suma tells a supernatural tale of
guilt and of
innocence, and of what happens when one is mistaken for the other.
“A suspenseful tour de force, a ghost story of the best sort, the kind that
creeps into your soul
and
haunts you.” —Libba Bray, author of The Diviners and A Great and
Terrible Beauty