(1) YA Thirteen-year-old Pakistani American Mohammad and his father move from Queens to Houston to stay with his aunt and cousin while his research scientist mother works in a refugee camp in Greece. Mo’s father’s paranoid schizophrenia, which causes dramatic mood swings, makes it difficult to hold down a job and live independently, and Mo adopts a tough bad-boy act to protect himself from the pain of abandonment and anger at his parents. His aunt provides much needed warmth, love, and support, and his cousin Rayyan, coping with his own father’s tragic death, serves as a friend at his new school. Mo tries to channel his feelings through engrossing himself in South Asian folktales (interspersed throughout the story), boxing, and art. As he discovers truths about his family, he slowly opens himself up to being more accepting of others. Mo’s brave front in trying to deal with volatile situations makes him a sympathetic protagonist. Secondary characters provide nuanced perspectives on how people cope with trials in their lives. A raw portrayal of the pain, confusion, and hurt of a memorable young teenager.

Reviewer: Sadaf Siddique | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2025

(2) YA Eighteen-year-old Alberto lives with his sister, Lupe, and her baby, Chato, in Brooklyn. While studying for his high-school equivalency, he's working painting houses for Lupe's sketchy boyfriend and expressing himself creatively at the neighborhood ceramics studio. On a job, he meets Grace, whose parents are going through a messy divorce. The two quickly bond and form a friendship, maybe more; but Alberto is troubled by a voice in his head (which he calls "Captain America") that espouses violence. Then a wealthy woman is murdered while Alberto is painting her apartment, and he becomes the only suspect. Grace harbors him, believes in him, and wants to clear his name--but he's not so sure he's innocent. Stork's (Illegal, rev. 7/20) latest propulsive psychological thriller again features a multidimensional cast of primary and secondary characters facing heightened situations (suspension of disbelief recommended). Issues of socioeconomic inequities, immigration, domestic violence, addiction, and antisemitism are well-threaded throughout the narrative; but most memorable and indelible is Alberto's struggle with mental illness: his efforts to stand up to Captain America, his uncertainty, and, by the end, comfort in being "not alone." A closing note describes Stork's own experiences with auditory hallucinations, and Mental Health and Crisis Resources are appended.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2023

(2) YA This heartfelt biography traces Ballets Russes star/choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky's (1890–1950) trajectory from lonesome childhood through his 1909 Paris debut and ensuing mega-stardom to his diagnosis of schizophrenia and institutionalization. Curlee sensitively explores Nijinsky's contradictions, including as a magnetic performer with little social grace and as a sex symbol tormented by his own sexual desires. The beautifully designed volume includes Curlee's striking jewel-toned portraits and archival photographs. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(3) YA After years of barely managing, Addie winds up in a juvenile psychiatric ward for help with her severe OCD. There she meets Fitz, a handsome boy whose diagnosis is schizophrenia and whose cryptic utterances intrigue Addie, an aspiring playwright. Addie's witty voice and her burgeoning friendship with Fitz help offset the novel's sober themes.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(2) YA When the world learns that omnipotent aliens will decide humanity's fate in eight days, chaos erupts, and three teens strive to make their (potentially) final days count. Rishi's debut novel skillfully addresses complex contemporary issues on both the global (environmental damage, war, greed) and personal (identity, mental health) scales. It also tackles prejudice and the ways existential fatalism can inordinately affect marginalized people. The story line is dark but ends on a hopeful note.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2019

(4) YA Overachieving June hears voices; hospitalization begins a journey toward treatment. Her boyfriend, Nick--a good guy stuck in a bad job--is jailed for stealing cars. When Nick heads to the Ozarks to disappear, June follows. This star-crossed love story feels a touch overdramatic but is lifted by empathetic portrayals of mental illness, rural poverty, and the titular pair's deep mutual affection.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(3) 4-6 North Carolina twelve-year-old Della tries everything to cure her mama's schizophrenia, even asking the Bee Lady for her magic honey that supposedly cures all kinds of problems. Della slowly realizes she can't change Mama's illness, but she can change how she feels about it. The subject matter of this story is heartbreaking, but Baldwin leavens the mood with an affectionately rendered setting, strong female characters, and plenty of hope.

Reviewer: Mariko Turk

(2) YA Smart, strong high-school senior Grace tries to hide symptoms of the same schizophrenia that caused her mother to abandon the family. Revelatory motifs help readers discern who and what is real in Grace's world. Told in a cycle of voices corresponding to the seasons and moving among first, second, and third person, this is a harrowing, intricately plotted examination of the toll mental illness can take on a family.

Reviewer: Jennifer Hubert Swan | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2018

(3) YA Through journal entries to his therapist, Adam chronicles his harrowing battle with schizophrenia, which makes his fantasies indistinguishable from reality. A "miracle drug" is life-changing...at first. With a new girlfriend, Adam is desperate to hide his secret, but his illness is more powerful than he is. Highlighting the stigma surrounding mental illness, Adam's poignant (and often humorous) story is powerful and important.

Reviewer: Rebecca Kirshenbaum

(4) YA After participating in a hypnotist's act at the local fair, Hannah is the driver in a fatal car crash and her comfortable life unravels. Is she the target of a master mental-manipulator, or is the schizophrenia that led to her father's death manifesting in Hannah as well? Kelly blends the occult, crime, romance, and high-school politics in this somewhat predictable thriller.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(4) YA Frannie just learned that her estranged, now deceased mother had a mental illness; Louis suffers significant anxiety over his twin being a double amputee. After years of long-distance friendship via an online support group, the pair decides to meet. In alternating chapters, these thoughtful teens detail dual road trips. A flimsy magical-realism element detracts from their pleasant but predictable emotional journeys.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(4) YA High school seniors Tessa and Jack long to control their own lives. Tessa's alcoholic stepfather and her well-intentioned but controlling grandmother keep her from making the choices she wants, such as pursuing her art; prankster and petty criminal Jack struggles to hide his single mother's schizophrenia. A rushed ending mars this character-driven debut about two complex teenagers, each saved by the other's friendship.

Reviewer: Rebecca Fox

(4) YA If their life was a movie, Amelia's popular, handsome older brother, Toby, would be the star. But when Toby starts acting strangely, the siblings' roles shift: Toby becomes proof that real life is not picture-perfect, and Amelia begins taking the lead in her own life. The symbolism is pretty heavy-handed, but Amelia's complicated feelings in the face of her brother's struggle with schizophrenia ring true.

Reviewer: Sian Gaetano

(4) YA When high-school junior Emma learns that her mother's paranoid behavior is symptomatic of (previously stabilized) schizophrenia, Emma struggles to determine the significance of her mother's diagnosis, in terms of both her family's past and her own future. The characters and concerns feel slightly generic, but Emma's reflections effectively highlight the multiplicity of emotional challenges raised by a loved one's mental-health crisis.

Reviewer: Rebecca Fox

(1) YA Seventeen-year-old Calvin, recently diagnosed as schizophrenic, believes that his life is inextricably linked to Bill Watterson, the reclusive artist of comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. On a pilgrimage to find Watterson, Calvin sets off across frozen Lake Erie, and girl-next-door Susie insists on accompanying him. A more accessible, not-as-dark treatment of teenage mental illness than Shusterman's Challenger Deep but just as memorable.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2015

(4) YA Seventeen-year-old Georgia's older brother, Lucky--a world-traveling thrill-seeker--drowns while surfing in Australia. She feels deserted, left to deal with her mental health problems alone. Slowly, she becomes convinced that Lucky's "friend," Fin, who suddenly appears in town, might actually be to blame for her loss. The story drags, but the mystery plot is strong and the schizophrenic narrator is intriguingly unreliable.

Reviewer: Sian Gaetano

(2) YA Fiona ("Fig") is only six years old when her mother is diagnosed with schizophrenia. Following a period of hospitalization, Fig's mother returns changed to the family farm. Sensitive and intelligent, Fig internalizes her mother's struggle, developing self-abusive coping strategies inspired by magical thinking. Schantz's first novel is a measured, bittersweet account of Fig's life from ages six to nineteen.

Reviewer: Amy Pattee | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2015

(1) YA Illustrated by Brendan Shusterman. The surreal fantasies of fifteen-year-old Caden Bosch commingle with more comprehensible accounts of family and school, until his parents have him admitted to a psychiatric ward. The disorientation Shusterman evokes through the first-person narration is an apt, effective way to bring readers into nightmarish anxiety and despair--and out of it. The novel is moving, but it's also funny, with dry, insightful humor.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2015

(3) YA Paranoid schizophrenic Alex starts senior year determined not to let anyone find out about her mental illness. But the growing challenge of differentiating between hallucination and reality makes secrecy impossible. This unusual and involving novel offers no easy fixes, but as Alex experiences friendship, love, and betrayal, it leaves readers with the promise that she can live a happy life.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter

(2) YA In this faux investigative biography, Griffin conjures an edgy artist--Addison Stone--who died tragically at age eighteen. To chronicle her subject's life and probe her suspicious death, Griffin presents material from (fictional) interviews, along with photographs of Addison and reproductions of her artwork. What could feel disjointed instead works to provide an intimate and cohesive portrait of a complex girl.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2014