The following are about mental illness. Many of them are about a character who is dealing with a family member that has a mental illness. Please pick one of the following to read!
Challenging read:
Psychology article titled: Facial emotion recognition in patients with bipolar I and bipolar II disorder.
This is a published article from the British Psychological Society It is called Facial emotion recognition in patients with bipolar I and bipolar II disorder. It is about a study that psychologists did to learn about how people with bipolar disorder recognize facial expression. It is a challenging read but is the kid of study we read about in our text book. It is a scientific piece that is nonfiction and introduces you to reading about Psychology studies! This is challenging so see me if you want to read it and we will go over the important points in the text!:)
Derntl, B. (2009). Facial emotion recognition in patients with bipolar i and bipolar ii disorder. The British Psychological Society, 48, 363-375.*
Reading Level 18.92
Interest level- 12+
Average Reads:
Snake pits, talking cures & magic bullets : a history of mental illness
This book is a book of non-fiction. It includes many facts and fun stories. It addresses stereotypes we as a culture have about mental illnesses and where these stereotypes originated. It also has a history of treatments used "back in the day". Although this book is nonfiction it is a fun and interesting read.
Kent, Deborah. (2003). Snake pits, talking cures & magic bullets : a history of mental illness. Brookfield, CT: Millbrook Press.
Reading Level: 9.7
Interest Level: 7-12
Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath by S. Hemphill
This is an interesting book. It is written as a compilation of poems about Sylvia Plath's life by a different author. Plath had a history of mental illness and eventually committed suicide. This book take you through the downward cycle of her depression in an interesting way- poetry. It is a different way to write about depression but very interesting.
Hemphill, S. (2007). Your own, sylvia: a verse portrait of sylvia plath. New York, NY: Knopf Books for Young Readers.
Reading Level: 6.4
Interest Level: 7-12
Heck, Superhero
This book is about a young boy whose mother has a mental illness. She goes into a manic state and they lose their apartment. Heck must survive on his own while dealing with his own fantasies and still keeping his mother safe. This is a good example of how mental illness can affect everyone in a family not just the one with the illness.
Leavitt, M. (2004). Heck, superhero. Honesdale, Pennsylvania: Front Street Inc.
Reading Level: 4.2
Interest Level: 5-9
Stop Pretending: What Happened When my Big Sister went Crazy
I really enjoyed this book. It is about a girl whose big sister "goes crazy". The book is written as a series of poems that tells the story of how this girls family copes with her sisters illness and also talks about mental institutions.
Sones, S. (1999). Stop pretending: what happened when my big sister went crazy. New York, NY: HarperTeen.
Reading Level: 4.8
Interest Level: 7-12
*all sources are cited using APA
