Read Your Mind: Mental Health in Teen Books

Read Your Mind: Exploring Mental Health in Teen Books

Read Your Mind is a monthly, virtual series focusing on teen mental health & wellness. Featuring YA authors and community health experts, we hope to explore complex and common health concerns through the vehicle of Teen books. 

All Read Your Mind sessions:

• will take place live on Zoom, the last Wednesday of the month @ 12 PM;
• focus on a particular and unique youth mental health topic;
• feature authors of fiction and nonfiction books for teens;
• feature a community support partner with expertise in the mental health topics covered in each book;
• will leave time for anonymous audience Q&A;
• are intended for teenagers and adults who work with teens;
• will be recorded and made available for future viewing.

The Read Your Mind series is over for the 2020-2021 school year. Check back over the summer for more information about new events next fall! The recordings of all of this year’s Read Your Mind events can be viewed on our YouTube page.

You can purchase copies of our featured Read Your Mind titles from our local partners at Print: A Bookstore.

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Content warning: Topics discussed in this series include anxiety, depression, suicide, self harm, disordered eating, hospitalization, and other sensitive mental health topics. Support resources will be provided at the beginning and end of each session, and on the PPL and LPL websites. If you are in need of immediate support, call the Maine Crisis Hotline at 1-888-568-1112 or text NAMI Maine’s Teen Support Line at (207) 515 – 8398.

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Previous Events:

• Wednesday, November 25th: The Stepping Off Place by Cameron Kelly Rosenblum

  November’s featured book was The Stepping Off Place by Maine author Cameron Rosenblum. Cameron was interviewed by fellow Maine YA author Gillian French. Community guests were The Center for Grieving Children and The Yellow Tulip Project.

  About the Book: from debut author Cameron Kelly Rosenblum comes a stunning teen novel that tackles love, grief, and mental health as one girl must process her friend’s death and ultimately learn how to stand in her own light. Perfect for fans of All the Bright Places and We Were Liars.

  You can watch the recorded broadcast on our Youtube page.

• Wednesday, January 27th: You Are Enough by Jen Petro-Roy

  January’s featured book was You Are Enough: Your Guide to Body Image and Eating Disorder Recovery by Jen Petro-Roy. Jen was interviewed by fellow YA author Kim Savage. Our community guest was nutritionist Amy Taylor-Grimm.
  
  About the Book: This nonfiction self-help book for young readers with disordered eating and body image problems delivers real talk about eating disorders and body image, tools and information for recovery, and suggestions for dealing with the media messages that contribute so much to disordered eating.

  You can watch the recorded broadcast on our YouTube page.

• Wednesday, February 24th: Adib Khorram, Mark Oshiro, & Julian Winters

  In February we hosted authors Adib Khorram, Mark Oshiro & Julian Winters to discuss how the intersection of masculinity, queerness, and racial and cultural identity impact teen mental health. Our community guest was Maine Boys to Men.

  About the Authors: Visit the Portland Public Library website for more information about these authors and their books.

  You can watch the recorded broadcast on our YouTube page.

• Wednesday, March 31st: The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake
  

  In March we hosted author Julia Drake in discussion with Lewiston Youth Advisory Council chair Hope Rubito to talk about self-harm behaviors, the influence of guilt and loss, and honest portrayals of hospitalization experiences. Our community partner for this is event was NAMI Maine.

  About the Book: Inspired loosely by Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, teenaged Violet is shipped off to Maine after her brother’s hospitalization, where she searches for the lost shipwreck that her great-great grandmother survived and for answers about her family’s long struggle with mental illness, all while falling in love.

  You can watch the recorded broadcast on our YouTube page.

• Wednesday, April 28th: Lisa Allen-Agostini & I.W. Gregorio

  In April we hosted authors Lisa Allen-Agostini & I.W. Gregorio to discuss how racism & differing cultural perceptions of mental health affect teens and young adults. Our community partner for this event was Gateway Community Services and the authors were interviewed by local Lewiston youth ZamZam Elmoge of the GenZ Project.

  About the authors: Visit the Portland Public Library website for more information about these authors and their books.

  You can watch the recorded broadcast on our YouTube page.

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The Read Your Mind series is brought to you by a partnership between the Portland Public Teen Library, the Lewiston Public Teen Library, Print: A Bookstore, and many local community partners who work with young people. Visit Print Bookstore if you would like to purchase any of the books featured in this series.

Questions about this series can be sent to hchance@lewistonmaine.gov.