Mental Health Month

Recommended Books on Compassion, Acceptance, Kindness, and Empathy (C.A.K.E.)

CHILDREN

Nonfiction

J 170 Lat. Latham, Irene. Dictionary for a Better World : Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z. Organized as a dictionary, entries in this book for middle-grade readers present words related to creating a better, more inclusive world.

J 362.5 Pet. Peterson, Lois. Shelter: Homelessness in Our Community. As a former homeless-shelter worker, author Lois Peterson encourages young people to approach the issue with knowledge and compassion.

Picture Books

J PICTURE Bui. Buitrago, Jairo. Ways to Make Friends. What’s the best way to make friends? Toad has the most magnificent ideas! Sometimes they don’t go according to plan… but that’s okay.

J PICTURE Cor. Corchin, D.J. I Feel… Sometimes I feel happy. Sometimes I feel sad. Kids experience countless emotions every day but often don’t know how to recognize, express, or deal with them.

J PICTURE Den. Denos, Julia. Here and Now. Illustrations and easy-to-read text celebrate mindfulness and the connectedness of everything on Earth.

J Picture Duf. Dufayet, Danielle. Fantastic You. Teaches the reader how to develop and nurture a loving relationship with oneself by engaging in such behaviors as self-talk and self-compassion throughout the day.

J PICTURE Fei. Feinberg, Heather Hawk. Crying is Like the Rain : A Story of Mindfulness and Feelings. Illustrations and easy-to-read text celebrate mindfulness and the connectedness of everything on Earth.

J PICTURE Fer. Ferry, Beth. Stick and Stone. Stick and Stone are both lonely until Pinecone’s teasing causes one to stick up for the other, and a solid friendship is formed.

J PICTURE Gra. Gravel, Elise. Puppy in My Head: A Book About Mindfulness. Presents a step-by-step guide to help calm kids down in plain language and with a rare sense of understanding and compassion.

J PICTURE Hal. Hall, Michael. Red: A Crayon’s Story. A blue crayon is mistakenly labeled red. He can’t do what everyone expects of him (and other crayons give him all kinds of advice about how to be a better red) until one day he meets a purple crayon who sees his true color. Then he soars.

J PICTURE Joh. John, Jory. The Sour Grape. Holding a bunch of grudges, Sour Grape finds the tables turned when a friend holds a grudge against him, making him realize how unfair grudges can be–and how much sweeter life can be with a little compassion and gratitude.

J PICTURE Joh. Johnson, Chelsea. Love Without Bounds. By sociologists who are women of color, this is a joyful, heartwarming celebration of family in all its forms: multicultural families; LGBTQ+ families; adoptive and foster care families; single-parent and blended families; transnational families; families impacted by incarceration, detention, and deportation; chosen families; military families; and more.

J PICTURE Kat. Katzenberger, Lisa. It Will Be OK: A Story of Empathy, Kindness and Friendship. Giraffe and Zebra meet every day under their favorite tree to walk to the watering hole. But today, Giraffe isn’t there! Where could he be? Zebra spots him hiding in the tree; Giraffe has seen a spider and is scared silly. Zebra patiently talks to Giraffe and does the very best thing: supports Giraffe for as long as Giraffe needs it.

J PICTURE Kol. Kolanovic, Dubravka. Kindness is Magic. When Wolf loses his patience teaching Little Owl after a couple of failed attempts at flying, he realizes that all his little friend needs to succeed is kindness.

J PICTURE Meg. Meghan. The Bench. Evoking a deep sense of warmth, connection, and compassion, The Bench gives readers a window into shared and enduring moments between a diverse group of fathers and sons–moments of peace and reflection, trust and belief, discovery and learning, and lasting comfort.

J PICTURE Mut. Muth, Jon J. Zen Socks. Stillwater the giant panda and his friends Leo and Molly
teach each other about patience, sharing, and compassion.

J PICTURE Per. Perdomo, Juliana. Sometimes All I Need is Me. A young girl finds comfort and confidence within as she makes the best of any situation, in a text that highlights the themes of resilience, mindfulness, and self-care.

J PICTURE Rob. Robinson, Christian. You Matter. Illustrations and easy-to-read text remind the reader that no matter what happens or how one feels, he or she matters.

J PICTURE Tod. Parr, Todd. Be Who You Are. Encouraging kids to be proud of what makes them unique, where they come from, and how they express themselves and see the world.

J PICTURE Tod. Parr, Todd. It’s Okay to Make Mistakes. Presents a series of situations in which taking chances and trying new things can lead to good results, even if there were mistakes along the way.

J PICTURE Und. Underwood, Deborah. Loving Kindness. With simple, poignant text, this colorful picture book encourages readers to practice spreading loving-kindness and opening their hearts to the world.

J PICTURE Ver. Verde, Susan. I Am Love: A Book of Compassion. Explores many aspects of love that can help one weather any storm, including that love is comfort, effort, connection, and taking care of oneself.

J PICTURE Ver. Verde, Susan. I Am Human: A Book of Empathy. A child recognizes his own humanity, his capacity for doing harm and being harmed, his ability to feel joy and sadness, and his belief in hope and promise to keep learning.

J PICTURE Woo. Woodson, Jacqueline. Each Kindness. A girl named Chloe learns about the importance of kindness and empathy when she misses her chance to be kind to a new student.

Beginning Readers

JE Cap. Capozzi, Suzy. I Am Kind. Follows a little girl who sees kindness all around her. The little girl realizes that she, too, has the power to be kind, and that even small actions can have a big impact.

JE Gal. Gallo, Tina. Come sit with me : making friends on the buddy bench. When someone is feeling sad or lonely, it’s up to all of us to help him or her feel better! In this story, a group of kids is creating a buddy bench for the playground. But they can’t decide how to paint it.

Chapter Books (Elementary)

J FICTION Bau. Baughman, Sarah R. The Wild Path. Twelve-year-old Claire struggles to cope while her eighteen-year-old brother, Andy, is treated for drug addiction and her family prepares to sell her beloved horses, but finally accepts that change can be good.

J FICTION Boo. Booth, Coe. Kinda Like Brothers. When his mother takes in a twelve-year-old foster boy, Jarrett is forced to share his room and his friends with the new boy.

J FICTION Car. Carter, Caela. Fifty-four Things Wrong with Gwendolyn Rogers. A chronically frustrated eleven-year-old girl named Gwendolyn Rogers comes to realize she has an undiagnosed mental health issue and tries every way possible to get control of her emotions.

J FICTION Gre. Greenwald, Lisa. Dear Friends. Eleni is the kind of person who’s always had a BFF–an automatic, guaranteed by-her-side person–at home, at school, and at camp. And since before she was even born, her very best friend has been Sylvie Bank. But when Sylvie’s end-of-summer birthday party becomes the end of their friendship, Eleni can’t picture starting middle school without her BFF by her side.

J FICTION Gri. Grimes, Nikki. Garvey’s Choice. Preferring science and reading to the sports his father wants him to play, Garvey comforts himself with food and endures bullying before joining the school chorus, where he learns how to accept himself and bond with his father.

J FICTION Gue. Guerrero, Tanya. How to Make Friends with the Sea. Twelve-year-old Pablo is homesick Now they are residing in the Philippines, and his mother is charged to care for an orphaned child, Chiqui, who has an unrepaired cleft lip. As he and his mother adjust to having Chiqui in their lives, Pablo must face his ever-increasing anxiety. But as it turns out, in his efforts to help Chiqui, he learns a thing or two from her as well, even finding the courage to confront his lifelong and deep-seated fear of the sea.

J FICTION Hal Halpern, Sue. Introducing…Sasha Abramowitz. When eleven-year-old Sasha tries to ignore the fact that her brother has Tourette’s Syndrome, it takes a classmate to help her understand and accept the situation.

J FICTION Hen Hennessey, M. G. The Other Boy. Hiding his transgender identity behind a veneer of an everyday student who loves baseball and working on his graphic novel, Shane is threatened with exposure by a classmate and begins a painful journey toward acceptance and empathy.

J FICTION Kad Kadohata. Cynthia. Half a World Away. Twelve-year-old Jaden, an emotionally damaged adopted boy fascinated by electricity, feels a connection to a small, weak toddler with special needs in Kazakhstan, where Jaden’s family is trying to adopt a “normal” baby.

J FICTION Lan Landis, Matthew. It’s the End of the World as I Know It. In this book, which addresses the topic of grief, Derrick is building a doomsday shelter to prepare for the apocalypse when he makes friends with Misty, the girl next door.

J FICTION Lea Leal, Ann Haywood. Also Known as Harper. Writing poetry helps fifth-grader Harper Lee Morgan cope with her father’s absence, being evicted, and having to skip school to care for her brother while their mother works, and things look even brighter after she befriends a mute girl and a kindly disabled woman.

J FICTION Leg Legrand, Claire. Some Kind of Happiness. Finley Hart is sent to her grandparents’ house for the summer, but her anxiety and overwhelmingly sad days continue until she escapes into her writings, which soon turn mysteriously real and she realizes she must save this magical world in order to save herself.

J FICTION Lup Lupica, Mike. Fast Break. Since his mother’s death, Jayson, twelve, has focused on basketball and surviving but he is found out and placed with an affluent foster family of a different race, and must learn to accept many changes, including facing his former teammates in a championship game.

J FICTION Mba Mbalia, Kwame. Black Boy Joy. Seventeen stories celebrating black boyhood.

J FICTION McF McFarlane, Susannah. Bold Tales of Brave-Hearted Boys. Reimagines four classic fairy tales with a twist to value kindness and honesty as much as strength and valor.

J FICTION Osb Osborne, Mary Pope. Magic Tree House #39: Dark Day in the Deep Sea. When eight-year-old Jack and his seven-year-old sister, Annie, join a group of nineteenth-century explorers aboard the H.M.S. Challenger, they learn about the ocean, solve the mystery of its fabled sea monster, and gain compassion for their fellow creatures.

J FICTION Osh O’Shaughnessy, Kate. The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane. Maybelle Lane is looking for her father, but on the road to Nashville she finds so much more: courage, brains, heart–and true friends.

J FICTION Pan. Panitch, Amanda. It’s My Party and I Don’t Want to Go. A funny and honest portrayal of living with social anxiety, this timely novel explores the universal themes of growing up and finding your voice, set in a fast-paced comedy.

J FICTION Pau Paulsen, Gary. Family Ties : The Theory, Practice, and Destructive Properties of Relatives. I’m the greatest family member you’ll ever meet.’ Kevin Spencer has a history of big ideas going completely awry. This time around, it’s personal–suddenly he’s kind of in charge of a double wedding in his backyard, and a whole tribe of wacky relatives is crowding him out of his own house

J FICTION Pio. Piontek, Victoria. Better with Butter. Afraid of absolutely everything, 12-year-old Marvel momentarily forgets her anxiety when she rescues a fainting goat named Butter and must fight for her new friend when she is told she might have to give Butter up forever.

J FICTION Pal Palacio, R. J. Wonder. Ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities and was not expected to survive, goes from being home-schooled to entering fifth grade at a private middle school in Manhattan, which entails enduring the taunting and fear of his classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another student.

J FICTION Ram Ramee, Lisa. A Good Kind of Trouble. After attending a powerful protest, Shayla starts wearing an armband to school to support the Black Lives Matter movement, but when the school gives her an ultimatum, she is forced to choose between her education and her identity.

J FICTION Rut Rutter, Helen. The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh. Billy Plimpton wants to be a famous comedian when he grows up but his stutter is getting in the way, and right now he is so worried about being made fun of by the kids in his new school that he plans on not talking at all, but the plan backfires because his persistent silence only draws attention of the school bully–and Billy realizes that he needs another plan, one that does not depend on him speaking without a stutter.

J FICTION Sha Shang, Wendy Wan Long. The Way Home Looks Now. In 1972, after his older brother is killed in a car crash, Peter Lee’s mother is paralyzed by grief and his traditional Chinese father seems emotionally frozen–but Peter hopes that if he joins a Little League team in Pittsburgh he can reawaken the passion for baseball that all the members of his family used to share and bring them back to life.

J FICTION Shi Shimko, Bonnie. The Private Thoughts of Amelia E. Rye. Growing up in a small town in upstate New York during the 1960s, a young girl, unwanted by her mother, searches for love and acceptance.

J FICTION Smi Smith, Tamara Ellis. Another Kind of Hurricane. The world, itself, seems to bring together Henry, whose best friend died near their home in the mountains of Vermont, and Zavion, who lost his home in Hurricane Katrina, so that the boys can help each other heal.

J FICTION Spi Spinelli, Jerry. Loser. Even though his classmates from first grade on have considered him strange and a loser, Donald Zinkoff’s optimism and exuberance and the support of his loving family do not allow him to feel that way about himself.

J FICTION Ste Steveson, Nanci Turner. Lizzie Flying Solo. A lyrical, poignant middle grade novel about embracing change, accepting help from others, and finding a place to call home. Perfect for fans of Raymie Nightingale. Lizzie St. Claire wants to be invisible. Forced to move out of her home, she and her mom now live in a transitional housing shelter, Good Hope, until they can get back on their feet. Lizzie just wants to keep her head down at Good Hope and her new school, so she doesn’t have to admit the real reason she and her mom lost everything. But when Lizzie finds herself at the nearby Birchwood Stables, some new friends–along with the arrival of a frightened pony named Fire–help Lizzie to open up and accept help from those around her, even if it means she’ll have more to lose if things change again.

J FICTION Swa Swallow, Jerry. Blue In the Face: A Story of Risk, Rhyme, and Rebellion. When ill-mannered, eleven-year-old Elspeth Pule awakens in a strange forest where nursery rhyme character dwell, she must both learn compassion and teach the merits of a good temper tantrum in order to return home.

J FICTION Swa Swartz, Elly. Dear Student. A girl with social anxiety becomes the secret voice of the advice column in her middle school newspaper.

J FICTION Swa Swartz, Elly D. Finding Perfect. With some help from her siblings and friends, Molly is able to face her OCD and be strong enough to get help for it.

J FICTION Tho Thompson, Lisa. The Goldfish Boy. Emotionally hindered by his obsessive-compulsive disorder, teenager Matthew Corbin rarely leaves his room on a cul-de-sac in London, and he passes the day observing and writing down his neighbors’ doings from his window–but when a toddler staying next door disappears Matt is the key to solving a mystery and possibly saving a child’s life…if he can manage to expose himself, and his secret guilt to the outside world.

J FICTION Tuc Tucker, Laura. All the Greys on Greene Street. 12 year-old Olympia’s dad and his business partner Apollo bring antique paintings back to life, while her mother makes intricate sculptures in a corner of their loft, leaving Ollie to roam the streets of New York with her best friends Richard and Alex, drawing everything that catches her eye. Then everything falls apart. Ollie’s dad disappears in the middle of the night, leaving her only a cryptic note and instructions to destroy it. Her mom has gone to bed, and she’s not getting up. Apollo is hiding something, Alex is acting strange, and Richard has questions about the mysterious stranger he saw outside. And someone keeps calling, looking for a missing piece of art…. Olympia knows her dad is the key — but first, she has to find him, and time is running out.

J FICTION Wal Walker, Melissa. Let’s Pretend We Never Met. Struggling to adapt when her family moves during the school year, Mattie makes friends with the girl next door during winter break only to confront unpopularity when she learns that her new friend is the weird girl in school who no one likes.

J FICTION Zob Zoboi, Ibi. My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich. In the summer of 1984, twelve-year-old Ebony-Grace of Huntsville, Alabama, visits her father in Harlem, where her fascination with outer space and science fiction interfere with her finding acceptance.

MIDDLE GRADE

Fiction (Tween)

J FICTION Aca. Acampora, Paul. Confusion is Nothing New. Fourteen-year-old Ellie Magari’s mother left shortly after Ellie was born, and her father has raised her, but Ellie always figured that one day she would meet her mother and ask her some pertinent questions–but now her mother has died, and Ellie does not know exactly how to feel about that, but she is determined, with the help of her friends in the St. Francis of Assisi’s Howling Wolves marching band (where she plays the glockenspiel), to make some kind of connection with her mother’s memory.

J FICTION Flo. Florence, Debbie Michiko. Just Be Cool, Jenna Sakai. When boyfriend Elliott breaks up with Jenna Sakai before Christmas break, she just about convinces herself that relationships are for suckers and she is better off without them; but unfortunately she finds herself in competition with Elliott for a journalism scholarship, and worse her first assignment for the newspaper club is to write a personal essay, which is difficult when you are someone who prefers to keep your emotions bottled up–and then there is Rin Watanabe, a boy as stubborn as Jenna herself, and a mystery that Jenna cannot help but investigate.

J FICTION Gin. Gino, Alex. Alice Austen Lived Here. Middle school student Sam is comfortable with their nonbinary identity, and their family has accepted it too (as long as they do their homework and chores), so when their history teacher assigns as a project coming up with a proposal for the new statue honoring a historical Staten Islander (there is a contest involved) they and their friend TJ decide to focus on Alice Austen, a lesbian photographer, whose house on Staten Island is a museum–but they have to overcome the presumption on the part of their teacher that only straight males are eligible.

J FICTION Her. Heron Jones, Kevin. Half-Court Trap. The issues of male body image and rivalry come together in Half-Court Trap. Thirteen-year-old Nigel is teased and belittled at home because of his weight, so an opposing player’s trash talk enrages him and he vows revenge. When his enemy becomes a teammate, Nigel plots to make him look bad and get him off the team. As Nigel finds out more about his rival, he not only learns empathy but comes to a new perspective on himself and acceptance of his body shape.

J FICTION Hit. Hitchcock, Shannon. One True Way. From the moment she met Samantha, star of the school basketball team, on her first day at Daniel Boone Middle School, Allison Drake felt she had found a friend, something she needs badly since her brother died and her father left–but as their friendship grows it begins to evolve into a deeper emotion, and in North Carolina in 1977, it is not easy to discover that you might be gay.

J FICTION Luk. Lukoff, Kyle. Different Kinds of Fruit. When Annabelle learns that her father shares something big–and surprising–in common with her new nonbinary friend, she begins to see herself, and her family, in a whole new light.

J FICTION Mor. Morris, Chad. Squint. Flint Minett has keratoconus, an eye disease, but desperately wants to win a comic book art contest so that he and his new friend McKell Panganiban will be better accepted at middle school.

J FICTION Woo. Woodson, Jacqueline. Harbor Me. Six kids are put together in a classroom and told that they can talk about anything. There’s a lot Haley would rather not talk about, like her deceased mother or her incarcerated father. What is she supposed to say to these kids? Slowly but surely, the group begins to bond. They share deeply personal experiences with each other, like Esteban’s father’s deportation or Amani’s fears of being racially profiled. As they bond, they make a promise to each other: “I will harbor you.”

TEENS

Fiction (Teen)

YA FICTION Bar. A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard. A girl who can’t speak and a boy who can’t hear go on a journey of self-discovery and create a unique bond with each other.

YAPB Chb. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a story about what it’s like to travel that strange course through the uncharted territory of high school.

YA FICTION Chi. The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling by Wai Chim. Working almost constantly to help out at her father’s restaurant and care for her siblings, a teen from a migrant Asian family starts dating a delivery boy before her mother’s progressing mental illness upends everything she understood about her family.

YA FICTION Col. Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert. Suzette returns home to Los Angeles from boarding school and grapples with her bisexual identity when she and her brother Lionel fall in love with the same girl, pushing Lionel’s bipolar disorder to spin out of control and forcing Suzette to confront her own demons.

YA FICTION Fri. How We Roll by Natasha Friend. After developing alopecia, Quinn lost her friends along with her hair, and after an accident, former football player Jake lost his legs and confidence, but the two help each other believe in themselves and the possibility of love.

YA FICTION Gar. Girl on the Line by Faith Gardner. After an attempted suicide and bipolar diagnosis, Journey decides to volunteer at a crisis center and discovers a community of people that may help her find the light within herself that she did not know existed.

YA FICTION Gar. Friday I’m in Love by Camryn Garret. After not being able to have a sweet sixteen party, Mahalia decides to throw a coming out party to celebrate love and herself.

YA FICTION Gre. Turtles all the Way Down by John Green. Aza Holmes, a high school student with obsessive-compulsive disorder, becomes focused on searching for a fugitive billionaire.

YA FICTION Kho. Darius the Great is not Okay by Adib Khorram. Clinically-depressed Darius Kellner, a high school sophomore, travels to Iran to meet his grandparents, but it is their next-door neighbor, Sohrab, who changes his life.

YA FICTION Kin. Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella. Fourteen-year-old Audrey is making slow but steady progress dealing with her anxiety disorder when Linus comes into the picture and her recovery gains momentum.

YA FICTION Lo. Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo. Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can’t remember exactly when the question took root, but the answer was in full bloom the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club. America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father–despite his hard-won citizenship–Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day

YA FICTION McB. Me (Moth) by Amber McBride. Moth, who lost her family in an accident, and Sani, who is battling ongoing depression, take a road trip that has them chasing ghosts and searching for ancestors, which helps them move forward in surprising, powerful and unforgettable ways

YA FICTION Maf. An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi. In the wake of 9/11, Shadi, a child of Muslim immigrants, tries to navigate her crumbling world of death, heartbreak, and bigotry in silence, until finally everything changes.

YA FICTION Mar. Here the Whole Time by Vitor Martins. When Felipe, who is very insecure about his weight, is forced to spend winter break with his long-term crush, Caio, he must face his unresolved issues head-on. Originally published in Portuguese (Brazil).

YA FICTION McD. One Way or Another by Kara McDowell. Seventeen-year-old Paige suffers from a paralyzing fear of making the wrong decision, so when presented with the choice between two life-long dreams Paige is forced to face the truth about her struggle with anxiety.

YA FICTION Med. The One Who Loves You the Most by Medina. Searching for their place in this world, 12-year-old Gabriela, who is dealing with depression and identity, finds the new year bringing them trans and queer friends and a YouTube channel that helps them find purpose in their journey.

YA FICTION Pan. The Astonishing Color of After by Emily Pan. After her mother’s suicide, grief-stricken Leigh Sanders travels to Taiwan to stay with grandparents she never met, determined to find her mother who she believes turned into a bird.

YA FICTION San. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez. Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents’ house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family. But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That was Olga’s role. Then a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago leaves Olga dead and Julia left behind to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family.

YA FICTION Ste. Scars Like Wings by Erin Stewart. One year after the fire that claimed her parents’ and cousin’s lives and left her severely disfigured, sixteen-year-old Ava faces the return to high school.

YA FICTION Sto. Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone. Consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can’t turn off, a girl coping with Purely-Obsessional OCD learns to accept herself and take control of her life through her experiences in poetry club.

ADULTS

NEW Nonfiction

306.4613 Kin. The body liberation project : how understanding racism and diet culture helps cultivate joy and build collective freedom by King, Chrissy. From author and wellness personality Chrissy King, an exciting, genre-redefining narrative mix of memoir, inspiration, and activities and prompts, with timely messages about social and racial justice and how the world needs to move beyond body positivity to something even more exciting and revolutionary: body liberation.

158.1 Che. The sugar jar : create boundaries, embrace self-healing, and enjoy the sweet things in life by Cheyenne, Yasmine. A radical approach to setting boundaries and protecting your energy, rich with tools for self-healing.

158.1 Tur. The self-talk workout : six science-backed strategies to dissolve self-criticism and transform the voice in your head by Turow, Rachel Goldsmith. Self-talk matters, but what methods of building healthy self-talk actually work? This how-to guide shares evidence-based techniques to go from being your own worst critic to your own best friend.

HOOPLA. Adult daughters of narcissistic mothers : quiet the critical voice in your head, heal self-doubt, and live the life you deserve [eBook] by Kriesberg, Stephanie M. Were you raised by a narcissist? This essential guide will show you how to stop feeling invisible, quiet your critical inner voice, and start living life on your own terms.

HOOPLA. The art of living : reflections on mindfulness and the overexamined life [eBook] by Snider, Grant. In The Art of Living, cartoonist Grant Snider, author of The Shape of Ideas and I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf, has created an all-new collection of one- and two-page comics that map his inner thoughts, poetic observations, and frequent failures at living mindfully.

Nonfiction

294.3444 Ten. The heroic heart : awakening unbound compassion by Tenzin Palmo. A guidebook to making life meaningful by cultivating compassion, embracing adversity, and training the mind—from one of the foremost living Buddhist nuns.

HOOPLA. How to be loving : while your heart is breaking open and our world is waking up [eBook] by LaPorte, Danielle. This is a counterculture call to gentleness, from a contemporary and accessible sage. What happens when you begin to identify as Love––as the Soul beyond your personality constructs? What changes when you see yourself––and others, through a Loving gaze? Everything.

814.6 Gay. Inciting joy : essays by Gay, Ross. In these gorgeously written and timely pieces, prizewinning poet and author Ross Gay considers the joy we incite when we care for each other, especially during life’s inevitable hardships. Throughout Inciting Joy, he explores how we can practice recognizing that connection, and also, crucially, how we can expand it.

FREADING. Journal of radical permission : a daily guide for following your soul’s calling by brown, adrienne maree. Bestselling authors adrienne maree brown and Sonya Renee Taylor create an unforgettable and transformational experience of journaling your way into your most authentic self. It’s time to claim our permission to live out our purpose.

158.1 Sul. Mirrors in the earth : reflections on self-healing from the living world by Suler, Asia. A nature therapy session for the soul–encounter the benevolence of the living world through 12 essays on the Earth-healing powers of self-compassion and empathy.

HOOPLA. Radical Love : Learning to Accept Yourself and Others [eBook] by Levi, Zachary. Radical Love is the debut memoir from actor Zachary Levi (Shazam!, American Underdog, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Chuck), which shares his emotional journey through a lifetime of crippling anxiety and depression to find joy, gratitude, and ultimate purpose.

158.1 Gol. Think like a horse : lessons in life, leadership, and empathy from an unconventional cowboy by Golliher, Grant. In Think Like a Horse, veteran “horse whisperer” and leadership expert Grant Golliher applies his hard-won horse sense to teach invaluable lessons anyone can use to live a fuller, more successful life.

FREADING. The Body Is Not an Apology : The Power of Radical Self-Love by Taylor, Sonya Renee. Humans are a varied and divergent bunch with all manner of beliefs, morals, and bodies. Systems of oppression thrive off our inability to make peace with difference and injure the relationship we have with our own bodies. The Body Is Not an Apology offers radical self-love as the balm to heal the wounds inflicted by these violent systems.

649.157 Asi. Bring up race: how to raise a kind child in a prejudiced world. Bringing Up Race is an important book, for all families whatever their race or ethnicity. It’s for everyone who wants to instill a sense of open-minded inclusivity in their kids, and those who want to discuss difference instead of shying away from tough questions.

HOOPLA. Calmfidence : how to trust yourself, tame your inner critic, and shine in any spotlight [eBook] by Stark, Patricia. Learn how to communicate inside and out with calm, confidence, and self-love no matter the circumstances.

Adult Fiction

FICTION San. 30 things I love about myself by Sanghani, Radhika. When Nina Mistry’s life hits rock bottom, she decides to change her stars by falling in love…with herself—a hilarious, heartfelt story from outrageously funny novelist Radhika Sanghani.

FICTION Wes. Face by West, Joma. Schuyler and Madeleine Burroughs have the perfect Face—rich and powerful enough to assure their dominance in society. But in Schuyler and Maddie’s household, cracks are beginning to appear. Schuyler is bored and taking risks. Maddie is becoming brittle, her happiness ever more fleeting. And their menial is fighting the most bizarre compulsions. In Face, skin color is an aesthetic choice designed by professionals, consent is a pre-checked box on the path to social acceptance, and your online profile isn’t just the most important thing—it’s the only thing.

FICTION Her. Kamila knows best by Heron, Farah. This slow burn romance featuring a hilarious puppy prom and delightful matchmaking schemes is “a fun, lighthearted binge from page one.”

FICTION Den. The Setup by Lizzy Dent. From the author of The Summer Job comes a laugh-out-loud, heartwarming story about one woman’s impulsive fib that jump starts a summer of reinvention and learning about love, life, and what it means to accept yourself.