Healthy Reading
Fictional Books About Teens Dealing With Health Issues
Cathy Belben, Burlington-Edison High School Library
Updated June 2002

ACCIDENTAL INJURIES

Fleschman, Paul. Mind’s Eye.

Orr, Wendy.  Peeling the Onion.

Voigt, Cynthia. Izzy, Willy-Nilly.

ADDICTION

Anonymous. Go Ask Alice.

Burgess, Melvin. Smack. (Heroin).

Grant, Cynthia. The White  Horse. (Heroin)

AIDS

Anonymous. It Happened to Nancy.

Arrick, Fran.  What You Don’t Know Can Kill You.

Cleage, Pearl. What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day.

Fox, Paula. The Eagle Kite.

Miklowitz, Gloria. Good-bye, Tomorrow.

Nelson, Theresa. Earthshine.

ALCOHOLISM

Bauer, Joan. Rules of the Road.

Brooks, Bruce. No Kidding.

Cadnum, Michael. Calling Home.

Cormier, Robert. We All Fall Down.

Greene, Shep. The Boy Who Drank Too Much.

Kropp, Paul. Dirt Bike.

Kropp, Paul. Runaway.

Martinez, Victor. Parrot in the Over: Mi Vida.

Quarles, Heather. A Door Near Here.

Snyder, Anne.  My Name is Davy—I’m an Alcoholic.

Stoehr, Shelley. Crosses.

ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE, AGING, & EUTHANASIA

Gilbert, Barbara Snow. Stone Water.

Klein, Norma. Going Backwards.

AUTISM
Gottlieb, Eli. The Boy Who Went Away.

BIRTH DEFECTS

Mikaelson, Ben. Petey-cerebral palsy

Philbrick, Rodman. Freak the Mighty - birth defects

Powell, Randy. Tribute to Another Dead Rock Star .

CANCER & TERMINAL ILLNESS

Bunting, Eve. Will You Be My POSSLQ?

Cormier, Robert. The Bumblebee Flies Away.

Ferris, Jean. Invincible Summer.

Johnson, Angela. Toning the Sweep.

Kropp, Paul. Amy’s Wish.

Lipsyte, Robert. The Chemo Kid.

Lowry, Lois. A Summer to Die.

McDaniel, Lurlene. Don’t Die, My Love.

McDaniel, Lurlene. Goodbye Doesn’t Mean Forever.

McDaniel, Lurlene. I Want to Live.

McDaniel, Lurlene. Six Months to Live.

CHILD ABUSE

Andrew, V.C. Flowers in the Attic.

Cole, Brock. The Facts Speak for Themselves.

Coman, Carolyn. What Jamie Saw.

Crutcher, Chris. Chinese Handcuffs.

Crutcher, Chris. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes.

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey.

Hernandez, Irene. The Secret of Two Brothers.

Howe, James. The Watcher.

Hunt, Irene. The Lottery Rose.

Irwin, Hadley. Abby, My Love.

Kropp, Paul. Runaway.

Kropp, Paul. Take Off.

Margorian, Michelle. Good Night, Mr. Tom.

McNamee, Graham. Hate You.

Roberts, Willo Davis. Don’t Hurt Laurie!

Rottman, S.L. Hero.

DEPRESSION/BIPOLAR DISORDER

Fromm, Pete. How All This Started.

Gibbons, Kaye. Sights Unseen.

Jenkins, A.M. Damage.

Neufeld, John. Lisa, Bright and Dark.

White, Ellen Emerson.  The Road Home.

Wilson, Dawn. St. Jude.

MENTALLY HANDICAPPED PEOPLE

Brown, Roy. Find Debbie!

Keyes, Daniel. Flowers for Algernon.

Mazer, Harry. The Wild Kid.

Nolan, Han. A Face in Every Window.

Perske, Robert.  Show Me No Mercy:  A Compelling Story of Remarkable Courage.

Shyer, Marlene Fanta. Welcome Home, Jellybean.

Tamar, Erika. Fair Game.

Walker, Pamela. Twyla: A Novel.

OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER

Hesser, Terri Spenser. Kissing Doorknobs.

PREGNANCY

See separate list of books about pregnancy.

SELF-MUTILATION

McCormick, Patricia. Cut.

Stoehr, Shelley. Crosses.

TOURETTE’S SYNDROME

Rubio, Gwen Hyman. Icy Sparks.

WEIGHT CONTROL & EATING DISORDERS

Anonymous (Beatrice Sparks, editor). Kim: Empty Inside. The Diary of an Anonymous Teenager.

Bennet,Cherie. Life in the Fat Lane. (weight gain)

Block, Francesca. The Hanged Man. (anorexia)

Hanauer, Cathi. My Sister’s Bones.  (anorexia)

Levenkron, Steven. The Best Little Girl in the World. (Anorexia)

Lipsyte, Robert. One Fat Summer.

Newman, Leslea. Fat Chance. (bulimia)

Rabinowich, Ellen. Underneath I’m Diffferent. (overweight)

Ruckman, Ivy. The Hunger Scream. (anorexia)

Sachs, Marilyn. The Fat Girl.