Young adults: wellbeing and resilience

See also:

• Moodboosting books for young people for 2017
• Reading Well for young people
• Links for your health and wellbeing

Open Your Heart: learn to love your life and love yourself, by Gemma Cairney & Aurelia Lange

“Full of honest and practical advice from The Surgery agony aunt Gemma Cairney and a whole host of trained professionals and real people, Open Your Heart is a best friend in a book. From heartbreak and heartache to body image and everything in between, it will help you learn to love your body, your friends and your family, and tell you what to do if things go wrong.”

Dr Christian’s Guide to Growing Up Online (#awkward), by Dr Christian Jessen

“Dr Christian’s Guide to Growing Up Online takes a social-media style tour through such wide-ranging topics as health, puberty, anxiety, gender, sexuality, stress, grief and any difficult questions in between.”

Positively Teenage: a positively brilliant guide to teenage well-being, by Nicola Morgan

“Positively Teenage gives you tools to approach your teenage years with optimism and understanding and to develop real wellbeing for life. The media so often portray adolescence negatively but this book shows you how to approach these years far more positively so that you can really flourish and be in control. You’ll find simple strategies to develop a positive attitude, growth mindset, self-understanding, determination and resilience and you’ll see how those strengths will help you cope with any challenges, enjoy life and achieve your potential.”

Blame My Brain: the amazing teenage brain revealed, by Nicola Morgan

“Nicola Morgan’s accessible and humourous examination of the ups and downs of the teenage brain deals with powerful emotions, the need for more sleep, the urge to take risks, the difference between genders, the reasons behind addiction and depression, and what lies ahead.”

Mind Your Head, by Juno Dawson, Dr Olivia Hewitt & Gemma Correll

“We all have a mind, so we all need to take care of our mental health as much as we need to take care of our physical health. And the first step is being able to talk about our mental health.

“Juno Dawson leads the way with this frank, factual and funny book, with added information and support from clinical psychologist Dr Olivia Hewitt. Covering topics from anxiety and depression to addiction, self-harm and personality disorders, Juno and Olivia talk clearly and supportively about a range of issues facing young people’s mental health - whether fleeting or long-term - and how to manage them, with real-life stories from young people around the world.”

Stuff That Sucks: accepting what you can’t change and committing to what you can, by Ben Sedley

“Each of us has thoughts that are painful at times; sometimes the pain is sadness, sometimes worry or anger or shame or grief or some feeling that you don’t even have words for. If you are a young person struggling with your emotions, you do not want to be told that ‘everyone feels like that’ or that ‘you will grow out of it’. You want to feel that your emotions are valid and that the person offering help truly understands how painful life can feel at times.

“With a strong emphasis on validation and compassion, Stuff That Sucks encourages you to accept your emotions rather than struggling against them. It also shows how to reconnect with what is really important to you, giving you the tools to help clarify your personal values and take steps towards living a life where those values can guide you in your day-to-day behaviour.”

The Self-Esteem Team’s Guide to Sex, Drugs and WTFs?!!, by Grace Barrett, Natasha Devon & Nadia Mendoza

“This guide contains everything you really want to know, but are too embarrassed to ask your teachers, from ‘how do I know if I’m healthy?’ to ‘what’s it like to take drugs?’

“The Self-Esteem Team won’t tell you that if you have sex you’ll definitely get an STI and die, but they will help you decide if you’re ready. They won’t tell you never to watch porn, but they will help you decipher what you see. They won’t ask you not to embrace fashion, fitness or beauty, but they will give you the info you need to rock your own brand of gorgeous.”

All I Know Now: wonderings and reflections on growing up gracefully, by Carrie Hope Fletcher

“We all know that growing up is hard to do, and sometimes the only thing that makes it better are the reassuring words of someone who has walked that bumpy road just a few steps ahead of you and somehow ended up as a fully-functioning adult.

“Thanks to her phenomenally popular YouTube videos, Carrie Hope Fletcher has become an ‘honourary big sister’ to hundreds of thousands of young people who turn to her for advice, friendship and, most of all, the knowledge that things will get better. Part memoir, part advice guide, this book includes Carrie’s thoughts on some of the topics she’s asked about most regularly: bullying, body image, relationships and perhaps the scariest question of all: what does the future hold for me?”

True Face, by Siobhan Curham

“This book is part mystery, part adventure. The mystery is working out who you truly are, and the adventure comes in planning the kind of life you really want to lead. From body image and bullying to love, sex and more, plus expert advice on silencing your inner voice of doom, it is an invaluable guide to living a happy life.”

Banish Your Self-Esteem Thief: a cognitive behavioural therape workbook on building positive self-esteem for young people, by Kate Collins-Donnelly

“Build confidence and self-esteem with this fun and effective workbook for young people. Packed with activities and real-life stories, this imaginative workbook will show you what self-esteem is, how it develops, the impact it can have and how all this applies to your own self-esteem.”

Fighting Invisible Tigers: stress management for teens, by Earl Hipp

“Fighting Invisible Tigers offers proven techniques that teens can use to deal with stressful situations in any environment - at school, at home, or among friends. It also includes information on how stress affects health and decision making, as well as the latest stress management skills.”

The Teenage Guide to Stress, by Nicola Morgan

“This book is divided into three sections: Section one explains what stress is and looks at the ways teenage stress is different. Section two deals with a number of issues that affect teenagers - from anger, depression and sexual relationships to cyber-bullying, exams and eating disorders - and offers guidance and advice, as well as looking at how pre-existing conditions such as OCD and dyslexia are affected by adolescence. Section three is concerned with how to deal with and prevent the symptoms of stress, as well as healthy ways of looking after your mind and body.”

The Teenage Guide to Friends, by Nicola Morgan

“A comprehensive guide to teenage friendships, by award-winning author and well-being expert Nicola Morgan. Essential reading for teenagers and the adults who care about them. Contents include a section on making friends, keeping friendships strong, and what happens when they break down - as well as a look at online friendships, cyber-bullying, toxic friendships and frenemies, and empathy.

“There is also a section on personality types - introverts and extroverts - and quizzes to help you discover what sort of person you are, how you relate to others and how to deal with difficult situations.”

The Art of Being Normal, by Lisa Williamson

“David is funny and quirky and has always felt different from other people - but he also has a huge secret that only his two best friends know. Ever since he can remember, he has felt like a girl trapped in the body of a boy.”

Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell

“Eleanor is the new girl in town, and with her chaotic family life, her mismatched clothes and unruly red hair, she couldn’t stick out more if she tried. Park is the boy at the back of the bus. Black T-shirts, headphones, head in a book - he thinks he’s made himself invisible. But not to Eleanor.

“Slowly, steadily, through late-night conversations and an ever-growing stack of mix tapes, Eleanor and Park fall for each other. They fall in love the way you do the first time, when you’re young, and you feel as if you have nothing and everything to lose.”

Wonder, by R. J. Palacio

“‘My name is August. I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.’

“Auggie wants to be an ordinary 10-year-old. He does ordinary things - eating ice cream, playing on his Xbox. He feels ordinary - inside. But ordinary kids don’t make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. Ordinary kids aren’t stared at wherever they go.

“Born with a terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life. Now, for the first time, he’s being sent to a real school. All he wants is to be accepted. But can he convince his new classmates that he’s just like them, underneath it all?”

Face, by Benjamin Zephaniah

“In his debut novel, poet Benjamin Zephaniah tackles the moving story of a young man, Martin, whose life is completely changed when his face is badly scarred in a joyriding accident.”