High school books on anxiety are becoming increasingly important, thanks to the anxious times we live in. more people (parents, teachers, and children) struggle with clinical anxiety. While many manage their symptoms with therapy and medication, it doesn’t hurt to see their stories reflected in the books they read.
In the past, I’ve made a list of middle grade books on mental illness that included some of the books on this list. however, for today’s list, I am focusing on the best middle grade books on anxiety disorders.
You are reading: Middle grade books about anxiety
according to dsm v, “anxiety” encompasses more than just generalized anxiety disorder. also covers “separation anxiety disorder, selective mutism, specific phobia, social anxiety disorder (social phobia), panic disorder, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, substance/medication-induced anxiety disorder, and anxiety disorder due to another medical condition.” /p>
While no longer classified as “anxiety disorders,” I’ve also included books about protagonists or their parents with OCD and PTSD on this list. both disorders are closely related to anxiety disorders and fall under the same group of neurotic, stress-related, and somatoform disorders
let’s get started. click on the images to go directly to their amazon page. I have marked the Kindle Unlimited titles with an asterisk (*) and indicated when a book is part of a series.
Disclaimer: I use affiliate links for amazon and will earn a cent or two if you buy using these links. it’s a great way to support a blog(ger) you love.
Middle Grade Books About Anxiety – Generalized Anxiety Disorder
alvin ho: allergic to girls
Published: July 8, 2008
Here’s the first book in Alvin Ho’s beloved and hilarious series of chapter books, which has been likened to the diary of a wimpy kid and is perfect for beginning and reluctant readers alike.
Alvin, an Asian American second grader, is afraid of everything: elevators, tunnels, girls, and most of all, school. he is so afraid of school that, while he is there, he never, ever says a word. But at home he’s a very loud superhero named Firecracker Man, brother to Calvin and Anibelly, and a knight in training, so he can be like his father.
summer umbrella
Published: June 2, 2009
annie richards knows there are a million things to watch out for: bike accidents, chickenpox, escaped zoo animals. That’s why it’s so important to be careful, even if it means giving up some of her favorite things, like bike racing with her best friend and hot dogs on the 4th of July. everyone keeps telling annie not to worry so much, that she’s fine. but they thought her brother jared was fine too, and jared died.
It takes a new neighbor for annie to realize her plans to be careful aren’t working out as well as she hoped. And with a lot of help from those around her, Annie is able to find a way to close her umbrella of sadness and return to the sunlight.
fight + flight
Published: May 24, 2022
avery hart lives for the thrill and speed of his motocross and the pounding of his drums. But after being diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos hypermobility syndrome, a disease that affects his joints, Avery divides her time between endless physical therapy and worrying that his fun and independence are over forever. p>
sarah bell is also familiar with worry. For months, she has been having intense panic attacks. No matter how much she pours her anxiety into making art, she can’t seem to control it and she begins to wonder if it will be like this forever.
Just as both girls are reaching their peak of fear about what the future holds, their present takes a terrifying turn when their school is apparently attacked by armed men. though they later learn it was an active shooter drill, the traumatic experience bonds the girls in a friendship that will change the way they view their perceived weaknesses and help them find strength, and more, in each other.
guts
Published: September 17, 2019
Raina wakes up one night with a terrible upset stomach. her mom has one too, so it’s probably just a mistake. Ella Raina finally returns to school, where she faces the usual ups and downs: friends, not friends, and classmates who think the school year is just one long disgusting session. It soon becomes clear that Raina’s stomach problem isn’t going to go away…and it coincides with her worries about food, school, and changing friends. what’s going on?
related: the best graphic novels for tweens
find perfection
Published: October 18, 2016
to molly nathans, age twelve, perfect is:
―the number four―the tip of a freshly sharpened number. 2 pencils, a crisp white pad of paper, your glass animal figurines neatly lined up
what’s not perfect is that molly’s mom leaves the family to take a job far away with the promise to return in a year. Molly knows that promises are sometimes broken, so he hatches a plan to bring her mom home: win the Lakeville High School poetry contest. the winner is honored at an elegant banquet with white tablecloths. Molly is sure her mom would never miss it. right…?
but as time goes by, writing and reciting poetry becomes more difficult. In reality, everything gets harder as new habits emerge, and counting, cleaning, and organizing aren’t enough to keep Molly’s world from spinning out of control. In this debut novel with a fresh voice, a girl learns that there is no such thing as perfection.
the summer of June
Published: May 31, 2022
Twelve-year-old June Delancey is starting the summer off strong. he shaves his head and sets two goals: beat his anxiety and be the lion he knows he can be, instead of the mouse everyone sees. and she and her single mother will own her power as fierce, independent women.
With the help of Homer Juarez, the soccer star who quotes poetry and believes in June even when she doesn’t believe in herself, starts a secret garden in the library and hatches a plan to make her dreams come true. but when her anxiety becomes too much, everything begins to fall apart. she will need more than a haircut and some flowers to fix things. she’s going to take courage and friends and watermelon cake. she forgets second chances. this is the summer of new beginnings.
stanley will probably be fine
Published: February 6, 2018
no one knows comic book trivia like stanley knows comic book trivia.
It’s what he takes comfort in when the world around him becomes too much. And after he passes out during a security meeting, Stanley takes his love of comics to the next level by inventing his own imaginary superhero, named John Lockdown, to help him out.
What he needs is help, because Stanley has entered a trivia quest, a gigantic comic book trivia scavenger hunt, to prove he can address his concerns, get VIP passes to the comic book festival, and win back his former best friend. . Along with her fearless new neighbor, Liberty, Stanley faces the most epic, daunting and challenging day of her life.
what would john lockdown do?
stanley is about to find out.
deviated
Published: August 22, 2017
If high school was a race, joseph friedman wouldn’t even be in last place, he’d be on the sidelines. With an overactive mind and phobias of everything from hard-boiled eggs to gargoyles, he has a hard time understanding his classes, let alone his classmates. So he spends most of his time avoiding school bully Charlie Kastner and hiding out in the resource room, a safe place for misfit kids like him. But then, on the first day of seventh grade, two important things happen. First, his resource room teacher encourages him (I mean, practically forces him) to join the school’s track team, and second, he meets Heather, an insanely fast runner who’s not going to get pushed. by charlie kastner or anyone else.
With a new friend and a new team, Joseph finds himself off the sideline and on the run (literally) for the first time. Is he a good runner? well, no, he’s terrible. But the fun thing about running is, once you’re on the run, anything can happen to him.
related: high school sports books
the wild road
Published: September 1, 2020
Twelve-year-old Claire Barton doesn’t like the “fluttering feeling” that fills her chest when she worries about the future, but she knows what she loves: the land that has been in her family for three generations; her best friend maya her; her family’s horses, sunny and sam; and her older brother andy from her. Which is why, with Andy recently sent to rehab and her parents planning to sell the horses, Claire’s world looks set to come crashing down.
When Claire learns about equine therapy, she envisions a less lonely future that keeps her family together, including her brother and his horses. But, when she finds what appear to be mysterious wild horses in the woods behind her house, she realizes she has a little more company than she bargained for. With this new secret, and a little luck, Ella Claire will discover the beauty of change, the power of family, and the strength within herself.
quintessence
Published: July 28, 2020
Three months ago, twelve-year-old Alma moved to the town of Four Points. Her panic attacks started a week later and have not stopped, even though she told her parents that they have. she longs for her home and has no friends, and every day she feels less and less of herself.
but one day he finds a telescope in the local junk shop and through its lens he sees a star, a star that looks like a child, falling from the sky and landing in his backyard. he soul knows what it is to be lost and scared, to long for home, and knows that it is up to her to save the star. And so, with the help of some unexpected new friends from the astronomy club, he embarks on a quest that will require a bit of science, a bit of magic, and his whole being.
the spinner of dreams
Published: August 27, 2019
Annalise Meriwether, though kind, intelligent, and curious, is terribly lonely.
Cursed at birth by twisted fate, Annalize has always lived a lonely life with her loving parents. she tries her best to ignore the cruel people of her desolate town, but the black mark on her hand will not be ignored.
Not when the monster that lives inside him, which seems to have an agenda of its own, grows more unpredictable by the day.
There is only one way for Annalize to be rid of her curse: enter the labyrinth of destiny and dreams and defeat the wheel of fate. So despite her anxiety, Annalize sets out to undo the curse that has defined her and show the world, and herself, exactly who she is on the inside.
everything starts with jellybeans
Published: June 8, 2021
meg spends her days hoping no one thinks too much about why she wears the same t-shirt and slippers to school every day. Fortunately, the nurse’s office provides a welcome escape from misunderstanding classmates…and refreshments when food runs out at home.
See Also: Randolph Caldecott Medal | Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)
riley knows that fitting in at her new school would be a lot easier if her friends were more understanding of her type 1 diabetes, so she keeps her tests a secret…and an emergency bag of gummies on hand.
>
When Meg and Riley end up in the nurse’s office together one day, both girls think they’ve made it up, but what if they’re wrong? On the verge of moving on to high school, Riley and Meg must find the courage to discover who they really want to be. And maybe a shared bag of jelly beans will give them all the help they need.
the list of things that will not change
Published: April 7, 2020
After her parents’ divorce, Bea’s life changed in many ways. but she can always look back at the list she keeps in her green notebook to remind herself of the things that will stay the same. first and foremost: mom and dad will always love bea and each other.
When Dad tells Bea that he and his boyfriend, Jesse, are getting married, Bea gets excited. Ella Bea loves Jesse, and when he and Dad get married, she’ll finally (finally!) get what she’s always wanted: a sister. Though she’s never met Jesse’s daughter Sonia, Bea is sure they’ll be “like sisters anywhere.”
As her wedding day approaches, Bea will learn that starting a new family brings questions, surprises, and joy, and readers will discover why the New York Times called Rebecca a “feeling writer.”
five things about ava andrews
Published: June 9, 2020
ava andrews, age eleven, has a technicolor interior with a gray cover. inside, she is buzzing with ideas and plans. On the outside, everyone except her best friend Zelia thinks she doesn’t talk or, worse yet, that she’s conceited. what nobody knows is that ava has invisible disabilities: anxiety and a heart condition.
ava hopes high school will be a fresh start, but when zelia moves across the country and ava’s cute nana pushes her to talk about social issues, she withdraws further. So Ava is surprised when her writing skills impress her classmates and they invite her to join her improv group, making up stories on stage. Determined to prove that she can control her anxiety, she joins in and discovers a whole new side of herself and what it means to be on a team.
But as Ava’s self-confidence blossoms, her relationship with Zelia becomes strained, and she learns that it’s not just speaking up, it’s how and why you use it that matters.
all the missing pieces
Published: May 26, 2020
maddy gaines sees danger wherever she looks: at the bus stop, around the skating rink, in the woods, and (especially) by the sea. When Maddy meets a mysterious boy booby-trapping the North Carolina woods, she suspects he is Billy Holcomb, the boy who disappeared in the fall. As Maddy tries to uncover the truth about Billy Holcomb, ghosts from her own past surface, her best friend begins to slip away, and Maddy’s world tilts once again. Will she be able to put the pieces of her life back together, even if some of them are lost forever?
related: interview with melanie conklin
not if I can help it
Published: July 30, 2019
willa likes certain things to be a certain way. her socks have to be soft. . . and she definitely can’t have any irritating labels on the inside. she loves the crunch of popcorn and nachos. . . but she is disgusted by the crunch of a small carrot. and viscous foods? those are the worst.
willa can handle all of these things, but there are some she can’t handle, like the big news about her father. he has been keeping a big secret from her. . . that he has been dating ruby’s mother, willa’s best friend. Willa doesn’t like the idea of them being together. and he doesn’t like the idea of uniting families. and she doesn’t like the idea of her best friend turning into her sister overnight. Will he accept all these changes? Not if she can help it!
middle grade books on social anxiety
it’s my party and I don’t want to go
Published: September 15, 2020
ellie katz is sabotaging her own party.
Sure, it seems extreme, but it’s the only option for his bat mitzvah. crowds and the attention from her always made her nervous, and lately they’ve been making it harder for ellie to breathe. the celebration would mean (1) a large crowd, (2) lots of staring, and (3) a distant family listening to her sing in another language. no thanks!
To prevent a certain catastrophe, she hatches a plan with her best friend Zoe to ruin the big day. Indicates email hacking, DJ takedown and an all-out food fight! Everything falls apart as planned, until a fight with Zoe leaves Ellie alone in the path of her destruction, facing some unintended consequences and disappointments. Will she be able to find a way to right her wrongs, face her fears, and light her candles?
Related: 33 Awesome Middle Grade Books To Read In The Second Half Of 2020
imperfect elfie
Published: August 10, 2021
elfie oster was sure hampshire academy was going to be the perfect school for her. she was sure of it until the moment she was kicked out of it. on the first day of it.
It was all a terrible misunderstanding, but until she can figure out a way to put things right, Elfie has to go back to Cottonwood Elementary for fifth grade. where she never fit in or had friends. it’s not a perfect situation. and then it gets worse. her nanny gets very sick. her aunt and her uncle do not speak. she is forced to do a group project involving an egg. . . .
but sometimes, when everything goes spectacularly wrong, you find out what really matters and what doesn’t. So really, this terrible, horrible, surprisingly fun year may be the best thing that ever happened to Elfie.
related: kristin mahoney on elfie unperfect (+gift!)
middle grade books on selective mutism
the magical imperfect
Published: June 15, 2021
etan has stopped talking since his mother left. his father and his grandfather don’t know how to help him. His friends have given up on him.
When etan is asked to deliver a grocery order on the outskirts of town, he realizes he’s at the home of malia agbayani, aka the creature. Malia stopped going to school when her acute eczema spread to her face and her bullying became too much.
As the two become friends, other kids tease Etan for meeting the creature. But he believes that he might have a cure for Malia’s condition, if only he could convince her and his family to believe it too. Even if it works, will these two outcasts find where they fit in?
related: chris baron on the magical imperfect (+gift!)
middle grade books on performance anxiety
something to say
Published: July 14, 2020
Eleven-year-old Jenae has no friends, and that’s fine with her. she’s so good at being invisible at school, she’s almost like she has a superpower, like her idol astrid dane. At home, Jenae has lots of company, like her no-nonsense mom; her older brother Malcolm, who is home from college after a basketball injury; and her beloved grandfather, gosh.
Then a new student shows up at school: a boy named Aubrey with fiery red hair and a smile that won’t give up. Jenae can’t understand why he keeps showing up wherever he wants him to go. the more she tries to push him away, the more he seems determined to be her friend. Despite herself, Jenae begins to get used to having him around her.
But when the two pair up for a class discussion about their school’s proposed name change, Jenae knows this new friendship has an expiration date. Aubrey is desperate to win and earn a coveted spot on the debate team.
There’s just one problem: Jenae would do almost anything to avoid speaking in front of an audience, even risking the first real friendship she’s ever had.
the lonely heart of mayelle lane
Published: March 3, 2020
eleven-year-old maybelle lane collects sounds. she records louisiana crickets chirping, mom strumming her guitar, the broken trailer door creaking. But the crown jewel of her collection is a sound she didn’t collect herself: an old recording of her dad’s warm, sunny laugh, stored in the voice mail of an old phone. it’s the only thing she has of him and the only thing she knows of him.
until the day he hears that laugh, his laugh, coming out of the car radio. Against Mom’s wishes, Maybelle starts listening to Dad’s new show, her radio DJ, absorbing every word like a plant leaning toward the sun. When he announces that he will be the judge of a singing competition in Nashville, she signs up. What better way to find each other than to stand in front of him and sing your heart out?
but the road to nashville is bumpy. her stiff starchy neighbor mrs. Boggs offers to give her a ride in her RV. and a bully of a kid from the trailer park also hitchhikes. these aren’t the people she could have chosen to help her, but it turns out they’re looking for things too. and the journey will mold them into the best kind of family: the kind you choose for yourself.
related: the best high school books for kids who love music
middle grade books on panic disorder
the ruffles
Published: August 31, 2021
with the arrival of a shiny cream colored envelope in the mail, elena martinez’s dreams come true: she has been chosen for spread your wings magazine’s young travelers program, a week-long summer internship at the that you will learn the ins and outs of working for the most popular teen magazine. She heads to New York City, anxious to get away from her best friend, Summer, who is suddenly spending a lot of time with another girl from school and is secretive about it.
Once there, Elena meets her fellow young travelers: Harlow, who can get to the bottom of any story, Whitney, who has perfect fashion sense, and Cailin, a social media star with thousands of followers. and a good eye for photography. .
As the four new friends explore the city that never sleeps, each girl brings with her a piece of home and a few secrets, and learns that no one’s life is as bright as it seems. but with courage, teamwork and a lot of passion, there is no one to stop a flyer.
sara and the search for normality
Published: June 2, 2020
sara’s rules to be normal
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1. stop taking your pills make a friend 137. don’t put mayonnaise on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
sara wants one thing: to be normal. instead what she has are multiple diagnoses from dr. ring. Sara’s constant battle with false alarms, what she calls panic attacks, and other episodes cause her to isolate herself. she rarely speaks, especially at school, which is why she doesn’t have any friends. but when she starts group therapy she meets someone new. Talkative and outgoing Erin doesn’t believe in “normal,” and Sara finds herself in uncharted territory: at the movies, at a birthday party, and with someone to tell her about her crush—in short, a friend. But there’s more to Erin than her cheerful exterior, and Sara begins to wonder if helping Erin means sacrificing her friendship.
middle grade books on anxiety – ptsd
ghost
Published: August 30, 2016
ghost. mon. patina. sunny. four kids from very different backgrounds with personalities that are explosive when they collide. but they’re also four kids chosen for an elite high school track team, a team that could qualify them for the junior olympics if they can perform together. they all have a lot to lose, but also a lot to prove, not only to each other, but also to themselves.
running. That’s all Ghost (real name Castle Cranshaw) has ever known. But Ghost has been on the run for all the wrong reasons: It all started when he ran away from his father, who, when Ghost was a little boy, chased him and his mother through their apartment, then down the street, with a loaded gun. , pointing. to kill. Since then, Ghost has been the one causing and running from trouble, until he meets the coach, a former Olympic medalist who sees something in Ghost: crazy natural talent. If Ghost can stay on track, literally and figuratively, he just might be the best speedster in town. Can Ghost take advantage of his natural talent for speed or will his past finally catch up?
the war that saved my life
Published: January 8, 2015
ada, age ten, has never left her one-bedroom apartment. Ella’s mom is too humiliated by Ada’s clubbed foot to let her out of it. So when Ella’s little brother Jamie is sent out of London to escape the war, Ada wastes no time running away to join him. Thus begins a new adventure for Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take in the two children. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches out for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to keep them together during the war? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of her mother?
Related: The Best Historical Fiction Books for Tweens
best middle grade books on anxiety – ocd
goldfish boy
Published: February 28, 2017
mathew corbin suffers from severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. he hasn’t been to school in weeks. his hands are chapped and bleeding from cleaning. he refuses to leave his bedroom. To pass the time, he watches his neighbors from his bedroom window, taking mundane notes about his habits as they move down the cul-de-sac.
When a little boy who lived next door goes missing, it becomes clear that Matthew was the last person to see him alive. Suddenly, Matthew finds himself at the center of a high-stakes mystery, with every one of his neighbors a suspect. Matthew is the key to finding out what happened and potentially saving a child’s life…but can he do it if it means exposing his own secrets and leaving the safety of his home?
lightning girl miscalculations
Published: May 1, 2018
Lucy Callahan’s life was changed forever when she was struck by lightning. she doesn’t remember it, but her zap gave her genius-level math skills, and she’s been homeschooled ever since. she now, at 12, she’s technically ready for college. She only has to pass 1 more exam: high school!
Lucy’s grandmother insists: go to high school for 1 year. make 1 friend join 1 activity. and read 1 book (that’s not a math textbook!). Lucy isn’t sure what a girl who does calculus homework for fun can learn in seventh grade. she has everything she needs at home, where no one can make fun of her rigid routines or her overpowered brain. Lucy’s life equation has already been solved. unless there was a calculation error?
related: middle grade books with strong female leads
blue everywhere
Published: June 1, 2021
When Maddie’s twelve-year-old older brother disappears from the college campus, her carefully ordered world falls apart. nothing will fill the void of her dear older brother. meanwhile maddie’s older sister reacts by staying up late, and maddie’s parents are always distracted with the search for strumming. drowning in grief and confusion, the family’s musical house falls silent.
although maddie is the youngest, she knows how to play the strumming better than anyone. he used to confide in her, sharing her fears about the climate crisis and the future of her planet. So, Maddie starts looking for clues: Strum She was she sad? Were the arguments with her dad getting worse? Or could her disappearance have something to do with those endangered butterflies she loved. . .
Frightened and alone, Maddie picks up the pieces of her family’s broken lives. maybe her parents aren’t who she thought they were. maybe her nervous thoughts and compulsive counting mean she needs help. and maybe finding strum won’t solve everything, but she knows he’s out there and she has to try.
related: review | everywhere blue
how to make friends with the sea
Published: March 31, 2020
Pablo is nostalgic.
She’s only twelve, but she’s lived in more countries than she can count. after his parents divorced, he and his mother moved from place to place for years, never settling anywhere long enough to call home. And along the way, Pablo has been accumulating more and more fears: of dirt, germs and, above all, the ocean.
They now live in the Philippines and his mother, a zoologist who works at a local wildlife refuge, is too busy saving animals to realize that Pablo might need saving too. Later, his mother takes in Chiqui, an orphan girl with a cleft lip, and Pablo discovers that being strong for Chiqui, his own fears don’t seem so scary.
You might even find the courage to face your greatest fear of all…and learn to befriend the sea.
center of gravity
Published: March 24, 2020
tessa is an anxious person, but it has gotten worse since her mother died a few months ago. to calm down, she cuts out photos of missing children from milk cartons and keeps them in a file. she helps her feel that she is not alone.
When her dad suddenly announces that he’s getting married and they’re moving away, Tessa must find new friends and a new stepmom. she knows that she must leave her old habits behind, but that is easier said than done. her struggle is something many readers will understand.
middle grade books with an anxious parent/grandparent
every little spark
Published: August 6, 2019
emilia torres has a wandering mind. it is difficult for her to follow school and sometimes she forgets to do what her mother or grandmother asks her to do. But she remembers what matters: a time when her family was complete and home made sense. When Dad returns from deployment, Ella Emilia hopes her life will return to normal. she instead, she undoes.
Dad locks himself in the back cubicle of his family’s auto shop to work on an old car. emilia peeks out at him every day, hypnotized by her welder. one day, dad calls emilia. then he teaches her to weld. and over time, glimpses of her old father reappear.
But when Emilia finds a way to mend her relationship with her father at home, her community is torn apart with some of her classmates, like her best friend, Gus, at the center of the conflict.
the true story of lyndie b. hawks
Published: March 26, 2019
family + loyalty = keeping secrets
When it comes to American history or standing up for the underdog or getting to the bottom of things, no one is smarter than Lyndie B. hawks. but when it comes to his family, his knowledge is full of gaps: what exactly happened to dad in vietnam? Why did he lose his job? And why did they have to move in with their grandparents? Grandma’s number one rule is to keep quiet about family matters. But when her beloved dad disappears, Lyndie is faced with a difficult choice: Follow the lady’s rule and do nothing, which doesn’t help her father, or say something and split her family in half. p>
kat greene opens up
Published: August 22, 2017
Life is messy.
kat greene lives in new york city and attends fifth grade at the very progressive humanities school in town. At the moment she has three main problems: dealing with her boy-crazy best friend, teaming up with the overzealous sam in the class production of harriet the spy, and coping with her mother’s concern about cleanliness, a symptom of the worsening of your obsessive-compulsive disorder. .
With nowhere to go, Kat approaches free-spirited psychologist Olympia at her New Age private school in New York’s Greenwich Village. Olympia encourages Kat to be honest. Finally, Kat realizes that sometimes asking for help is the best way to solve life’s problems.
as brave as you
Published: May 3, 2016
Genie’s summer is full of surprises. The first is that he and his older brother Ernie are leaving Brooklyn for the first time to spend the summer with their grandparents in Virginia, in the country! the second surprise comes when the genie realizes that his grandfather is blind. Dumbfounded, the genie peppers Grandpa with questions about how he hides it so well (besides wearing such cool sunglasses).
How do you combine your clothes? do you know where to walk? cook with a gas stove? pour a glass of sweet tea without spilling it? Genie thinks Grandpa must be the bravest guy she’s ever met, but she begins to notice that her Grandpa never leaves the house, like ever. And when he finds the secret room Grandpa always disappears into, a room so full of songbirds and plants it’s almost as if it’s been turned inside out, he begins to wonder if his Grandpa is really that brave after all.
then ernie lets him down in the bravery department. it’s his fourteenth birthday and, Grandpa says, to become a man, you have to learn to shoot a gun. Genie thinks he’s amazing until he realizes that Ernie has no interest in learning how to shoot. none. Not at all fazed by Ernie’s reluctance, the genie wonders: Is bravery and becoming a man just about proving something, or is it just as important to own up to what you won’t do?
There they are: 34 of the best middle grade books on anxiety, including selections on OCD and PTSD. It’s worth noting that not all of these books specify that the particular character is OCD or PTSD, but they show symptoms that match those diagnoses.
Which of these middle grade books on anxiety have you read and enjoyed? Which ones have your students particularly benefited from? would love to know! I myself have many favorites on this list, especially those that I have already reviewed on my blog or on goodreads.
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See Also: 29 Must-Have Professional Development Books for Teachers