Find your next great read for Schizophrenia Awareness Week by exploring my reviews of these compelling and amazing YA books about schizophrenia.

Reading young adult books about schizophrenia is a great way for teens to educate and entertain themselves at the same time. Schizophrenia is often diagnosed in young people in their late teens to early 30s, and this illness affects 20 million people worldwide. 

Reading books about schizophrenia is a great way to see through another viewpoint that is very different from our own. And through this lens, we might gain some insight about the richness and complexity of what it means to live in that world, especially a world where a person’s perception of reality and social interactions become altered by mental illness.

Here are my personal recommendations for young adult books about schizophrenia that you’ll want to check out.

Unquiet Riot by Khristina Chess

“Henry used a type of camouflage—in his case, those corny jokes and the way he dressed—to hide the game. No one could be allowed to know his special ability to detect who was real and who was an agent. Not even me.“― Khristina Chess, quote from Unquiet Riot

Riley’s life is filled with mind-numbing boredom until Henry arrives at his school. Henry’s amazing! Henry believes Earth is populated by robots posing as humans. He believes the shadows in his room are monsters escaping from the electrical wires, and he sleeps with knives under his mattresses. For Riley, visiting Henry’s world is like being a tourist in a foreign land.

Except for Henry, that place is terrifying and real.

Exhilarating and mind-bending! What I love most about Unquiet Riot is the slow unfolding of the friendship between the boys and the way Henry’s mental illness becomes revealed a little at a time. I worried for him. Riley is a great unreliable narrator who is witty and scary. This is the kind of authentic novel that really shows how factors like bullying, mental illness, and lack of teacher, parental, and even friend involvement can allow an environment for a mass school violence event to occur.

You won’t want to miss this compassionate YA book about early-onset schizophrenia in teens that explores friendship, betrayal, and the consequences of remaining silent. Fans of My Sister Rosa will love this psychological thriller.

Words on Bathroom Walls by Julia Walton

“Real is subjective. There are a lot of things that aren't actually real to everyone. Pain, for example. It's only real to the one experiencing it. Everyone else has to take your word for it.”― Julia Walton, quote from Words on Bathroom Walls

This story about a character with schizophrenia is told through journal entries or letters to a therapist, and so it took me a long time to connect to Adam. I'm glad I stuck with it, though, because I really enjoyed how the book ended. I appreciated that there weren't easy answers for his illness and that the people in his life came through for him in unexpected ways.

Check out this small but compassionate YA book about schizophrenia that depicts a character with this disease in a loving, beautiful, and hopeful way.

The Wicker King by K. Ancrum

"Perception is relative. So is sanity, if you think about it. It's totally a Minority vs. Majority thing. If you fall on one side of the line, take a ticket and proceed. If you fall on the other, shit gets real." ― K. Ancrum, quote from The Wicker King

This novel is a fast-paced read with super-compelling characters in a relationship that evolves into a more dangerous thing with each passing page. I had a paperback copy and enjoyed the layout and visual design of the experience of the book. You can physically see the descent into darkness on the side of the pages. The creativity in this technique makes this book special.

There are moments between these two boys that are truly chilling, when Jack's dominance over August goes too far:

"We have to drown you," Jack continued bluntly. "Or just nearly enough that you pass through the gates, but not so much that you can't come back from there."

I won't give any more away. The psychological dynamic between these two characters will draw you in and keep the pages turning!

I recommend splurging on the paperback for this one so you can enjoy the visuals. For compassionate YA books about schizophrenia, The Wicker King is one of the best!

Other Compassionate YA Books about Schizophrenia and Mental Health Issues

You can find also several great Goodreads Schizophrenia Lists, such as YA Psychotic Disorders/Schizophrenia Fiction, and if depression and anxiety are the mental health issues that you want to understand more deeply, be sure to look at my post on 6 Gripping Young Adult Novels on Depression and Anxiety Struggles. You might also be interested in my post, Other Good Reads, which has a comprehensive list of reviews of YA books by type of tough topic.

Do you have any YA books about schizophrenia to recommend to me? I’m always looking for another great read in this category.

Khristina Chess is the award-winning author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. You can find her on Amazon, Goodreads, and Twitter as an active daily contributor in the #5amwritersclub.