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Books About Sadness & Grief for Ages 12–18 – Wonderlit | Wonderlit

Browse → Ages 12–18 → Themes → Sadness & Grief → Ages 12–18

Books About Sadness & Grief for Ages 12–18

Sadness in adolescence can shade into something heavier: isolation, numbness, the feeling that things won't get better. These 3,622 books don't minimize any of it. They meet teenagers where they are and, mostly, show that the heaviness does eventually shift.

3,622 books

Cover of Gallant

Victoria Schwab

A young woman is pulled between the world she knows and its dark shadow in this gothic tale of family secrets and the pl

Cover of The Ghost's Child

The Ghost's Child

A mysterious child listens as elderly Maddy recounts a life of wild love, a free-spirited man named Feather, and a fanta

Cover of Chasing Redbird

Walk Two Moons #3

Chasing Redbird

While clearing an overgrown settler trail on her family's Kentucky farm, thirteen-year-old Zinny Taylors unearths secret

Cover of Metamorphosis Junior Year

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Popular Series in This Category

2 books in this category

Metamorphosis #1

Metamorphosis Junior Year

Betsy Franco

Ovid processes his sister's disappearance and his parents' high expectations by reimagining his high school classmates a

Ages 14–18

Cover of Love That Dog

Jack finds a surprising way to express his deepest feelings through poetry as he navigates a journey that is both joyful

Cover of Remembering Mrs. Rossi

Remembering Mrs. Rossi

Annie misses her mother deeply, but a special scrapbook filled with messages from her mom's former students helps her ho

Cover of Friendly Face

Fazbear Frights #10

Scott Cawthon, Andrea Rains Waggener

Horror and suspense collide in three chilling tales set within the haunted and dangerous world of Five Nights at Freddy’

Cover of 12 Things to Do Before You Crash and Burn

12 Things to Do Before You Crash and Burn

James Proimos III

James Hercules Martino attempts to finish twelve specific tasks in Baltimore while confronting the complicated memory of

Cover of A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens

A bitter miser travels through his own past, present, and future on Christmas Eve to see if he can reclaim the kindness

Cover of Charlie's Run

Desperate to prevent his parents from separating, Charlie decides the only way to save his family is to run away from ho

Cover of The Last Race

Celeste Walters

Pippa has finally qualified for the Olympics, but the joy of her achievement is clouded by the fact that her best friend

Cover of Poe: Stories and Poems

Poe: Stories and Poems

Gareth Hinds, Edgar Allan Poe

The beating of a tell-tale heart and the rhythmic tapping of a raven come to life through atmospheric illustrations of E

Cover of Operation Eiffel Tower

Operation Eiffel Tower

Join a young protagonist as they navigate the emotional ups and downs of their parents' separation. This touching and hu

Cover of The Haunting in the Attic

The Haunting in the Attic

At exactly 3:11 a.m., Lina unlocks an attic of shifting rooms and spectral echoes to deliver the final messages of vanis

Cover of The Ickabog

For the child questioning why things aren't fair, this fairy tale explores how a kingdom can be misled by lies and how b

Cover of Specters of the Midnight Hour

Specters of the Midnight Hour

Sixteen-year-old Noor opens a forbidden radio frequency at midnight, drawing in restless ghosts who need her help to sol

Cover of Our Only May Amelia

Our Only May Amelia

Jennifer L. Holm

Living in a house full of seven brothers in 1899 Washington, spirited May Amelia Jackson struggles against the pressure

Cover of Dear Papa

Nine-year-old Isabelle process the loss of her father by writing him letters about her life, her family, and the heavy f

Cover of Anne's House of Dreams

Anne of Green Gables #5

Anne's House of Dreams

L. M. Montgomery

Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe begin their new life together in a small cottage, facing the joys and heartaches of thei

Cover of Lost

Alfie and his dad are struggling to stay together after losing the heart of their home, until a new friend named Alice s

Cover of Beat the Turtle Drum

Beat the Turtle Drum

Constance C. Greene

The quiet weight of grief and the search for healing take center stage as a young girl processes the sudden, accidental

Cover of Grief in the Fourth Dimension

Grief in the Fourth Dimension

Two classmates who died young find themselves roommates in a mysterious room where they use radio signals to reach back

Cover of An Acceptable Time

The Time Quintet #5

An Acceptable Time

Madeleine L'Engle

Polly is studying science with her grandparents while grieving a mentor, but the arrival of a troubled student from her

Cover of The Rifle

A handcrafted rifle survives the American Revolution only to pass through many hands and fire again centuries later with

Sadness & Grief for Other Ages

Books About Sadness & Grief for Ages 0–3(340)Books About Sadness & Grief for Ages 4–7(1431)