Fig

A parent would reach for this book when their teenager is grappling with the heavy emotional burden of a parent's severe mental illness or expresses fear about their own genetic predisposition to psychological struggles. Fig is a beautifully written, haunting story of a young girl trying to 'save' her mother from schizophrenia through magical thinking and rituals. It explores themes of sacrificial love, the loss of childhood innocence, and the terrifying blurred lines between reality and delusion. While the subject matter is intense, it provides a vital mirror for teens who feel isolated by family secrets and the stigma of mental health, offering a path toward understanding their own identity outside of their family's trauma.