Taylor and Jade: A True Story of Mental Health in Teenage America

Once upon a time, a girl named Jade had a panic attack in freshman English. Once upon a time, a girl named Taylor walked into her parents’ bedroom and said, “I think I need to see a therapist.” Once upon a time, everyone thought teenagers were just kids—free from serious, real-world problems. Now, everyone knows better.

JADE lives in the rural Midwest. Her family life is rough. Sometimes she doesn’t want to go home at all. She’d rather spend time at her boyfriend’s house, at her job, or even at school. Her classmates can be cruel, but at least some of the teachers and counselors actually listen to her. Jade is strong; if she can just make it to her eighteenth birthday, she’ll be free. But it’s hard. So many days, she wonders: Am I burden? Do I deserve to be happy? Do I have any control over my own life?

TAYLOR is a city kid: Harlem, the Bronx, anywhere the subway can take her. Is it her, though? Sometimes Taylor feels more like a they. Taylor knows their parents love them, but do their parents understand them? Does anyone? For Taylor, figuring out relationships is hard. Managing friendships is hard. Sometimes just getting out of bed is hard.

For Taylor and Jade, depression, anxiety, and trauma are facts of life. But so is their daily fight to rise above the darkness. In this powerful and propulsive read, you’ll join them on their often harrowing journey through high school. You’ll meet the people in their lives—the ones who help, and the ones who hurt. You’ll see the world the way Taylor and Jade do—in all its joy and complexity and pain. And maybe in getting to know them, you’ll even see yourself more clearly.

With a thoughtful forward by Dr. Stephanie Pinder-Amaker, the founding director of the College Mental Health Program at McLean Hospital and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, Taylor and Jade is essential reading for today’s teens and the adults who love them.