Uses a story format to introduce young children to the concept of feeling sad. Includes suggestions for activites and notes for parents and teachers. Suggested level: junior.

This friendly picture book helps young children make sense of mixed-up emotions. Happy, and also sad. Excited, but nervous too. Feeling friendly, with a little shyness mixed in. Mixed feelings are natural, but they can be confusing. There are different kinds of happy—the quiet kind and the “noisy, giggly, jump and run” kind. And there are conflicting feelings, like proud and jealous, frustrated and determined. With gentle messaging and charming illustrations, a little girl talks about her many layered feelings, ultimately concluding, “When I have more than one feeling inside me, I don’t have to choose just one. I know that all my feelings are okay at the same time.” A special section for adults presents ideas for helping children explore their emotions, build a vocabulary of feeling words, know what to do if they feel overwhelmed, and more.

Sometimes I feel sad. Sometimes it's because I've lost something. Or because I'm hurt. Other times I don't know why I feel sad. I just do. Feeling sad is, unfortunately, a part of everyone's life, and there's not always an easy fix. This touching book helps explain to children aged 5-11 that they're not alone in feeling this way, and is especially useful for children who struggle to express their feelings.

Most of us have bouts of unexplained sadness. Just because we feel sad doesn't mean something is wrong. It may be a time to reassess our goals, to have some down time. It may signal a time of transition, a shift in our identity. The Uses of Sadness helps us understand the nuances of sadness, and how it differs from depression. Sadness helps us access a deeper part of ourselves. As we then become a little bigger, wiser and more compassionate than we were, our lives are enriched and we in turn enrich the lives of others.

Author and illustrator Lee Crutchley brings his lively interactive approach to a little-discussed but very common issue: the struggle with depression and anxiety. Through a series of supportive, surprising, and engaging prompts, HOW TO BE HAPPY (OR AT LEAST LESS SAD) helps readers see things in a new light, and rediscover simple pleasures and everyday joy…or at least feel a little less sad. By turns a workbook, trusted friend, creative outlet, security blanket, and secret diary, the pages of this book will offer solace, distraction, engagement, a fresh perspective, and hopeful new beginnings—for readers of all ages and walks of life.

An irresistibly blackhearted comedy about doctors, dating, dogs, and depression Janet works at a ramshackle dog shelter in the woods. She has a passive-aggressive boyfriend, a meddlesome family, and a clutch of eccentric coworkers. Most of all, she has her "sad"--a comfortable cloak of gloomy realism that brings her comfort when everyone around her has surrendered to the permanent promise of pharmaceutical bliss. Janet wants no part of this, and her family has nearly given up on her. That is, until the fateful summer when word spreads of a new pill that offers even confirmed cynics a short-term taste of happiness . . . just long enough to make it through the holidays without sinking into depression. When her family stages an intervention, her boyfriend leaves her, and the prospect of making it through Christmas alone seems like too much, Janet decides to give in to the pressure. What follows is life-changing for all concerned--in ways no one quite expected. Sharp-tongued, relentlessly witty, yet surprisingly warm, Sad Janet is the depression comedy you never knew you needed.

Three strangers find solace and friendship at a Martha’s Vineyard beach house one summer in this touching novel by the author of Living Single. The little beach house on Martha’s Vineyard has a rickety porch and no closets, but the gorgeous location is unbeatable—and more than enough to entice three total strangers into a house share for the summer . . . At first, the only thing Gincy, Danielle, and Clare have in common is a desire to spend weekends away from the city. No-nonsense Gincy has worked hard to leave her small-town childhood behind. Danielle grew up with every advantage and is looking for a husband who’ll fit neatly into her pampered life, while Clare is enjoying a last burst of independence before marrying her ambitious fiancé. Yet lazy beach days and warm, conversation-filled nights forge an unexpected connection. And over the course of one eventful summer, Gincy, Danielle, and Clare will discover that friendship isn’t always measured in how well you know a person’s past—but in opening each other’s eyes to everything the future could hold . . . Praise for the writing of Holly Chamberlin “Nostalgia over real-life friendships lost and regained pulls readers into the story.” —USA Today on Summer Friends “It does the trick as a beach book and provides a touristy taste of Maine’s seasonal attractions.” —Publishers Weekly on The Family Beach House