

Learn how to write about mental health in a responsible way that helps people feel seen, fosters understanding, and inspires hope—while taking care of your own well-being too.
Recipients
Spotify x JED Impact Award

Distortion by Daniel Patinkin
During the summer of 1996, Wade Puckett, a struggling musician battling depression and undiagnosed bipolar disorder, travels solo through Europe. There he engages in a torrid affair with a Spanish femme fatale, propelling him through a series of spiritual, formative, enthralling, and even traumatic experiences. Ultimately, however, Wade’s dark past and psychological instability come back to haunt him, sabotaging his relationship and complicating his pursuit of success and happiness.
Daniel J. Patinkin is a Chicago-based author with three published books: The Crippler: Cage Fighting and My Life on the Edge (Skyhorse, 2016), The Trigger: Narratives of the American Shooter (Arcade, 2018), and Vestiges (self-published, 2024). His work has been featured or reviewed in the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, Salon, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Vice, Library Journal, and more.
Daniel J. Patinkin is a Chicago-based author with three published books: The Crippler: Cage Fighting and My Life on the Edge (Skyhorse, 2016), The Trigger: Narratives of the American Shooter (Arcade, 2018), and Vestiges (self-published, 2024). His work has been featured or reviewed in the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, Salon, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Vice, Library Journal, and more.
In-Between Worlds by Solomon Tesfaye
Born in a refugee camp in Yemen, young and spirited Hana tries to make sense of the world when her family relocates to the capital city and works to survive and keep loving each other in the face of cultural barriers, gender roles, and brutality.
Solomon Tesfaye is an Ethiopian writer and management consultant based in Washington, D.C., with a background in behavioral neuroscience from Colgate University and economics/public policy from Princeton University. Born and raised in a refugee camp in Yemen, he draws on lived experience to explore identity, faith, mental health, and what it means to live in-between worlds through the transcontinental black experience.
Solomon Tesfaye is an Ethiopian writer and management consultant based in Washington, D.C., with a background in behavioral neuroscience from Colgate University and economics/public policy from Princeton University. Born and raised in a refugee camp in Yemen, he draws on lived experience to explore identity, faith, mental health, and what it means to live in-between worlds through the transcontinental black experience.

Infinite Delores by Bree Barton
After her dad leaves thirteen-year-old Del and her mom to search for "better" versions of them across parallel universes, Del must face her anxiety and team up with alternate versions of herself to stop the multiverse from collapsing—and discover what it means to be “enough."
Bree Barton is an award-winning author, screenwriter, and mental health advocate who believes stories have the power to heal. She’s written four novels (HarperCollins, Viking/Penguin Random House) translated into six languages and published in nine countries, including the NPR-featured ZIA ERASES THE WORLD. Through her advocacy and essays in Slate, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today, Bree uses authentic storytelling to destigmatize sticky subjects like mental illness and infertility.
Bree Barton is an award-winning author, screenwriter, and mental health advocate who believes stories have the power to heal. She’s written four novels (HarperCollins, Viking/Penguin Random House) translated into six languages and published in nine countries, including the NPR-featured ZIA ERASES THE WORLD. Through her advocacy and essays in Slate, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today, Bree uses authentic storytelling to destigmatize sticky subjects like mental illness and infertility.

More Than Quiet by Terah Tsuyako Summers
A teen struggling with anxiety, nearly invisible in her family and school, retreats into the fantasy she’s penning, but an invitation to a writing club allows her to begin breaking down the walls she’s built around herself.
Terah Tsuyako Summers is a biracial, Japanese-American writer born and raised in Hawai'i. She is a passionate mental health advocate and serves as a coordinator for Mental Health America of Hawai'i. Through her writing, she hopes to connect with young readers—especially those navigating mental health challenges—so they feel seen, validated, and less alone.
Terah Tsuyako Summers is a biracial, Japanese-American writer born and raised in Hawai'i. She is a passionate mental health advocate and serves as a coordinator for Mental Health America of Hawai'i. Through her writing, she hopes to connect with young readers—especially those navigating mental health challenges—so they feel seen, validated, and less alone.

The Invisible Runner by Dennis Haseley
A boy comes to terms with his father’s war trauma in a baseball game that turns into a ghostly battlefield.
Dennis Haseley is the critically acclaimed author of numerous books for adults and younger readers. His novel Shadows (Farrar Straus & Giroux) was described in The New York Times Book Review as “one of those rarities—a beautifully written novel for readers in the middle grades.” According to Publishers Weekly, his novel Dr. Gravity (Farrar) offered the same kind of whimsy as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. His screenplay for his novel Trick of the Eye (Dial Press) is in development.
Dennis Haseley is the critically acclaimed author of numerous books for adults and younger readers. His novel Shadows (Farrar Straus & Giroux) was described in The New York Times Book Review as “one of those rarities—a beautifully written novel for readers in the middle grades.” According to Publishers Weekly, his novel Dr. Gravity (Farrar) offered the same kind of whimsy as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. His screenplay for his novel Trick of the Eye (Dial Press) is in development.






