rachel @ typed truths

A Boy Called Bat by Elana K Arnold

A Boy Called Bat by Elana K. Arnold

For Bixby Alexander Tam (nicknamed Bat), life tends to be full of surprises — some of them good, some not so good. Today, though, is a good-surprise day. Bat’s mom, a veterinarian, has brought home a baby skunk, which she needs to take care of until she can hand him over to a wild-animal shelter.

But the minute Bat meets the kit, he knows they belong together. And he’s got one month to show his mom that a baby skunk might just make a pretty terrific pet.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Animal death

The Question of Miracles by Elana K Arnold

The Question of Miracles by Elana K. Arnold

Sixth-grader Iris Abernathy hates life in Corvallis, Oregon, where her family just moved. It’s always raining, and everything is so wet. Besides, nothing has felt right since Iris’s best friend, Sarah, died.

When Iris meets Boris, an awkward mouth-breather with a know-it-all personality, she’s not looking to make a new friend, but it beats eating lunch alone. Then she learns that Boris’s very existence is a medical mystery, maybe even a miracle, and Iris starts to wonder why some people get miracles and others don’t. And if one miracle is possible, can another one be too? Can she possibly communicate with Sarah again?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Grief & loss depiction
Death of a best friend (theme)

The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik by David Arnold

The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik by David Arnold

This is Noah Oakman → sixteen, Bowie believer, concise historian, disillusioned swimmer, son, brother, friend.

Then Noah → gets hypnotized.

Now Noah → sees changes: his mother has a scar on her face that wasn’t there before; his old dog, who once walked with a limp, is suddenly lithe; his best friend, a lifelong DC Comics disciple, now rotates in the Marvel universe. Subtle behaviors, bits of history, plans for the future–everything in Noah’s world has been rewritten. Everything except his Strange Fascinations . . .

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Homomisia
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use mentioned
Coma

Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett

Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett

One morning, Jessa-Lynn Morton walks into the family taxidermy shop to find that her father has committed suicide, right there on one of the metal tables. Shocked and grieving, Jessa steps up to manage the failing business, while the rest of the Morton family crumbles. Her mother starts sneaking into the shop to make aggressively lewd art with the taxidermied animals. Her brother Milo withdraws, struggling to function. And Brynn, Milo’s wife—and the only person Jessa’s ever been in love with—walks out without a word. As Jessa seeks out less-than-legal ways of generating income, her mother’s art escalates—picture a figure of her dead husband and a stuffed buffalo in an uncomfortably sexual pose—and the Mortons reach a tipping point. For the first time, Jessa has no choice but to learn who these people truly are, and ultimately how she fits alongside them.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Child abuse & neglect
Depression
Self harm
Alcohol abuse
Drug abuse
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a father from suicide
Graphic animal death

Almost Flying by Jake Maia Arlow

Almost Flying by Jake Maia Arlow

Would-be amusement park aficionado Dalia only has two items on her summer bucket list: (1) finally ride a roller coaster and (2) figure out how to make a new best friend. But when her dad suddenly announces that he’s engaged, Dalia’s schemes come to a screeching halt. With Dalia’s future stepsister Alexa heading back to college soon, the grown-ups want the girls to spend the last weeks of summer bonding–meaning Alexa has to cancel the amusement park road trip she’s been planning for months.

Luckily Dalia comes up with a new plan: If she joins Alexa on her trip and brings Rani, the new girl from her swim team, along maybe she can have the perfect summer after all. But what starts out as a week of funnel cakes and Lazy River rides goes off the rails when Dalia discovers that Alexa’s girlfriend is joining the trip.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Forced outing

We Are All That’s Left by Carrie Arcos

We Are All That’s Left by Carrie Arcos

Zara and her mother, Nadja, have a strained relationship. Nadja just doesn’t understand Zara’s creative passion for, and self-expression through, photography. And Zara doesn’t know how to reach beyond their differences and connect to a closed-off mother who refuses to speak about her past in Bosnia. But when a bomb explodes as they’re shopping in their local farmers’ market in Rhode Island, Zara is left with PTSD–and her mother is left in a coma. Without the opportunity to get to know her mother, Zara is left with questions–not just about her mother, but about faith, religion, history, and her own path forward.

As Zara tries to sort through her confusion, she meets Joseph, whose grandmother is also in the hospital, and whose exploration of religion and philosophy offer comfort and insight into Zara’s own line of thinking.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Attempted rape
Suicidal ideation
Alcohol consumption
SMoking
Blood & physical injury depiction
Murder
Gun violence
Explosions
Physical assault
Bosnian War

Under the Radar by Victor Appleton

Under the Radar by Victor Appleton

Tom and his dad are in the park testing out Tom’s new invisibility suit when suddenly a van pulls up — and kidnaps Mr. Swift!

Tom is panicked — who would want to abduct his father? A strategy meeting is held and the FBI is called. But things get tricky when it looks like the kidnapping was an inside operation. Despite the FBI’s insistence that Tom stay out of the investigation, Tom and his sister, Sandy, are determined to find their father — and whoever is responsible for taking him, whether it’s TRB, their rivals at FUG, or even the FBI itself!

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Kidnapping of a parent
Car accident

Beware the Power of the Dark Side by Tom Angleberger

Beware the Power of the Dark Side! by Tom Angleberger

Acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author Tom Angleberger delivers a captivating retelling of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi like you’ve never experienced before, infusing the iconic, classic tale of good versus evil with a unique perspective and narrative style that will speak directly to today’s young readers while enhancing the Star Wars experience for core fans of the saga.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Death of a child
Murder
Explosion

They Never Learn by Layne Fargo

They Never Learn by Layne Fargo

Scarlett Clark is an exceptional English professor. But she’s even better at getting away with murder.

Every year, she searches for the worst man at Gorman University and plots his well-deserved demise. Thanks to her meticulous planning, she’s avoided drawing attention to herself—but as she’s preparing for her biggest kill yet, the school starts probing into the growing body count on campus. Determined to keep her enemies close, Scarlett insinuates herself into the investigation and charms the woman in charge, Dr. Mina Pierce. Everything’s going according to her master plan… until she loses control with her latest victim, putting her secret life at risk of exposure… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Misogyny
Victim blaming
Rape
Nonconsensual voyeurism mentioned
Cheating
Domestic abuse mentioned
Anxiety
Suicide mentioned
Alcohol consumption
Blood depiction
Emesis
Murder

Seagulls Don’t Eat Pickles by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

Seagulls Don’t Eat Pickles by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

When bully Bryce Billings bets Fish Finelli that he can’t find Captain Kidd’s legendary long-lost treasure, Fish and his friends embark on a quest to find real-life pirate treasure. Between sneaking into the library to track down Captain Kidd’s map, stowing away on a boat, and trespassing on an island, Fish and his friends have their work cut out for them. But will Fish actually be able to find Captain Kidd’s booty and win the bet?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Bullying