rachel @ typed truths

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.

Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line…. Read more.

Goo d reads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Death of a parent recounted
Animal death, including death due to neglect
Animal abuse

Yassmin’s Story by Yassmin Abdel-Magied

Yassmin’s Story by Yassmin Abdel-Magied

Frank, fearless, funny, articulate, and inspiring, Yassmin Abdel-Magied is a young Muslim dynamo offering a bracing breath of fresh air—and hope. At 21, Yassmin found herself working on a remote Australian oil and gas rig; she was the only woman and certainly the only Sudanese-Egyptian-Australian background Muslim woman. With her hijab quickly christened a “tea cosy,” there could not be a more unlikely place on earth for a young Muslim woman to want to be. This is the story of how she got there, where she is going, and how she wants the world to change.

Born in the Sudan, Yassmin and her parents moved to Brisbane when she was two, and she has been tackling barriers ever since… Read more.

Goo d reads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Misogyny
Islamomisia
Death of a grandparent

Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia

Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia

Trina: “Hey,” I say, though I don’t really know them. The boyed-up basketball girl barely moves. The others, her girls, step aside. It’s okay if they don’t speak. I know how it is. They can’t all be Trina.

Dominique: Some stupid little flit cuts right in between us and is like, “Hey.” Like she don’t see I’m here and all the space around me is mines. I slam my fist into my other hand because she’s good as jumped.

Leticia: Why would I get involved in Trina’s life when I don’t know for sure if I saw what I thought I saw? Who is to say I wasn’t seeing it from the wrong angle?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Lesbomisia & lesbomisic slurs
Coma
Physical assault

Waiting by Carol Lynn Williams

Waiting by Carol Lynn Williams

Growing up in Africa and Latin America as the children of missionaries, London and Zach were as close as could be. And then Zach dies, and the family is gutted. London’s father is distant. Her mother won’t speak. The days are filled with what-ifs and whispers: Did Zach take his own life? Was it London’s fault?

Alone and adrift, London finds herself torn between her brother’s best friend and the handsome new boy in town as she struggles to find herself—and ultimately redemption.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Teen pregnancy
Depression
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a brother by suicide

How to Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams

How to Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams

One daring to-do list and a crash course in flirtation turn a Type A overachiever’s world upside down.

When her flailing department lands on the university’s chopping block, Professor Naya Turner’s friends convince her to shed her frumpy cardigan for an evening on the town. For one night her focus will stray from her demanding job and she’ll tackle a new kind of to-do list. When she meets a charming stranger in town on business, he presents the perfect opportunity to check off the items on her list. Let the guy buy her a drink. Check. Try something new. Check. A no-strings-attached hookup. Check…almost…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Revenge porn
Attempted rape (chp. 41)
Emotional abuse & gaslighting
Physical & psychological intimate partner abuse
Cheating recounted
Emesis
Stalking

The Fastest Way To Fall by Denise Williams

The Fastest Way To Fall by Denise Williams

Britta Colby works for a lifestyle website, and when tasked to write about her experience with a hot new body-positive fitness app that includes personal coaching, she knows it’s a major opportunity to prove she should write for the site full-time.

As CEO of the FitMe app, Wes Lawson finally has the financial security he grew up without, but despite his success, his floundering love life and complicated family situation leaves him feeling isolated and unfulfilled. He decides to get back to what he loves—coaching. Britta’s his first new client and they click immediately… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Eating disorder mentioned
Alcohol & drug abuse off-page

*Note : Intentional changes in exercise and nutrition habits by the main characters, that do not include dieting, are depicted on-page.

Commute by Erin Williams

Commute by Erin Williams

In Commute, we follow author and illustrator Erin Williams on her daily commute to and from work, punctuated by recollections of sexual encounters as well as memories of her battle with alcoholism, addiction, and recovery. As she moves through the world navigating banal, familiar, and sometimes uncomfortable interactions with the familiar-faced strangers she sees daily, Williams weaves together a riveting collection of flashbacks. Her recollections highlight the indefinable moments when lines are crossed and a woman must ask herself if the only way to avoid being objectified is to simply cease to draw any attention to her physical being.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Misogyny
Homomisia
Amisia
Fatmisia
Rape
Sexual assault
Alcoholism

My Life as a Hashtag by Gabrielle Williams

My Life as a Hashtag by Gabrielle Williams

I’d been warned – in French, no less. By a tram-riding, mermaid-swaying, wolf-eaten, peace-sign flipping friend. I knew she wouldn’t be happy if I stayed out here by the pool, with Jed’s nail tracing the length of my neck.

But I didn’t want to go inside. I didn’t want another drink. I wanted to stay out here and see what would happen.

What’s a girl to do when her parents have split up; her mum’s trawling Tinder; and one of her best friends has decided not to invite her to the biggest party of the year, which she then has to watch unfold on everyone else’s social media? … Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism & ableist language
Childbirth and premature birth
Bullying

This Train Is Being Held by Ismée Amiel Williams

This Train Is Being Held by Ismée Amiel Williams

When private school student Isabelle Warren first meets Dominican-American Alex Rosario on the downtown 1 train, she remembers his green eyes and his gentlemanly behavior. He remembers her untroubled happiness, something he feels all rich kids must possess. That, and her long dancer legs. Over the course of multiple subway encounters spanning the next three years, Isabelle learns of Alex’s struggle with his father, who is hell-bent on Alex being a contender for the major leagues, despite Alex’s desire to go to college and become a poet. Alex learns about Isabelle’s unstable mother, a woman with a prejudice against Latino men. But fate—and the 1 train—throw them together when Isabelle needs Alex most.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism & racial profiling
Suicidal ideation
Attempted suicide off-page
Depression
Bipolar Disorder
Overdose
Police brutality
Gang violence

Water in May by Ismée Amiel Williams

Water in May by Ismée Amiel Williams

Fifteen-year-old Mari Pujols believes that the baby she’s carrying will finally mean she’ll have a family member who will love her deeply and won’t ever leave her—not like her mama, who took off when she was eight; or her papi, who’s in jail; or her abuela, who wants as little to do with her as possible. But when doctors discover a potentially fatal heart defect in the fetus, Mari faces choices she never could have imagined.

Surrounded by her loyal girl crew, her off-and-on boyfriend, and a dedicated doctor, Mari navigates a decision that could emotionally cripple the bravest of women. But both Mari and the broken-hearted baby inside her are fighters; and it doesn’t take long to discover that this sick baby has the strength to heal an entire family.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism
Homomisia
Transmisia
Sex worker shaming
Attempted rape
Death of a newborn
Surgery