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This Vast Land by Stephen E Ambrose

This Vast Land by Stephen E. Ambrose

In a story muscled with truth and imagination, Stephen E. Ambrose recounts the epoch-making 1803 expedition of Lewis and Clark through the words of a young man. Finding foes and friends among Native Americans, surviving sickness and hunger, choosing between a woman and the life he left behind, George Shannon grows up as the corps forges a way west. Drawing on his encyclopedic knowledge of the subject, Ambrose creates the fictional diary of nineteen-year-old George Shannon, who was in fact the youngest member of Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery. He conjures the journey west with stunning clarity, calling on the bravery of Daniel Boone, the pragmatic courage of Sacajawea, the overarching, relentless vision of Meriwether Lewis.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism
Alcohol consumption
Smoking
Murder
Scalping
War themes
Animal death

We Didn’t Ask for This by Adi Alsaid

We Didn’t Ask for This by Adi Alsaid

Central International School’s annual lock-in is legendary. Bonds are made. Contests are fought. Stories are forged that will be passed down from student to student for years to come.

This year’s lock-in begins normally enough. Then a group of students led by Marisa Cuevas stage an ecoprotest and chain themselves to the doors, vowing to keep everyone trapped inside until their list of demands is met.

Some students rally to their cause…but others are aggrieved to watch their own plans fall apart… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Alcohol consumption
Smoking mentioned
Physical injury, specifically a broken leg
Hostage situation
Bullying

Jackdaw Summer by David Almond

Jackdaw Summer by David Almond

Also known as Raven Summer.

Daisy, Esther, and Susan’s last year at university is getting a bumpy start, with everything strange after Ed’s declaration of love followed by grievous injury, Daisy with nowhere to live, and McGraw and Susan at odds over their new flat!

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Cheating mentioned
Self harm
Alcohol consumption
Burn scars
Death of a child recounted
Murder & attempted murder
Knife violence & stabbing
House fire recounted
Animal death

Giant Days Vol 10 by John Allison and Max Sarin

Giant Days, Vol. 10 by John Allison and Max Sarin

The final year of university is about to start for best mates Daisy, Esther, and Susan, and everything is going completely off the rails. From finding somewhere to live at the last minute, to broken bones, to the looming terror of the adult world, this semester is one you won’t want to miss.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Coming out themes
Forced outing
Bimisia
Alcohol consumption

Giant Days Vol 11 by John Allison and Max Sarin

Giant Days, Vol. 11 by John Allison and Max Sarin

It’s Daisy, Esther and Susan’s third year at university, and with that comes new beaus, new jobs, and new adventures.

The third (and final!) year of university is finally here, and BFFs Daisy, Esther, and Susan are in for some surprising upsets in their first semester. Between Halloween run-ins with Daisy’s dreaded (dreadful) ex, part time gigs at a shady pop-up Christmas market, Esther dating a tech-bro and Susan attempting to be…romantic, there’s still plenty to learn and more than enough misadventure to squeeze in before it’s time to don caps and gowns!

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism & ableist language
Forced outing to a relative recounted
Alcohol consumption

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

Skyler, Ellie, Scarlett and Amelia Grace are forced to spend In one of the most important and beloved Latin American works of the twentieth century, Isabel Allende weaves a luminous tapestry of three generations of the Trueba family, revealing both triumphs and tragedies. Here is patriarch Esteban, whose wild desires and political machinations are tempered only by his love for his ethereal wife, Clara, a woman touched by an otherworldly hand. Their daughter, Blanca, whose forbidden love for a man Esteban has deemed unworthy infuriates her father, yet will produce his greatest joy: his granddaughter Alba, a beautiful, ambitious girl who will lead the family and their country into a revolutionary future.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Rape
Domestic abuse
Child abuse
Substance addiction
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use
Pregnancy from rape
Graphic abortion
Autopsy
Decapitation
Death of a sister
Murder
Torture
Car accident
Imprisonment
Earthquake
Death of a pet

The Summer of Impossibilities by Rachael Allen

The Summer of Impossibilities by Rachael Allen

Skyler, Ellie, Scarlett and Amelia Grace are forced to spend the summer at the lake house where their moms became best friends. One can’t wait. One would rather gnaw off her own arm than hang out with a bunch of strangers just so their moms can drink too much wine and sing Journey two o’clock in the morning. Two are sisters. Three are currently feuding with their mothers.

One almost sets her crush on fire with a flaming marshmallow. Two steal the boat for a midnight joyride that goes horribly, awkwardly wrong. All of them are hiding something. One falls in love with a boy she thought she despised. Two fall in love with each other. None of them are the same at the end of the summer.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Self harm recounted

Brass Carriages and Glass Hearts by Nancy Campbell Allen

Brass Carriages and Glass Hearts by Nancy Campbell Allen

Emmeline O’Shea is determined to save the world—single-handedly, if necessary. A strong voice for societal reform, she is the natural choice to deliver a key speech at the end of the International Shifter Rights Organization’s week-long Summit in Scotland.

But when a death threat arrives at Emme’s home, she is immediately placed into protective custody, watched over by none other than her personal nemesis, Detective-Inspector Oliver Reed. The two have crossed paths many times, with disastrous results, but now they will have to work together in order to reach the Summit before midnight of the last day in order to ensure legislation is passed to protect the Shifter community… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Kidnapping

Misfit in Love by SK Ali

Misfit in Love by S.K. Ali

Janna Yusuf is so excited for the weekend: her brother Muhammad’s getting married, and she’s reuniting with her mom, whom she’s missed the whole summer. And Nuah’s arriving for the weekend too. Sweet, constant Nuah.

The last time she saw him, Janna wasn’t ready to reciprocate his feelings for her. But things are different now. She’s finished high school, ready for college…and ready for Nuah.

It’s time for Janna’s (carefully planned) summer of love to begin—starting right at the wedding… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism

25 Days ‘Til Christmas by Poppy Alexander

25 Days ‘Til Christmas by Poppy Alexander

Kate Potter used to love Christmas. A few years ago, she would have been wrapping her presents in September and baking mince pies on Halloween, counting down the days and hours to Christmas. But that was before Kate’s husband left for the army and never came home. Now she can hardly stand December at all.

Kate can’t deny she’s lonely, yet she doesn’t think she’s ready for romance. She knows that her son, Jack, needs a Christmas to remember—just like Kate needs a miracle to help her finally move forward with her life. So she’s decided if there isn’t a miracle on its way, she’ll just have to make her own… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Sexual harassment
Suicide