rachel @ typed truths

Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo

It begins, as the best superhero stories do, with a tragic accident that has unexpected consequences. The squirrel never saw the vacuum cleaner coming, but self-described cynic Flora Belle Buckman, who has read every issue of the comic book Terrible Things Can Happen to You!, is the just the right person to step in and save him. What neither can predict is that Ulysses (the squirrel) has been born anew, with powers of strength, flight, and misspelled poetry—and that Flora will be changed too, as she discovers the possibility of hope and the promise of a capacious heart.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Attempted animal death
Animal attack
Animal illness & injury

Beverly, Right Here by Kate DiCamillo

Beverly Tapinski has run away from home plenty of times, but that was when she was just a kid. By now, she figures, it’s not running away. It’s leaving. Determined to make it on her own, Beverly finds a job and a place to live and tries to forget about her dog, Buddy, now buried underneath the orange trees back home; her friend Raymie, whom she left without a word; and her mom, Rhonda, who has never cared about anyone but herself. Beverly doesn’t want to depend on anyone, and she definitely doesn’t want anyone to depend on her. But despite her best efforts, she can’t… Read more,

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Abandonment
Parent with alcoholism
Smoking mentioned
Bullying
Animal death (pet dog)

The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo

In a time of war, a mysterious child appears at the monastery of the Order of the Chronicles of Sorrowing. Gentle Brother Edik finds the girl, Beatryce, curled in a stall, wracked with fever, coated in dirt and blood and holding fast to the ear of Answelica the recalcitrant goat. As the monk nurses Beatryce to health, he uncovers her dangerous secret – one that imperils them all. And so it is that a girl with a head full of stories must venture into a dark wood in search of the castle of a king who wishes her dead. But should… Read more,

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Parental abandonment mentioned (secondary character)
Death of a mother & father recounted
Murder of a brother recounted
War themes

Ferris by Kate DiCamillo

It’s the summer before fifth grade, and for Ferris Wilkey, it is a summer of sheer pandemonium: Her little sister, Pinky, has vowed to become an outlaw. Uncle Ted has left Aunt Shirley and, to Ferris’s mother’s chagrin, is holed up in the Wilkey basement to paint a history of the world. And Charisse, Ferris’s grandmother, has started seeing a ghost at the threshold of her room, which seems like an alarming omen given that she is also feeling unwell. But the ghost is not there to usher Charisse to the Great Beyond. Rather, she has other plans—wild, impractical, illuminating… Read more,

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Grandparent with a heart condition
Death of a grandmother

The Long Run by James Acker

Sebastian Villeda is over it. Over his rep. Over his bros. Over being “Bash the Flash,” fastest sprinter in South Jersey. His dad is gone, his mom is dead, and his stepfather is clueless. Bash has no idea what he wants out of life. Until he meets Sandro. Sandro Miceli is too nice for his own good. The middle child in an always-growing, always-screaming Italian family, Sandro walks around on a broken foot to not bother his busy parents. All he wants is to get out and never look back. When fate—in the form of a party that gets busted—brings these two very different boys together, neither of them could’ve predicted finding a love that … Read more,

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Homophobia & slurs
Hate crime
Coming out & forced outing
Child abuse (on-page, secondary chracter)
Death of a parent from cancer
Physical assault with knife
Bullying

Chasing Pacquiao by Rod Pulido

Self preservation. That’s Bobby’s motto for surviving his notoriously violent high school unscathed. Being out and queer would put an unavoidable target on his back, especially in a Filipino community that frowns on homosexuality. It’s best to keep his head down, get good grades, and stay out of trouble. But when Bobby is unwillingly outed in a terrible way, he no longer has the luxury of being invisible. A vicious encounter has him scrambling for a new way to survive–by fighting back. Bobby is inspired by champion Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao to take up boxing and challenge his tormentor. Then Pacquiao publicly… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Homophobia & slurs
Hate crime
Coming out & forced outing
Child abuse (on-page, secondary chracter)
Death of a parent from cancer
Physical assault with knife
Bullying

Dirrarn by Carl Merrison and Hakea Hustler

We first met Mia in Black Cockatoo, as she navigated her way through culture, Country and familial ties. Dirrarn follows Mia as she finds herself at boarding school and the challenges of living thousands of kilometres away from home, family, and the big sky country she loves. Mia along with her best friend, Naya, negotiate new friends, new ways of thinking and new ways of being in a different world. As Mia wrestles with all that is unfamiliar, she soon must learn to stand in her truth when confronted with unending challenges.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Bullying

Black Cockatoo by Carl Merrison and Hakea Hustler

Mia is a 13-year-old girl from a remote community in the Kimberley. She is saddened by the loss of her brother as he distances himself from the family. She feels powerless to change the things she sees around her, until one day she rescues her totem animal, the dirran black cockatoo, and soon discovers her own inner strength.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Graphic animal death & cruelty

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human by Kimberly Lemming

When I was a little girl, my Ma used to read me stories every night. Some were of princesses trapped in towers guarded by fierce dragons. The pitiful princess would be stuck inside all day pining for her prince charming to come and rescue her. I always hated those stories. I couldn’t imagine why the lazy thing didn’t just get up and leave. Ironic since I was now stuck in that same situation. Turns out, when a dragon holds you hostage, he doesn’t just let you get up and leave. Who knew? When I thought I saw hope on the horizon, that hope was smashed to bits by – you guessed it – another damn dragon.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Alcohol consumption
Sword violence
Fire
Animal attack

The Stalker by Sarah Alderson

Newly-weds Liam and Laura are spending their honeymoon in paradise: just the two of them on a remote island off the coast of Scotland. But they soon discover that all is not as it seems, and the island has a tragic past. And they can’t shake the feeling of being watched… When one morning, they wake to find a message scratched into the window, their worst fears are confirmed. They aren’t alone on the island. And this stranger wants them dead.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Fatphobia and body shaming (on-page)
Child abuse mentioned
Domestic violence and intimate partner abuse including food deprivation, captivity, physical & sexual assault (on-page)
Rape by a spouse/partner (on-page)
Alcohol consumption
Emesis
Mentions of a parent recovering from cancer
Physical injury and amateur medical treatment (on-page, glass shard stuck in foot)
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a fiance
Death of a mother from a fall down the stairs (later revealed to be murder)
Murder of a husband by gun violence (on-page, self-defence for abuse)
Stalking
Animal injury (crow)
Kidnapping of a pet dog
Murder of a kitten (abusive partner kills the cat off-page by the body is found on-page)