Merit by Devney Perry

The world loves Maverick Houston. Me? I’ve hated him since we were ten. It’s not exactly easy to escape your childhood nemesis when your parents are best friends who live on the same block. Through countless vacations, parties and holidays, Maverick and I have spent the past decade trading insults. Until that family dinner when his mother tells us she’s dying. When she asks us to forget the past and start fresh. That’s how I found myself on a date with the Treasure State Wildcats football star. The campus playboy. The boy I kissed when I was three. The man who is the… Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Anxiety
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent from cancer

Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry

The gods sent monsters to the five kingdoms to remind mortals they must kneel. I’ve spent my life kneeling―to their will and to my father’s. As a princess, my only duty is to wear the crown and obey the king. I was never meant to rule. Never meant to fight. And I was never supposed to be the daughter who sealed an ancient treaty with her own blood. But that changed the fateful day I stepped into my father’s throne room. The day a legendary monster hunter sailed to our shores. The day a prince ruined my life. Now I’m crossing treacherous lands beside a warrior who despises me as… Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Suicidal ideation & mentions of suicide
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Infertility, stillbirths & pregnancy mentioned
  • Blood & injury depiction, including forced medical experimentation, hospitalisation, & dismemberment
  • Death of a partner during childbirth mentioned
  • Poisoning mentioned
  • Fire
  • Animal death

The Intruder by Freida McFadden

Casey’s cabin in the wilderness is not built for a hurricane. Her roof shakes, the lights flicker, and the tree outside her front door sways ominously in the wind. But she’s a lot more worried about the girl she discovers lurking outside her kitchen window. She’s young. She’s alone. And she’s covered in blood. The girl won’t explain where she came from or loosen her grip on the knife in her right hand. And when Casey makes a disturbing discovery in the middle of the night, things take a turn for the worse. The girl has a dark secret. One she’ll kill to keep. And if Casey gets too close to the truth, she may not live to see the morning.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse
  • Emotional & physical domestic abuse
  • Hoarding Disorder
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Fire

One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune

Good things happen at the lake. That’s what Alice’s grandmother says, and it’s true. Alice spent just one summer there at a cottage with Nan when she was seventeen—it’s where she took that photo, the one of three grinning teenagers in a yellow speedboat, the image that changed her life. Now Alice lives behind a lens. As a photographer, she’s most comfortable on the sidelines, letting other people shine. Lately though, she’s been itching for something more, and when Nan falls and breaks her hip, Alice comes up with a plan for them both: another summer in that magical place, Barry’s Bay. But as soon as they settle in… Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Fatphobia & dieting discussed
  • Parental divorce recounted
  • Infidelity recounted
  • Anxiety & depression
  • Nightmare
  • Alcohol consumption & drug use
  • Pregnancy mentioned (secondary character)
  • Protagonist with a congenital heart condition (aortic valve stenosis & aortic coarctation), which requires open heart surgery
  • Mild physical illness (heatstroke) & mentions of a grandparent recovering from emergency hip replacement surgery
  • Death of a parent in a car accident
  • Death of a grandfather recounted
  • Death of a best friend recounted

Flip by Ngozi Ukazu

Chi-Chi Ekeh has one huge problem: She keeps having crushes on rich white boys who have no idea she exists. Enter Flip Henderson, the most popular boy at school, who receives Chi-Chi’s private video proposal to go to senior prom. But when Flip rejects Chi-Chi in front of their entire class, what happens next is completely unexpected: Chi-Chi―shy nerd and scholarship student―switches bodies with Flip. Suddenly Chi-Chi is 6’1” and cool, while Flip gets a crash course on Chi-Chi’s life―that is, k-pop, hair-braiding, and being a poor kid of color at a rich white private school. With… Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & classism
  • Depression
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Alcoholism & alcohol consumption
  • Incarceration

Fitting Indian by Jyoti Chand & Tara Anand

All Nitasha’s parents want is for her to be the perfect Indian daughter—something she is decidedly not. Everything she does seems to disappoint them, especially her mom. They just don’t get that she’ll never be like her doctor older brother. To make matters worse, she’s never quite felt like she belongs at school either, and lately, her best friend, Ava, and her crush, Henry, seem to be more interested in the rich new girl than in her. Alcohol takes the edge off, but when that doesn’t work, Nitasha turns to cutting. She can’t stop asking herself: Will she ever be enough for her friends or her family? Or even for herself?

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slut-shaming
  • Alcoholism & alcohol abuse (protagonist)
  • Self-harm & attempted suicide (on-page, protagonist)
  • Cyberbullying

Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen

After burning out last year, Angelica is ready to get her life back together. Thankfully she has amazing friends to support her, including Peri the Bear, the mascot of her town’s local theatre. At her lowest moments, Angelica found comfort in private messaging Peri’s social media account, and well, she might have a bit of a crush. Now, Angelica is interning at the local theatre in the hopes of finding the person behind the account and thanking them. Who was this mysterious stranger and why did they help her out? Was it just caring for a stranger…or did they feel the same connection that Angelica felt?

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity (on-page)
  • Depression
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a grandparent (off-page)

King of the Neuro Verse by Idris Goodwin

For the third summer in a row, Pernell is back in the classroom, facing the same struggles that have always made school seem more like a battlefield than a place of learning. This summer is different, he’s battling to become the Cypher King, leader of the lunchroom’s impromptu rap circles. Here, the rhythm flows and the words fly, creating a space where the wittiest and most rhythmically inclined reign supreme. Here, Pernell’s ADHD gives him an edge. But life outside the cypher isn’t as forgiving. Pernell’s English teacher has it out for him. His parents are pressuring him to see… Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical ableism (theme)
  • Death of a parent

Love, Misha by Askel Aden

Can this road trip get any worse? Yes, Mom (Audrey) wanted to spend time with Misha. And yes, she’s never around and they don’t even live together, so this is a rare opportunity. But Audrey still thinks of Misha as her daughter, despite Misha being non-binary and trying to talk to her openly about it. Misha even tries to write how they feel in a letter, but that isn’t going well either. Then a wrong turn down a forest road leads the mother-child duo straight into the Realm of Spirits! Suddenly in peril and without a clue how to return to their… Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misgendering

All the Noise at Once by DeAndra Davis

All Aiden ever wanted to do was play football just like his star quarterback brother, Brandon. Unfortunately, due to Aiden’s autism, summer football tryouts did not go well when Aiden finds himself at the bottom of a pile-up resulting in an over-stimulation meltdown. But when the school year starts, a spot on the team opens urgently needing to be filled. Aiden finally gets his chance to play the game he loves most. However, not every team member is happy about Aiden’s position on the team, wary of how his autism will present itself on game day. Tensions rise. A fight breaks out. Cops are called. When Brandon tries to interfere… Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & ableism
  • Police brutality
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Incarceration for physical assault
  • Emesis