Category Archives: Entries

A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler

A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler

In Oak Knoll, a verdant, tight-knit North Carolina neighborhood, professor of forestry and ecology Valerie Alston-Holt is raising her bright and talented biracial son. Xavier is headed to college in the fall, and after years of single parenting, Valerie is facing the prospect of an empty nest. All is well until the Whitmans move in next door – an apparently traditional family with new money, ambition, and a secretly troubled teenaged daughter. Thanks to his thriving local business, Brad Whitman is something of a celebrity around town, and he’s made a small fortune on his customer… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racial slurs
  • Rape
  • Incest (step-parent/step-child)
  • Suicide
  • Death of a husband from a brain injury
  • Murder by gun violence (dream sequence)

Stung by Bethany Wiggins

Stung by Bethany Wiggins

There is no cure for being stung. Fiona doesn’t remember going to sleep. But when she awakens, her world no longer exists. Her house is abandoned and broken. Her neighborhood is barren and dead. And there is a tattoo on her right hand. A tattoo Fiona doesn’t remember getting…but somehow she must conceal at any cost. Because humanity has been divided. Those bearing the tattoo have turned into mindless, violent beasts that roam the streets and sewers, preying upon the unbranded, while a select few live protected inside a fortresslike wall… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sex slavery
  • Rape
  • Starvation

Not Your Villain by CB Lee

Not Your Villain by C.B. Lee

Bells Broussard thought he had it made when his superpowers manifested early. Being a shapeshifter is awesome. He can change his hair whenever he wants, and if putting on a binder for the day is too much, he’s got it covered. But that was before he became the country’s most-wanted villain. After discovering a massive cover-up by the Heroes’ League of Heroes, Bells and his friends Jess, Emma, and Abby set off on a secret mission to find the Resistance. Meanwhile, power-hungry former hero Captain Orion is on the loose with a dangerous serum that renders… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Gender dysphoria
  • Blood depiction
  • Needles mentioned
  • Hormone Replacement Therapy
  • Medical experimentation
  • Explosion
  • Physical assault
  • Fire
  • Kidnapping
  • Imprisonment
  • Disappearance of a loved one

Whiskey Chaser by Lucy Score with Claire Kingsley

Whiskey Chaser by Lucy Score with Claire Kingsley

Raised by her three overbearing brothers, Scarlett is a hell-raising tomboy with a tool belt. A tornado stirring up trouble everywhere she goes. Her favorite pastimes? Drinking any man under the table and two-stepping. But she has zero interest in love. Scarlett’s only being neighborly when she claims her sexy next-door neighbor as her new pet project. Devlin is a man at rock bottom. Marriage, political career, five-year plan to Washington, D.C. All destroyed with one well-placed jab. The golden boy is now the black sheep relegated to Bootleg Springs, a tiny West Virginia… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slut-shaming
  • Parental infidelity
  • Alcoholism
  • Death of a parent
  • Kidnapping & disappearance of children discussed

A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée

A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée

Twelve-year-old Shayla is allergic to trouble. All she wants to do is to follow the rules. (Oh, and she’d also like to make it through seventh grade with her best friendships intact, learn to run track, and have a cute boy see past her giant forehead. But in junior high, it’s like all the rules have changed. Now she’s suddenly questioning who her best friends are and some people at school are saying she’s not black enough. Wait, what? Shay’s sister, Hana, is involved in Black Lives Matter, but Shay doesn’t think that’s for her. After experiencing a powerful protest, though, Shay decides… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism & racial profiling
  • Cultural appropriation
  • Police brutality & violence
  • Bullying

Dreamsnake by Vonda McIntyre

Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre

On an Earth scarred by nuclear war, Snake harnesses the power of venom to cure illnesses and vaccinate against disease. The healer can even ease patients into death with the power of her dreamsnake. But she is not respected and trusted by all, and when she tries to help a sick nomad child, the frightened clan kills her dreamsnake. Ashamed of being misjudged and grieving the loss of her dreamsnake, Snake has one choice to maintain her livelihood: she must travel to the city, which jealously guards its knowledge. And before she faces the prejudices and arrogance…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Rape
  • Paedophilia
  • Child abuse
  • Substance addiction
  • Medical procedures
  • Torture
  • Animal cruelty

Ana on the Edge by AJ Sass

Ana on the Edge by A.J. Sass

Twelve-year-old Ana-Marie Jin, the reigning US Juvenile figure skating champion, is not a frilly dress kind of kid. So, when Ana learns that next season’s program will be princess themed, doubt forms fast. Still, Ana tries to focus on training and putting together a stellar routine worthy of national success. Once Ana meets Hayden, a transgender boy new to the rink, thoughts about the princess program and gender identity begin to take center stage. And when Hayden mistakes Ana for a boy, Ana doesn’t correct him and finds comfort in this boyish identity… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Transmisia
  • Misgendering & deadnaming
  • Coming out themes (multiple)
  • Dysphoria
  • Parental abandonment
  • Bullying

Skinny by Ibi Kaslik

Skinny by Ibi Kaslik

Holly’s older sister, Giselle, is self-destructing. Haunted by her love-deprived relationship with her late father, this once strong role model and medical student is gripped by anorexia. Holly, a track star, struggles to keep her own life in balance while coping with the mental and physical deterioration of her beloved sister. Together, they can feel themselves slipping and are holding on for dear life…

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Slut-shaming
  • Eating disorder (anorexia)
  • Death of a parent recounted

Almond by Sohn Won-Pyung

Almond by Sohn Won-Pyung

Yunjae was born with a brain condition called Alexithymia that makes it hard for him to feel emotions like fear or anger. He does not have friends—the two almond-shaped neurons located deep in his brain have seen to that—but his devoted mother and grandmother aren’t fazed by his condition. Their little home above his mother’s used bookstore is decorated with colorful post-it notes that remind him when to smile, when to say “thank you,” and when to laugh. Yunjae grows up content, even happy, with his small family in this quiet, peaceful space. Then on Christmas Eve… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Alexithymia (theme)
  • Murder of a grandmother by stabbing, on-page
  • Physical assault of a mother resulting in hospitalisation, on-page
  • Animal death & abuse
  • Bullying

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They’re going to die today. Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There’s an app for that. It’s called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure—to live a lifetime in a single day.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Parent in a coma
  • Chronic muscle disease mentioned
  • Death of a parent from suicide
  • Death of parents in a house fire (arson)
  • Death of a father from multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Death of a mother from childbirth
  • Death of a mother, father & sibling from drowning in a car accident
  • Death of an aunt from an ectopic pregnancy
  • Gun violence
  • Explosion
  • Physical assault
  • Incarceration of a parent
  • Animal death