Contemporary – Page 37 – Trigger Warning Database

Efrén Divided by Ernesto Cisneros

Efrén Divided by Ernesto Cisneros

Efrén Nava’s Amá is his Soperwoman, named after the delicious Mexican sopes his mother often prepares. Both Amá and Apá work hard all day to provide for the family, making sure Efrén and his younger siblings Max and Mía feel safe and loved. But Efrén worries about his parents; although he’s American-born, his parents are undocumented. His worst nightmare comes true one day when Amá doesn’t return from work and is deported across the border to Tijuana, México. Now more than ever, Efrén must channel his inner Soperboy to help take care of and try to reunite his family.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism
Deportation (theme)
ICE raids, off-page

Better Off Red by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Better Off Red by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Every sorority has its secrets. And college freshman Ginger Carmichael couldn’t care less. She has more important things on her mind, like maintaining her perfect GPA. No matter how much she can’t stand the idea of the cliques and the matching colours, there’s something about the girls of Alpha Beta Omega—their beauty, confidence, and unapologetic sexuality—that draws Ginger in. But once initiation begins, Ginger finds that her pledge is more than a bond of sisterhood, it’s a lifelong pact to serve six bloodthirsty demons with a lot more than nutritional needs… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Rape mentioned
Sexual assault
Suicide
Blood depiction
Car accident

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sánchez

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez

Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents’ house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family. But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That was Olga’s role. Then a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago leaves Olga dead and Julia left behind to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family. And no one seems to acknowledge that Julia is broken, too. Instead, her mother seems to channel her grief into pointing out every possible way Julia has failed. But it’s not long before… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism
Sexual assault
Cheating
Anxiety
Depression
Attempted suicide
Self-harm
Abortion mentioned
Death of a sibling

Bending The Rules by Christina Jones

Bending The Rules by Christina C. Jones

Besties, with a whole list of life rules developed over a friendship that started when they were kids. As long as they stuck to the rules, even when they blended a business relationship into the friendship, things went off without a hitch. But then one of them broke the rules – It was Justin. Justin broke the rules- and Toni has been mad about it ever since. She’s spent the last several years travelling the globe to cultivate her business, but now she’s back in town. Her only goals? Help her parents with “Mr. Bestseller’s” signing at the store, help them pack up their house to sell, and get out of town without too much interaction with her former best friend. Mr. Bestseller has different goals…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Infertility

Truly Tyler by Terri Libenson

Truly Tyler by Terri Libenson

Cliques. Crushes. Comics. Middle school. Ever since Tyler started getting into art and hanging out with Emmie, his friends and teammates have been giving him a hard time. He wonders why can’t he nerd out on drawing and play ball? Emmie is psyched that she gets to work on a comics project with her crush, Tyler. But she gets the feeling that his friends don’t think she’s cool enough. Maybe it’s time for a total reinvention…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Bullying
Cyberbullying

Darius the Great Deserves Better by Adib Khorram

Darius the Great Deserves Better by Adib Khorram

Darius Kellner is having a bit of a year. Since his trip to Iran this past spring, a lot has changed. He’s getting along with his dad, and his best friend Sohrab is only a Skype call away. Between his first boyfriend, Landon, his varsity soccer practices, and his internship at his favorite tea shop, Darius is feeling pretty okay. Like he finally knows what it means to be Darius Kellner. Then, of course, everything changes. Darius’s grandmothers are in town for a long visit while his dad is gone on business, and Darius isn’t sure whether they even like him. The internship isn’t what Darius thought it would be, and now he doesn’t know… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism & racial slur
Homomisia
Misgendering
Depression
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a grandfather from a brain tumour
Bullying

Kings of B’more by R Eric Thomas

Kings of B’more by R. Eric Thomas

With junior year starting in the fall, Harrison feels like he’s on the precipice of, well, everything. Standardized testing, college, and the terrifying unknowns and looming pressures of adulthood after that–it’s like the future wants to eat him alive. Which is why Harrison is grateful that he and his best friend Linus will face these things together. But at the end of a shift at their summer job, Linus invites Harrison to their special spot overlooking the city to deliver devastating news: he’s moving out of state at the end of the week. To keep from completely losing it–and partially inspired by a cheesy movie-night pick… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism
Abandonment
Alcohol consumption
Suicidal ideation

Postcards for a Songbird by Rebekah Crane

Postcards for a Songbird by Rebekah Crane

Everyone eventually leaves Wren Plumley. First it was her mother, then her best friend, and then her sister. Now living with only her cop father and her upended dreams, Wren feels stranded, like a songbird falling in a storm. When Wilder, a sickly housebound teen, moves in next door, Wren finally finds what she’s always wanted—a person who can’t leave. But a chance meeting with Luca, the talkative, crush-worthy boy in her driver’s ed class, has Wren wondering if maybe she’s too quick to push people away. Soon, Wren finds herself caught between the safety of a friendship and a … Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Parental abandonment recounted

All the Ways Home by Elsie Chapman

All the Ways Home by Elsie Chapman

Sometimes, home isn’t where you expect to find it. After losing his mom in a fatal car crash, Kaede Hirano–now living with a grandfather who is more stranger than family–developed anger issues and spent his last year of middle school acting out. Best-friendless and critically in danger repeating the seventh grade, Kaede is given a summer assignment: write an essay about what home means to him, which will be even tougher now that he’s on his way to Japan to reconnect with his estranged father and older half-brother. Still, if there’s a chance Kaede can finally build a new… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Grief & loss depiction
Death of a mother in a car accident

Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings

Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings

Lizzie has made endless mistakes. Kitchen fires, pyramid schemes, bangs (of the hair and human variety), you name it, she’s done it… and made a mess of it too. One mistake she’s never made is letting anyone get closer to her than a single hook-up. But after losing yet another bakery job due to her uncontrolled ADHD, she breaks her cardinal rule and has a two-night stand that changes everything. Once burned, twice shy, Rake has given up on relationships. And feelings. And any form of intimacy for that matter. Yet something about charming, chaotic Lizzie has him lowering his guard. For two nights, that is… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Internalised ableism
Sexual assault, on-page
Cheating recounted
Unplanned pregnancy
Abortion discussed
Emesis