Category Archives: Science Fiction

Sunny by Jason Reynolds

Sunny by Jason Reynolds

Sunny is just that—sunny. Always ready with a goofy smile and something nice to say, Sunny is the chillest dude on the Defenders team. But Sunny’s life hasn’t always been sun beamy-bright. You see, Sunny is a murderer. Or at least he thinks of himself that way. His mother died giving birth to him, and based on how Sunny’s dad treats him—ignoring him, making Sunny call him Darryl, never “Dad”—it’s no wonder Sunny thinks he’s to blame. It seems the only thing Sunny can do right in his dad’s eyes is win first place ribbons running the mile, just like his mom did. But Sunny doesn’t like running, never has. So he stops. Right in the middle of a race.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Choking incident (on-page)

Lu by Jason Reynolds

Lu by Jason Reynolds

Lu was born to be co-captain of the Defenders. Well, actually, he was born albino, but that’s got nothing to do with being a track star. Lu has swagger, plus the talent to back it up, and with all that—not to mention the gold chains and diamond earrings—no one’s gonna outshine him. Lu knows he can lead Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and the team to victory at the championships, but it might not be as easy as it seems. Suddenly, there are hurdles in Lu’s way—literally and not-so-literally—and Lu needs to figure out, fast, what winning the gold really means.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Substance addiction mentioned
  • Parental pregnancy mentioned
  • Death of an overdose mentioned
  • Physical assault
  • Bullying mentioned including ableist name-calling

Miles Morales Suspended by Jason Reynolds

Miles Morales Suspended by Jason Reynolds

Miles Morales is still just your average teenager. He has unexpectedly become totally obsessed with poetry and can never seem to do much more than babble around his crush. Nothing too weird. Oh! Except, just yesterday, he used his spidey superpowers to save the world (no biggie) from an evil mastermind called The Warden. And the grand prize Miles gets for that is… Suspension. But what begins as a long boring day of in-school suspension is interrupted by a little bzzz in his mind. His spidey-sense is telling him there’s something not quite right here, and soon he finds himself in a fierce battle with an insidious… termite? His unexpect.. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & classism
  • Infidelity mentioned
  • Fantasy violence
  • Emesis

Dead of Eve by Pam Godwin

A virus devastates humanity. Few men survive. The rest are monsters. The women are dead, except Evie. Through a quirk in her genetics, she survives. When her physiology begins to evolve, she must come to terms with what she is and accept her role in finding a cure. The mutated hunt her. The men brutalize her…except three. Cryptic warrior, contrite lover, caring enemy; they are fiercely protective of the last living woman, but divided in their own agendas. Can they come together to protect the only hope for humanity? Evie must survive.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Islamophobia (on-page)
  • Rape & attempted sexual assault (protagonist)
  • Forced impregnation mentioned
  • Global epidemic resulting in mass death
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction

Alice Payne Rides by Kate Heartfield

Alice Payne Rides by Kate Heartfield

After abducting Arthur of Brittany from his own time in 1203, thereby creating the mystery that partly prompted the visit in the first place, Alice and her team discover that they have inadvertently brought the smallpox virus back to 1780 with them. Searching for a future vaccine, Prudence finds that the various factions in the future time war intend to use the crisis to their own advantage. Can the team prevent an international pandemic across time, and put history back on its tracks? At least until the next battle in the time war…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical misogyny & lesbophobia
  • Sexual harassment (unwanted touching)
  • Childbirth mentioned
  • Plague (smallpox)
  • Death of a sister
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping & imprisonment
  • War themes & a battle scene

Claimed by Elle Kennedy

After a devastating war decimated most of the world, Hudson Lane has only known the oppressive life under her own father’s tyranny. She finally escapes, branding herself an outlaw and hunted by the Enforcers. Her best chance at survival is Connor Mackenzie, an aggressively sensual fugitive who opens her eyes to the wicked possibilities of a world without rules. As the leader of a band of outlaw fighters, Connor can’t resist the beautiful stranger who asks for his protection. Despite his reservations, he agrees to introduce her to a whole new way of life. But when Connor discover… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Murder
  • Gun & knife violence
  • War themes recounted

Sanity and Tallulah by Molly Brooks

Sanity Jones and Tallulah Vega are best friends on Wilnick, the dilapidated space station they call home at the end of the galaxy. So naturally, when gifted scientist Sanity uses her lab skills and energy allowance to create a definitely-illegal-but-impossibly-cute three-headed kitten, she has to show Tallulah. But Princess, Sparkle, Destroyer of Worlds is a bit of a handful, and it isn’t long before the kitten escapes to wreak havoc on the space station. The girls will have to turn Wilnick upside down to find her, but not before causing the whole place to evacuate! Can they save their home before it’s too late?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Animal death mentioned

Vivian Lantz’s Second Chances by Kathryn Ormsbee

Vivian Lantz is cursed. Every year, terrible things happen on her first day of school. This year, Vivian has a plan to conquer eighth grade. But eighth grade? Turns out to be her worst first day yet. Vivian can’t wait to put it all behind her. But instead of waking up to a brand-new day, Vivian gets stuck reliving her catastrophic one. Curse: 9,000–Vivian: 0. Then she sees her misfortune for what it is: the golden opportunity to get her perfect plan back on track. But when her second chance turns into a third, a fourth, and a fifth, Vivian might have to let go of the perfect day of her dreams…and make a few surprising choices along the way.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Car accident
  • Bullying

This Land Is Our Land by Julio Anta and Jacoby Salcedo

Jaime Reyes is an ordinary high school student in El Paso, Texas, with a deep love for his family, culture, and home. Whether it’s working with his dad at the auto shop or a multi-generational barbecue filled with music and dance, Jaime loves nothing more than his neighborhood’s spontaneous gatherings that go late into the night. But lately he’s begun to realize that he and his border community are being used as pawns in an increasingly toxic immigration debate. The last few months have seen armed troops deployed along the U.S. and Mexico border, manufactured crackdowns at official border crossings, and now at the… Read more,

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & Nazism
  • Hate crime

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami

Sara has just landed at LAX, returning home from a conference abroad, when agents from the Risk Assessment Administration pull her aside and inform her that she will soon commit a crime. Using data from her dreams, the RAA’s algorithm has determined that she is at imminent risk of harming the person she loves most: her husband. For his safety, she must be kept under observation for twenty-one days. The agents transfer Sara to a retention center, where she is held with other dreamers, all of them women trying to prove their innocence from different crimes. With every deviation from the strict and ever-shifting… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Imprisonment
  • Wildfire
  • Bullying