Category Archives: Kidlit

The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz

On a dark night, travelers from across France cross paths at an inn and begin to tell stories of three children. Their adventures take them on a chase through France: they are taken captive by knights, sit alongside a king, and save the land from a farting dragon. On the run to escape prejudice and persecution and save precious and holy texts from being burned, their quest drives them forward to a final showdown at Mont Saint-Michel, where all will come to question if these children can perform the miracles of… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical antisemitism & misogyny, including the destruction & arson of a Jewish village by Christians, and a woman burned at the stake

Endless Knight by Kresley Cole

Evie has fully come into her powers as the tarot Empress, and Jack was there to see it all. As one of twenty-two teens given powers following the apocalypse, she now knows a war is brewing, and it’s kill or be killed. When Evie meets Death, the gorgeous and dangerous Endless Knight, things get even more complicated. Though falling for Jack, she’s drawn to Death as well. Somehow the Empress and Death share a romantic history, one that Evie can’t remember—but Death can’t forget…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault & mentions of sex slavery
  • Suicide
  • Drugging
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction, including dead bodies, decapitation & cannibalism
  • Death of a mother from illness
  • Captivity

Into the Wild by Erin Hunter

For generations, four Clans of wild cats have shared the forest according to the laws laid down by the powerful ancestors. But the warrior code is threatened, and the ThunderClan cats are in grave danger. The sinister ShadowClan grows stronger every day. Noble warriors are dying — and some deaths are more mysterious than others. In the midst of this turmoil appears an ordinary housecat named Rusty… Who may yet turn out to be the bravest warrior of them all.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Murder
  • Kidnapping
  • Animal death
  • Bullying

Fire and Ice by Erin Hunter

Deep in the heart of the forest, four Clans of warrior cats coexist in uneasy harmony-but uncertain times are upon them, and dangers threaten the precarious balance of the forest. Fireheart is a ThunderClan warrior now, but his troubles are far from over. The cats of rival RiverClan grow restless, while WindClan is weak and faces threats from all sides. Now Fireheart faces not only imminent battle, but betrayal from within his own Clan.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Car accident
  • Animal death
  • Bullying

Forest of Secrets by Erin Hunter

Allegiances are shifting among the Clans of warrior cats that roam the forest. With tensions so delicately balanced, former friends can become enemies overnight, and some cats are willing to kill to get what they want. Fireheart is determined to find out the truth about the mysterious death of brave ThunderClan warrior Redtail. But as he searches for answers, he uncovers secrets that some believe would be better left hidden.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Pregnancy
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Animal death

Rising Storm by Erin Hunter

Fireheart’s traitorous enemy Tigerclaw has been vanquished and exiled from Thunder Clan — but Fireheart can’t shake the feeling that he’s lurking in the forest, waiting for his chance to strike. That’s not the only problem facing the young warrior in these blazing summer months, as he struggles to handle sinister omens, an apprentice with a shocking secret, and a devastated Clan leader who is a shell of her former self. Meanwhile the forest gets hotter and hotter … and everyone braces for the coming storm…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Car accident
  • Fire
  • War themes
  • Animal death

A Dangerous Path by Erin Hunter

ShadowClan has a dark new leader, but will he be satisfied with his power now — or does his desire for revenge burn even more strongly? Fireheart fears that there is a connection between the rise of Tigerstar and the terrible dreams that haunt his nights, murmuring of danger and death.Meanwhile, a mysterious and vicious threat unlike any other has invaded the forest, placing every cat’s life in peril. Fireheart’s beloved leader has turned her back on their warrior ancestors, and Fireheart can’t help but wonder if she’s right. Has StarClan abandoned them forever?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Dementia
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Fire
  • Animal death

The Darkest Hour by Erin Hunter

ThunderClan’s darkest hour is upon them, as Tigerstar’s quest for power plunges all the Clans into the most terrible danger any cat has ever faced. Fireheart prepares to pit his wits against his arch-enemy, but the real danger he must face is even more terrible.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Adult-minor relationship
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Emesis
  • Murder
  • Animal death

Artifice by Sharon Cameron

Isa de Smit was raised in the vibrant, glittering world of her parents’ small art gallery in Amsterdam, a hub of beauty, creativity, and expression, until the Nazi occupation wiped the color from her city’s palette.
The “degenerate” art of the Gallery de Smit is confiscated, the artists in hiding or deported, her best friend, Truus, fled to join the shadowy Dutch resistance.
And masterpiece by masterpiece, the Nazis are buying and stealing her country’s heritage, feeding the Third Reich’s ravenous appetite for culture and art. So when the unpaid taxes threaten her beloved… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical antisemitism & homophobia
  • Child sexual assault (groping) & mentions of underage sex work
  • Alcohol consumption & drug use
  • Secondary character with a substance addition (morphine)
  • Death of a parent
  • Death of a friend & child at the hands of Nazis
  • Torture
  • Murder by gun violence
  • World War Two (theme), including depiction of the Holocaust & mentions of concentration camps

Beasts of War by Ayana Gray

Once a prisoner to Fedu, the vengeful god of death, Koffi has regained her freedom, but she is far from safe. Fedu will stop at nothing to hunt her down and use her power to decimate the mortal world. Koffi knows when Fedu will during the next Bonding, a once-in-a-lifetime celestial event. To survive, Koffi will have to find powerful new allies quickly, and convince them to help her in the terrible battle to come. Once a warrior-turned-runaway, Ekon has carved out a new life for himself outside Lkossa, but the shadows of his past still haunt him. Now, alongside unexpected friends, Ekon tries to focus on getting Koffi to the… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Battle scenes with bow & arrow and sword violence