Middle Grade & Children’s – Page 17 – Trigger Warning Database

The Strangers by Margaret Peterson Haddix

The Strangers by Margaret Peterson Haddix

The Greystone kids thought they knew. Chess has always been the protector over his younger siblings, Emma loves math, and Finn does what Finn does best—acting silly and being adored. They’ve been a happy family, just the three of them and their mom. But everything changes when reports of three kidnapped children reach the Greystone kids, and they’re shocked by the startling similarities between themselves and these complete strangers. The other kids share their same first and middle names. They’re the same ages. They even have identical birthdays. Who… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Kidnapping
Smoke bombs

Deadman’s Castle by Iain Lawrence

Deadman’s Castle by Iain Lawrence

When Igor was five, his father witnessed a terrible crime–and ever since, his whole family has been hunted by a foreboding figure bent on revenge, known only as the Lizard Man. They’ve lived in so many places, with so many identities, that Igor can’t even remember his real name. But now he’s twelve years old, and he longs for a normal life. He wants to go to school. Make friends. Stop worrying about how long it will be before his father hears someone prowling around their new house and uproots everything yet again. He’s even starting to wonder–what if the Lizard Man… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Death of a parent

The Dragon Egg Princess by Ellen Oh

The Dragon Egg Princess by Ellen Oh

In a kingdom filled with magic, Jiho Park and his family are an anomaly—magic doesn’t affect them. Jiho comes from a long line of forest rangers who protect the Kidahara—an ancient and mysterious wood that is home to powerful supernatural creatures. But Jiho wants nothing to do with the dangerous forest. Five years ago, his father walked into the Kidahara and disappeared. Just like the young Princess Koko, the only daughter of the kingdom’s royal family. Jiho knows better than anyone else the horrors that live deep in the magical forest and how those who go in never… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Kidnapping & captivity
Explosion
Gun violence
Animal attack

The Hidden Knife by Melissa Marr

The Hidden Knife by Melissa Marr

Twenty years ago, a door opened between the world of humans and the Netherwhere, allowing all kinds of otherworldly creatures entry. Some, like the kelpies and fairies, who like to bite, are best avoided. But the gargoyles are wise and wonderful and show a special affection for humans. Vicky has grown up under the watchful eye of a gargoyle named Rupert and excels at sword-fighting and magic. But there’s so much she doesn’t know–like why her mother, once one of the queen’s elite Ravens, keeps Vicky hidden away and won’t let Vicky train at the elite Corvus school where girls with her gifts perfect their skills. But… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Sword violence
Poisoning mentioned

Extraordinary Birds by Sandy Stark-McGinnis

Extraordinary Birds by Sandy Stark-McGinnis

Eleven-year-old December knows everything about birds, and everything about getting kicked out of foster homes. All she has of her biological mum is the book she left behind, The Complete Guide to Birds, Volume One, and a photo with a message: ‘In flight is where you’ll find me.’ December knows she’s truly a bird, just waiting for the day she transforms and flies away to reunite with her mum. The scar on her back must be where her wings have started to blossom – she just needs to practise and to find the right tree. She has no choice; it’s the only story that makes sense…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Parental abandonment mentioned
Scars
Bullying

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

Ben and Rose secretly wish for better lives. Ben longs for the father he has never known. Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she chronicles in a scrapbook. When Ben discovers a puzzling clue in his mother’s room and Rose reads an enticing headline in the newspaper, both children set out alone on desperate quests to find what they are missing. Set fifty years apart, these two independent stories – Ben’s told in words, Rose’s in pictures – weave back and forth in symmetry.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Ableism

The Rent Collector by Camron Wright

The Rent Collector by Camron Wright

Sang Ly lives at Cambodia’s largest city dump, earning a living for her family by sifting through the trash for recyclables and things that can be repaired and sold. On a good day, she can earn enough to buy food for her family. She needs enough good days to pay the Rent Collector, Sopeap—a grumpy old woman who is willing to evict any tenant who can’t pay their rent on time. When Sang Ly is unable to pay her rent, she fears her family will have to leave their shanty home—a place where her only possessions can be carried in two hands. But when Sopeap sees a discarded children’s book lying on Sang Ly’s cardboard bed, her mood… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Human trafficking mentioned
Physical injuries & illnesses mentioned
Death of a parent
Gang violence
Physical assault
Poverty (theme)

The Lion of Mars by Jennifer Holm

The Lion of Mars by Jennifer L. Holm

Bell has spent his whole life – all eleven years of it – on Mars. But he’s still just a regular kid – he loves cats, any kind of cake, and is curious about the secrets the adults in the US colony are keeping. Like, why don’t have contact with anyone on the other Mars colonies? Why are they so isolated? When a virus breaks out and the grown-ups all fall ill, Bell and the other children are the only ones who can help. It’s up to Bell – a regular kid in a very different world – to uncover the truth and save his family … and possibly unite an entire planet.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Physcial injury & illness
Pandemic
Dead body
Death of a pet mouse

The Many Mysteries of the Finkel Family by Sarah Kapit

The Many Mysteries of the Finkel Family by Sarah Kapit

When twelve-year-old Lara Finkel starts her very own detective agency, FIASCCO (Finkel Investigation Agency Solving Consequential Crimes Only), she does not want her sister, Caroline, involved. She and Caroline don’t have to do everything together. But Caroline won’t give up, and when she brings Lara the firm’s first mystery, Lara relents, and the questions start piling up. But Lara and Caroline’s truce doesn’t last for long. Caroline normally uses her tablet to talk, but now she’s busily texting a new friend. Lara can’t figure out what the two of them are up to, but it can’t be… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Ableism
Bullying

Dragon Captives by Lisa McMann

Dragon Captives by Lisa McMann

Identical twins Fifer and Thisbe Stowe have amazing yet uncontrollable magical abilities. They’re naturally more gifted than even their brother, Alex, the head mage of Artimé, could hope to be. But when they accidentally use their magic in the jungle of Artimé to strike down a beloved creature, Alex is furious, and threatens to lock them away until they can learn to control their power. The threat is soon forgotten, though, when Hux, the ice blue dragon, comes to Artimé bearing the horrible news that his siblings have been enslaved by the notoriously evil Revinir, ruler of the dragon land…. Read more,

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Child trafficking
Death of a parent mentioned
Immolation
Near-drowning incident
Kidnapping & captivity
Animal abuse, including whipping
Animal death