Middle Grade & Children’s – Page 24 – Trigger Warning Database

The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson

The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson

The letter waits in a book, in a box, in an attic, in an old house in Lambert, South Carolina. It’s waiting for Candice Miller. When Candice finds the letter, she isn’t sure she should read it. It’s addressed to her grandmother, after all, who left Lambert in a cloud of shame. But the letter describes a young woman named Siobhan Washington. An injustice that happened decades ago. A mystery enfolding the letter-writer. And the fortune that awaits the person who solves the puzzle. Grandma tried and failed. But now Candice has another chance. So with the help of Bran… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism & racial slurs
Eye trauma mentioned
Physical assault
Threat of lynching
Bullying

A Mixture of Mischief by Anna Meriano

A Mixture of Mischief by Anna Meriano

Leo Logroño may have discovered the true nature of her magical abilities, but her education in how to use them in her family’s magical bakery has only just begun. And that isn’t the only bit of trouble in her life: her family’s baking heirlooms have begun to go missing, and a new bakery called Honeybees has opened across the street, threatening to run Amor y Azúcar right out of business. With two of her sisters on a special spirit-hunting spring-break trip with her tía Paloma, and with Mamá busy guarding the bakery to keep away any more bad luck, Leo must work with her best… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Kidnapping

The Midwinter Witch by Molly Knox Ostertag

The Midwinter Witch by Molly Knox Ostertag

Aster always looks forward to the Midwinter Festival, a reunion of the entire Vanissen family that includes competitions in witchery and shape-shifting. This year, he’s especially excited to compete in the annual Jolrun tournament as a witch. He’s determined to show everyone that he’s proud of who he is and what he’s learned, but he knows it won’t be easy to defy tradition. Ariel has darker things on her mind than the Festival-like the mysterious witch who’s been visiting her dreams, claiming to know the truth about Ariel’s past. She appreciates everything the… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Parental abandonment discussed
Death of a mother recounted
Bullying

Starcrossed by Barbara Dee

Star-Crossed by Barbara Dee

Mattie, a star student and passionate reader, is delighted when her English teacher announces the eighth grade will be staging Romeo and Juliet. And she is even more excited when, after a series of events, she finds herself playing Romeo, opposite Gemma Braithwaite’s Juliet. Gemma, the new girl at school, is brilliant, pretty, outgoing—and if all that wasn’t enough: British. As the cast prepares for opening night, Mattie finds herself growing increasingly attracted to Gemma and confused, since, just days before, she had found herself crushing on a boy named Elijah… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Queerphobia
Emesis
Bullying

Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff

Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff

Albie has never been the smartest kid in his class. He has never been the tallest. Or the best at gym. Or the greatest artist. Or the most musical. In fact, Albie has a long list of the things he’s not very good at. But then Albie gets a new babysitter, Calista, who helps him figure out all of the things he is good at and how he can take pride in himself.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Ableism
Animal death

The Ability by MM Vaughan

The Ability by M.M. Vaughan and illustrated by Iacopo Bruno

No one has any confidence in twelve-year-old Christopher Lane. His teachers discount him as a liar and a thief, and his mom doesn’t have the energy to deal with him. But a mysterious visit from the Ministry of Education indicates that Chris might have some potential after all: He is invited to attend the prestigious Myers Holt Academy. When Christopher begins at his new school, he is astounded at what he can do. It seems that age twelve is a special time for the human brain, which is capable of remarkable feats—as… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Death of a father during military service
Death of a child
Kidnapping
Loss of autonomy (mind control)
Animal injury

A Good Night for Shooting Zombies by Jaco Jacobs

A Good Night for Shooting Zombies by Jaco Jacobs

Martin’s life changes the day his dad is killed in a car accident. No one talks about it, his mum refuses to leave the house, and his only consolation through the sleepless nights is solving difficult maths problems. Until he forms an unlikely friendship with his neighbour Vusi who dreams of making a zombie movie. The two are plunged head first into a wild adventure, pulling everyone they know along with them.Martin’s life changes the day his dad is killed in a car

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

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

Finn and the Subatomic Slip-And-Slide by Michael Buckley

Finn and the Subatomic Slip-And-Slide by Michael Buckley

After his adventures through time, Finn returns home to a world he doesn’t recognize. Changing the past has created an all-new present, one in which he and his friends never vanquished the Plague. Now the giant bugs rule Earth from their spaceship! What’s an intergalactic traveler to do? The answer is obvious. Finn, Lincoln and Julep must defeat the Plague. Again. But how? Julep and Lincoln don’t remember Finn or their friendships. In fact, they’ve changed just as much as the world itself has, and they want nothing to do with his dangerous plan to save humankind … Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Physical assault
Explosion

The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Yoko Tanaka

What if? Why not? Could it be? When a fortuneteller’s tent appears in the market square of the city of Baltese, orphan Peter Augustus Duchene knows the questions that he needs to ask: Does his sister still live? And if so, how can he find her? The fortuneteller’s mysterious answer (an elephant! An elephant will lead him there!) sets off a chain of events so remarkable, so impossible, that you will hardly dare to believe it’s true.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Physical injury
Death of a mother in childbirth recounted
Death of a father during military service recounted
Explosion mentioned
Animal illness & injury
Animal attack

Broken Pride by Erin Hunter

Broken Pride by Erin Hunter

A lion cast out from his tribe. An elephant who can read the bones of the dead. A baboon rebelling against his destiny. For generations, the animals of the African plains have followed a single rule: only kill to survive. But when an unthinkable act of betrayal shatters the peace, the fragile balance between predators and prey will rest in the paws of three unlikely heroes.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Death of a father
Murder
Animal death & dead bodies