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.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

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

Tear This Downby Barbara Dee

For as long as Freya can remember, she has loved living in her cozy hometown of Wellstone. Not only is the town itself named for local and historical hero Benjamin Wellstone but everything in schools, beaches, and stores. There’s even a giant statue of him to remind everyone of the good things he did. But while doing research for a big school project, Freya discovers that Benjamin isn’t the big hero everyone has been taught to believe. He had some redeeming qualities, but he also held incredibly problematic views towards women, believing they shouldn’t have the right to…. Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Mentions of the plight of historical suffragists, including their hunger strikes & being force-fed

Haven Jacobs Saves the Planet by Barbara Dee

Twelve-year-old Haven Jacobs can’t stop thinking about the climate crisis. In fact, her anxiety about the state of the planet is starting to interfere with her schoolwork, her friendships, even her sleep. She can’t stop wondering why grownups aren’t even trying to solve the earth’s problem—and if there’s anything meaningful that she, as a seventh grader, can contribute. When Haven’s social studies teacher urges her to find a specific, manageable way to make a difference to the planet, Haven focuses on… Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Anxiety & panic attacks (protagonist)
  • Bullying

Unstuck by Barbara Dee

Lyla is thrilled when her seventh-grade English language arts class begins a daily creative writing project. For the past year, she’s been writing a brilliant fantasy novel in her head, and here’s her chance to get it on paper! The plot to Lyla’s novel is super complicated, with battle scenes and witches and a mysterious one-toed-beast, but at its core, it’s about an overlooked girl who has to rescue her beautiful, highly accomplished older sister. But writing a fantasy novel turns out to be harder than simply imagining one, and pretty soon Lyla finds herself stuck, experiencing a panic she realizes is writer’s block. Part of… Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Bullying

Everything I Know About You by Barbara Dee

During a class trip to DC, twelve-year-old Tally and her best friends, Sonnet and Caleb (a.k.a. Spider) are less than thrilled when they are assigned roommates and are paired with kids who are essentially their sworn enemies. For Tally, rooming with “clonegirl” Ava Seely feels like punishment, rather than potential for fun. But the trip is full of surprises. Despite a pact to stick together as much as they can, Sonnet pulls away, and spider befriends Marco, the boy who tormented him last year. And Marco just might “like” Tally—what’s that about? But the uneasy peace in Ava and… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Secondary character with anorexia (theme)

Halfway Normal by Barbara Dee

Norah Levy has just completed two years of treatment for leukemia and is ready to go back to the “real world” of middle school. She knows it’ll be tricky—but like the Greek mythological characters she read about while she was sick, Norah’s up for any challenge. But seventh grade turns out to be harder than she thought. Norah’s classmates don’t know what to make of her. Her best friend, Harper, tries to be there for her, but she doesn’t get it, really—and is hanging out with a new group of girls. Norah’s other good friend, Silas, is avoiding her. What’s that about, anyway? When Norah… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental divorce
  • Protagonist is in remission for leukemia
  • Discussions of past hospitalisation & medical treatment

Violets Are Blue by Barbara Dee

Twelve-year-old Wren loves makeup—special effect makeup, to be exact. When she is experimenting with new looks, Wren can create a different version of herself. A girl who isn’t in a sort-of-best friendship with someone who seems like she hates her. A girl whose parents aren’t divorced and doesn’t have to learn to like her new stepmom. So, when Wren and her mom move to a new town for a fresh start, she is cautiously optimistic. And things seem to fall into place when Wren meets potential friends and gets selected as the makeup artist for her school’s upcoming production of Wicked. Only, Wren’s mom isn’t doing so well. She’s… Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental divorce

Hurricane Heist by James Ponti

When a category three hurricane hits Miami Beach, it uncovers a body buried at the renowned Moroccan Hotel. The body is identified as the man who served as the hotel’s bell captain sixty years ago…and the presumed culprit of the million-dollar jewel heist that took place just before his disappearance. Since the bell captain clearly didn’t take off with the goods as had been long believed, the Sherlock Society sets their sights on uncovering the real culprit of the theft. But when the thief may also be implicated in the bell captain’s murder, even sixty years later, there are people who want the truth to stay buried.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Dead body uncovered during a hurricane (theme)

Wish by Barbara O’Connor

Eleven-year-old Charlie Reese has been making the same secret wish every day since fourth grade. She even has a list of all the ways there are to make the wish, such as cutting off the pointed end of a slice of pie and wishing on it as she takes the last bite. But when she is sent to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to live with family she barely knows, it seems unlikely that her wish will ever come true. That is until she meets Wishbone, a skinny stray dog who captures her heart, and Howard, a neighbor boy who proves surprising in lots of ways. Suddenly…. Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parent in jail (protagonist)
  • Bullying & minor fistfights (on-page)

Dream by Barbara O’Connor

Idalee Lovett is content with her life in small-town Colby, North Carolina, living in her family’s huge house with rooms for rent. But she has big dreams, just like her mama. While Mama is on tour for the summer with her cover band, Lovey Lovett and the Junkyard Dogs, Idalee decides to hone her craft as a songwriter—since her truest wish is to hear her country songs on the radio one day. When the local radio station announces a songwriting contest with the winning song being recorded by an up-and-coming singer, Idalee is determined to win. It would definitely be possible if only she could buy the shiny blue guitar in… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption mentioned
  • Amputation mentioned, including a secondary character who lost toes in an axe incident and a cousin who lost a finger in a fireworks incident
  • Parent in jail for assault (secondary character)
  • Fistfight mentioned