Kidlit – Page 129 – Trigger Warning Database

Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles

Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles

When Marvin Johnson’s twin, Tyler, goes to a party, Marvin decides to tag along to keep an eye on his brother. But what starts as harmless fun turns into a shooting, followed by a police raid.

The next day, Tyler has gone missing, and it’s up to Marvin to find him. But when Tyler is found dead, a video leaked online tells an even more chilling story: Tyler has been shot and killed by a police officer. Terrified as his mother unravels and mourning a brother who is now a hashtag, Marvin must learn what justice and freedom really mean.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism & racial slurs
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use
Blood depiction
Emesis
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a brother
Gun violence
Police brutality & violence
Incarceration of a parent

The Truth About White Lies by Olivia Cole

The Truth About White Lies by Olivia A. Cole

Shania never thinks much about being white. But after her beloved grandmother passes, she moves to the gentrifying town of Blue Rock and is thrust into Bard, the city’s wealthiest private school. At Bard, race is both invisible and hypervisible, and Shania’s new friends are split on what they see. There’s Catherine, the school’s queen bee, who unexpectedly takes Shania under her wing. Then there’s Prescott, the golden boy who seems perfect…except for the disturbing rumours about an altercation he had with a Black student who left the school… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism
Islamomisia
Queermisia
Fatmisia

A Conspiracy of Stars by Olivia Cole

Octavia has only ever had one goal: to follow in the footsteps of her parents and become a prestigious whitecoat, one of the scientists who study the natural wonders of Faloiv. The secrets of the jungle’s exotic plants and animals are protected fiercely in the labs by the Council of N’Terra, so when the rules suddenly change, allowing students inside, Octavia should be overjoyed. But something isn’t right. The newly elected leader of the Council has some extremist views about the way he believes N’Terra should be run and he’s influencing others to follow him. When Octavia witnesses one of the Faloii—the indigenous… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Blood and injury depiction
Grief and loss depiction (minor)
Death of a friend, off-page
Death of a grandmother recounted
Death of a mother, on-page
Imprisonment
Animal death, cruelty and experimentation (theme)
Animal attack.

Finding Yvonne by Brandy Colbert

Finding Yvonne by Brandy Colbert

Since she was seven years old, Yvonne has had her trusted violin to keep her company, especially in those lonely days after her mother walked out on their family. But with graduation just around the corner, she is forced to face the hard truth that she just might not be good enough to attend a conservatory after high school.

Full of doubt about her future, and increasingly frustrated by her strained relationship with her successful but emotionally closed-off father… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racist microaggressions discussed
Adult-minor relationship*
Parental abandonment & child neglect (theme)
Cheating
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use
Unplanned teen pregnancy
Abortion discussed, off-page
Homelessness mentioned
Financial struggles & poverty mentioned

* Note : Yvonne, the main character, turns eighteen during the story and her love interests are both adult men; one is a 21-year-old man and the sous chef at her father’s restaurant. She does not have penetrative sex with either of them until after her birthday but she was dating one of them when she was seventeen at the beginning of the book.

Little and Lion by Brandy Colbert

Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert

When Suzette comes home to Los Angeles from her boarding school, she’s isn’t sure if she’ll ever want to go back. L.A. is where her friends and family area and her stepbrother, Lionel, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, needs her emotional support.

But as she settles into her old life, Suzette finds herself falling for someone new… the same girl her brother is in love with. When Lionel’s disorder spirals out of control, Suzette is forced to confront her past mistakes and find a way to help her brother before he hurts himself.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Ableism
Racism
Lesbomisia
Bimisia
Homomisia
Bipolar Disorder, including hypomania
Self-harm

Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe

Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe

The only life Mae has ever known is on the island, living on the charity of the wealthy Prosper family who control the magic on the island and the spirits who inhabit it. Mae longs for magic of her own and to have a place among the Prosper family, where her best friend, Coco, will see her as an equal, and her crush, Miles, will finally see her. Now that she’s eighteen, Mae knows her time with the Prospers may soon come to an end.

But tonight is First Night, when the Prospers and their high-society friends return to… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Homomisia
Outing
Parental abandonment
Suicidal ideation
Suicide mentioned
Alcohol consumption
Drug abuse mentioned
Loss of autonomy (possession)

A Golden Fury by Samantha Cohoe

Thea Hope longs to be an alchemist out of the shadow of her famous mother. The two of them are close to creating the legendary Philosopher’s Stone—whose properties include immortality and can turn any metal into gold—but just when the promise of the Stone’s riches is in their grasp, Thea’s mother destroys the Stone in a sudden fit of violent madness.

While combing through her mother’s notes, Thea learns that there’s a curse on the Stone that causes anyone who tries to make it to lose… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Physical & emotional parental abuse
Hallucinations
Attempted suicide by drowning
Self-harm
Murder
Torture
Physical assault

Mind the Gap, Dash and Lily by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Mind the Gap, Dash & Lily by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Dash and Lily were feeling closer than ever…it’s just too bad they’re now an ocean apart. After Dash gets accepted to Oxford University and Lily stays in New York to take care of her dog-walking business, the devoted couple are struggling to make a long-distance relationship work. And when Dash breaks the news that he won’t be coming home for Christmas, Lily makes a decision: if Dash can’t come to her, she’ll join him in London. It’s a perfect romantic gesture…that spins out of Lily’s control. Soon Dash and Lily are feeling more of a gap between them, even though they’re in the same city. Will London bring them together again–or will it be their undoing?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Anxiety & panic attacks

Crownchasers by Rebecca Coffindaffer

Crownchasers by Rebecca Coffindaffer

Alyssa Farshot has spent her whole life trying to outrun her family legacy. Her mother sacrificed everything to bring peace to the quadrant, and her uncle has successfully ruled as emperor for decades. But the last thing Alyssa wants is to follow in their footsteps as the next in line for the throne. Why would she choose to be trapped in a palace when she could be having wild adventures exploring a thousand-and-one planet in her own ship?… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Alcohol consumption
Blood & gore depiction
Dead bodies
Physical injuries
Medical treatment
Grief & loss depiction (theme)
Death of a mother recounted
Death of an uncle
Death of a friend
Murder & attempted murder
Gun violence
Explosions & bombings
Plane crash
War themes discussed

The Haunting of Gillespie House by Darcy Coates

The Haunting of Gillespie House by Darcy Coates

Elle is thrilled to spend a month minding the beautiful Gillespie property. More than an hour’s drive from the nearest town and surrounded by forests, the aging mansion is ideal for someone seeking solitude. But things start to go very wrong, very quickly.

Elle discovers a crumbling graveyard nestled in the woods. It contains a generation of the house’s residents, all with an identical year of death. Scratching in the walls. Slamming doors. Whispers in the night. A locked room… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Child abuse
Body horror
Physical injuries
Dead body
Death of a child, off-page
Disappearance of a child mentioned
Cults