Kidlit – Page 134 – Trigger Warning Database

The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton

The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton

Eleven-year-old Ella Durand is the first Conjuror to attend the Arcanum Training Institute, where Marvellers from all around the world come together to practice their cultural arts like brewing Indian spice elixirs, practising Caribbean steel drum hypnosis, and bartering with fussy Irish faeries. Ella knows some people mistrust her Conjuror magic, often deemed “bad and unnatural,” but she’s eager to make a good impression—and, hopefully, some friends… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism
Blood depiction
Kidnapping
Bullying

Sunshine by Marion Dane Bauer

Sunshine by Marion Dane Bauer

Since as far back as Ben can remember, it’s been him, his devoted dad, and Sunshine–Ben’s little dog, who rarely leaves Ben’s side. It was Mom who did the leaving, and Ben’s about to spend a whole week with his suddenly present mother in the wilds of northern Minnesota. On the remote island she calls home, Ben will learn to camp, canoe, weather the elements, and weigh a burning question: when will she come back to where she belongs?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Parental abandonment
Physical child abuse recounted
Forest fire

On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer

On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer

Joel’s best friend Tony drowns while they are swimming in the forbidden, treacherous Vermilion River. Joel is terrified at having to tell of his disobedience and overwhelmed by his feelings of guilt.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Death of a friend by drowning (theme)

The Mostly True Story of Jack by Kelly Barnhill

The Mostly True Story of Jack by Kelly Barnhill

When Jack is sent to Hazelwood, Iowa, to live with his aunt and uncle, he expects a summer of boredom. Little does he know that the people of Hazelwood have been waiting for him for a long time… When he arrives, three astonishing things happen: First, he makes friends-not imaginary friends but actual friends. Second, he is beaten up by the town bully; the bullies at home always ignored him. Third, the richest man in town begins to plot Jack’s imminent, and hopefully painful, demise. It’s up to Jack to figure out why suddenly everyone cares so much about him. Back home he was practically, well, invisible.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Scars mentioned
Physical assault
Bullying

The Witch’s Boy by Kelly Barnhill

The Witch’s Boy by Kelly Barnhill

When Ned and his identical twin brother Tumble from their raft into a raging river, only Ned survives. Villagers are convinced the wrong boy lived. But when a bandit king comes to steal the magic Ned’s mother, a Witch, is meant to protect, it’s Ned who safeguards the magic and summons the strength to protect his family and community. Meanwhile, across the Enchanted forest that borders Ned’s village lives Aine, the resourceful and pragmatic daughter of the bandit king, who is haunted by her mother’s last words to her: ‘the wrong boy will save your life, and you will save his.’… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Death of a mother
Attempted murder
Kidnapping & captivity
Drowning
Animal death (wolf)

The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill

The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill

Stone-in-the-Glen, once a lovely town, has fallen on hard times. Fires, floods, and other calamities have caused the people to lose their library, their school, their park, and even their neighbourliness. The people put their faith in the Mayor, a dazzling fellow who promises he alone can help. After all, he is a famous dragon slayer. (At least, no one has seen a dragon in his presence.) Only the clever children of the Orphan House and the kindly Ogress at the edge of town can see how dire the town’s problems are… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Alcohol consumption mentioned
Disappearance of a child
Fire
Animal attack (birds)
Animal abuse & injury*

*Explanation : A dog is blinded by his previous abusive owner.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the forest, Xan, is kind and gentle. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster named Glerk and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, Fyrian. Xan rescues the abandoned children and deliver them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey.

One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Ableism & ableist language
Abandonment
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a grandmother
Infanticide
Kidnapping & captivity
Animal injury

A Million Miles Away by Lara Avery

A Million Miles Away by Lara Avery

When high school senior Kelsey’s identical twin sister, Michelle, dies in a car crash, Kelsey is left without her other half. The only person who doesn’t know about the tragedy is Michelle’s boyfriend, Peter, recently deployed to Afghanistan. But when Kelsey finally connects with Peter online, she can’t bear to tell him the truth. Active duty has taken its toll, and Peter, thinking that Kelsey is Michelle, says that seeing her is the one thing keeping him alive. Caught up in the moment, Kelsey lets Peter believe that she is her sister. As Kelsey keeps up the act, she crosses the line. Kelsey can’t deny that she’s falling, hard, for the one boy she shouldn’t want.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Grief & loss depiction
Death of a sister in a car accident
Military service

The Night Burns Bright by Ross Barkan

The Night Burns Bright by Ross Barkan

Lucien has everything he needs: a loving mama, a library full of books, and House of Earth, a private school nestled safely in the woods of upstate New York. It’s where Lucien is taught the importance of living in harmony with nature and building a peaceful and sustainable future. But when his youthful curiosity draws him into town and to Gabrielle, a public-school student living a life wholly different from his own, Lucien’s inquisitiveness about life beyond the commune and questions regarding the events of 9/11 threaten to unbalance everything he thought he knew… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Child abuse & neglect
Parental abandonment
Dead bodies
Starvation
Branding
Murder

Goblin King by Kara Barbieri

Janneke has survived the Hunt for the Stag but all good things come with a cost. Lydian might be dead, but he took the Stag with him. Janneke now holds the mantle, while Soren, now her equal in every way, has become the new Erlking. Janneke’s powers as the new Stag has brought along haunting visions of a world thrown into chaos and the ghost of Lydian taunts her with the riddles he spoke of when he was alive. When Janneke discovers the truth of Lydian and his madness, she’s forced to see her tormentor in a different light for the first time. The world they know is dying and Lydian may have been the only person with the key to saving it.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Abandonment
Disordered eating recounted
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Nightmares
Suicidal ideation & suicide (on-page)
Blood & gore depiction
Graphic physical injuries, including on-page eyeball trauma & loss of vision
Death of a newborn son from exposure to the cold mentioned
Murder & attempted murder
Torture (on-page & recounted)
Knife, arrow & axe violence
Drowning (on-page)
Kidnapping & captivity recounted
Animal attack (on-page)