Category Archives: Kidlit

This tag contains all books tagged as Children’s Literature, including picture books, Middle Grade fiction, Young Adult fiction, and relevant non-fiction.

We Won’t All Survive by Kate Alice Marshall

Two years ago Mercy Gray was hailed as a hero for saving lives during a mall shooting. She still carries souvenirs from that incident: the fragment of a bullet lodged in her back, a mountain of medical debt, and guilt for ignoring her sister’s warnings that the sweet boy next door was anything but. When billionaire-turned-TV-host Damien Dare recruits Mercy to compete on his new survivalist reality show, she can’t turn down a chance at the whopping cash prize that could send her sister to college—but when she and the other contestants arrive at the off-grid location… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • On-going medical condition from gunshot wound sustained in a mass shooting discussed (protagonist)
  • Murder & mass shooting discussed & recounted
  • Kidnapping & stalking

Brackenbeast by Kate Alice Marshall

Last Halloween, Eleanor, Pip, and Otto narrowly escaped the clutches of the evil January Society and their leader. But life in the too-quiet Eden Eld isn’t safe just yet: according to the bargain they made with Mr. January, it’s now his sister’s turn to hunt the three of them. And her methods are a bit more…treacherous. When their friends and neighbors begin disappearing, abducted by strange, mud-drenched monsters, Eleanor and her two best friends must race to uncover their enemy’s secrets. If they fail, their families will be next. Stalked by the relentless mud beasts… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Attempted murder
  • Kidnapping

The Girls Before by Kate Alice Marshall

Audrey is a search and rescue expert who never stopped looking for her ex-best friend, Janie, who disappeared when they were teenagers. Janie used to love the local legend of a forest witch who saves girls from bad men, but Audrey knows now that for every one saved, there’s always another one lost. When she stumbles upon evidence in the forest that a teenage runaway might have actually been kidnapped from land belonging to the town’s most prominent family, she will have to dig through decades of secrets to reveal the biggest one of all: what happened to the girls before.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Kidnapping & confinement
  • Physical injury & body horror
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Animal cruelty

The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander

In his village in Upper Kwanta, 11-year-old Kofi loves his family, playing oware with his grandfather and swimming in the river Offin. He’s warned though, to never go to the river at night. His brother tells him ”There are things about the water you do not know.” “Like what?” Kofi asks. “The beasts,” his brother answers. One fateful night, the unthinkable happens, and in a flash, Kofi’s world turns upside down. Kofi soon ends up in a fight for his life and what happens next will send him on a harrowing journey across land and sea, and away from everything he loves.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Colonialism
  • Slavery
  • Sexual assault mentioned
  • Suicide by drowning (throwing self overboard)
  • Stillbirth
  • Death of a sibling
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Shipwreck

Booked by Kwame Alexander

In this follow-up to the Newbery-winning novel THE CROSSOVER, soccer, family, love, and friendship, take center stage as twelve-year-old Nick learns the power of words as he wrestles with problems at home, stands up to a bully, and tries to impress the girl of his dreams. Helping him along are his best friend and sometimes teammate Coby, and The Mac, a rapping librarian who gives Nick inspiring books to read. This electric and heartfelt novel-in-verse by poet Kwame Alexander bends and breaks as it captures all the thrills and setbacks, action and emotion of a World Cup match!

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Hospitalisation and surgery for a ruptured appendix
  • Physical assault
  • Bullying

Flip by Ngozi Ukazu

Chi-Chi Ekeh has one huge problem: She keeps having crushes on rich white boys who have no idea she exists. Enter Flip Henderson, the most popular boy at school, who receives Chi-Chi’s private video proposal to go to senior prom. But when Flip rejects Chi-Chi in front of their entire class, what happens next is completely unexpected: Chi-Chi―shy nerd and scholarship student―switches bodies with Flip. Suddenly Chi-Chi is 6’1” and cool, while Flip gets a crash course on Chi-Chi’s life―that is, k-pop, hair-braiding, and being a poor kid of color at a rich white private school. With… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & classism
  • Depression
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Alcoholism & alcohol consumption
  • Incarceration

Fitting Indian by Jyoti Chand & Tara Anand

All Nitasha’s parents want is for her to be the perfect Indian daughter—something she is decidedly not. Everything she does seems to disappoint them, especially her mom. They just don’t get that she’ll never be like her doctor older brother. To make matters worse, she’s never quite felt like she belongs at school either, and lately, her best friend, Ava, and her crush, Henry, seem to be more interested in the rich new girl than in her. Alcohol takes the edge off, but when that doesn’t work, Nitasha turns to cutting. She can’t stop asking herself: Will she ever be enough for her friends or her family? Or even for herself?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slut-shaming
  • Alcoholism & alcohol abuse (protagonist)
  • Self-harm & attempted suicide (on-page, protagonist)
  • Cyberbullying

King of the Neuro Verse by Idris Goodwin

For the third summer in a row, Pernell is back in the classroom, facing the same struggles that have always made school seem more like a battlefield than a place of learning. This summer is different, he’s battling to become the Cypher King, leader of the lunchroom’s impromptu rap circles. Here, the rhythm flows and the words fly, creating a space where the wittiest and most rhythmically inclined reign supreme. Here, Pernell’s ADHD gives him an edge. But life outside the cypher isn’t as forgiving. Pernell’s English teacher has it out for him. His parents are pressuring him to see… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical ableism (theme)
  • Death of a parent

Love, Misha by Askel Aden

Can this road trip get any worse? Yes, Mom (Audrey) wanted to spend time with Misha. And yes, she’s never around and they don’t even live together, so this is a rare opportunity. But Audrey still thinks of Misha as her daughter, despite Misha being non-binary and trying to talk to her openly about it. Misha even tries to write how they feel in a letter, but that isn’t going well either. Then a wrong turn down a forest road leads the mother-child duo straight into the Realm of Spirits! Suddenly in peril and without a clue how to return to their… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misgendering

All the Noise at Once by DeAndra Davis

All Aiden ever wanted to do was play football just like his star quarterback brother, Brandon. Unfortunately, due to Aiden’s autism, summer football tryouts did not go well when Aiden finds himself at the bottom of a pile-up resulting in an over-stimulation meltdown. But when the school year starts, a spot on the team opens urgently needing to be filled. Aiden finally gets his chance to play the game he loves most. However, not every team member is happy about Aiden’s position on the team, wary of how his autism will present itself on game day. Tensions rise. A fight breaks out. Cops are called. When Brandon tries to interfere… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & ableism
  • Police brutality
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Incarceration for physical assault
  • Emesis