Category Archives: Kidlit

A Dangerous Path by Erin Hunter

ShadowClan has a dark new leader, but will he be satisfied with his power now — or does his desire for revenge burn even more strongly? Fireheart fears that there is a connection between the rise of Tigerstar and the terrible dreams that haunt his nights, murmuring of danger and death.Meanwhile, a mysterious and vicious threat unlike any other has invaded the forest, placing every cat’s life in peril. Fireheart’s beloved leader has turned her back on their warrior ancestors, and Fireheart can’t help but wonder if she’s right. Has StarClan abandoned them forever?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Dementia
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Fire
  • Animal death

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.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

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

Artifice by Sharon Cameron

Isa de Smit was raised in the vibrant, glittering world of her parents’ small art gallery in Amsterdam, a hub of beauty, creativity, and expression, until the Nazi occupation wiped the color from her city’s palette.
The “degenerate” art of the Gallery de Smit is confiscated, the artists in hiding or deported, her best friend, Truus, fled to join the shadowy Dutch resistance.
And masterpiece by masterpiece, the Nazis are buying and stealing her country’s heritage, feeding the Third Reich’s ravenous appetite for culture and art. So when the unpaid taxes threaten her beloved… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical antisemitism & homophobia
  • Child sexual assault (groping) & mentions of underage sex work
  • Alcohol consumption & drug use
  • Secondary character with a substance addition (morphine)
  • Death of a parent
  • Death of a friend & child at the hands of Nazis
  • Torture
  • Murder by gun violence
  • World War Two (theme), including depiction of the Holocaust & mentions of concentration camps

Beasts of War by Ayana Gray

Once a prisoner to Fedu, the vengeful god of death, Koffi has regained her freedom, but she is far from safe. Fedu will stop at nothing to hunt her down and use her power to decimate the mortal world. Koffi knows when Fedu will during the next Bonding, a once-in-a-lifetime celestial event. To survive, Koffi will have to find powerful new allies quickly, and convince them to help her in the terrible battle to come. Once a warrior-turned-runaway, Ekon has carved out a new life for himself outside Lkossa, but the shadows of his past still haunt him. Now, alongside unexpected friends, Ekon tries to focus on getting Koffi to the… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Battle scenes with bow & arrow and sword violence

Beasts of Ruin by Ayana Gray

Koffi has saved her city and the boy she loves, but at a terrible price. Now a servant to the cunning god of death, she must use her newfound power to further his continental conquest, or risk the safety of her home and loved ones. As she reluctantly learns to survive amidst unexpected friends and foes, she will also have to choose between the life—and love—she once had, or the one she could have, if she truly embraces her dangerous gifts. Cast out from the only home he’s ever known, Ekon is forced to strike new and unconventional alliances to find and rescue Koffi before it… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Indentured servitude mentioned
  • Caning mentioned
  • Fire
  • Animal attacks (fantastical)

The Survival Kit by Donna Freitas

When Rose’s mom dies, she leaves behind a brown paper bag labeled Rose’s Survival Kit. Inside the bag, Rose finds an iPod, with a to-be-determined playlist; a picture of peonies, for growing; a crystal heart, for loving; a paper star, for making a wish; and a paper kite, for letting go. As Rose ponders the meaning of each item, she finds herself returning again and again to an unexpected source of comfort. Will is her family’s gardener, the school hockey star, and the only person who really understands what she’s going through. Can loss lead to love?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction (theme)
  • Death of a mother from cancer

A Girl Named Digit by Annabel Monaghan

Farrah “Digit” Higgins may be going to MIT in the fall, but this L.A. high school genius has left her geek self behind in another school district so she can blend in with the popular crowd at Santa Monica High and actually enjoy her senior year. But when Farrah, the daughter of a UCLA math professor, unknowingly cracks a terrorist group’s number sequence, her laid-back senior year gets a lot more interesting. Soon she is personally investigating the case, on the run from terrorists, and faking her own kidnapping– all while trying to convince a young, hot FBI agent to take her seriously. So much for blending in . . .

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Adult-minor relationship*
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Terrorism discussed

*Context : The protagonist is a 17-year-old girl and her love interest is a 23-year-old man who ‘won’t take the relationship further’ until she turns 18.

Spectacular by Stephanie Garber

Snowflakes are falling. Invitations are arriving. And holiday magic is swirling in the capital city of the Meridian Empire. It’s Great Holiday Eve Eve. Scarlett Dragna is planning a spectacular Holiday celebration for the city. Donatella is searching for the perfect gift. Julian is looking ridiculously handsome in green. And Legend… Well, sadly Legend is not fond of the Great Holiday. Tella is hoping her perfect gift will change his mind. Unfortunately, she hasn’t found this perfect gift just yet. But it is Great Holiday Eve Eve… surely there’s some holiday magic swirling around. Welcome, welcome back to the world of Caraval, where even holidays are not as they seem.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sex work mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption & mentions of smoking
  • Protagonist is drugged, kidnapped, held captive, and sexually assaulted (groped and forced to kiss her kidnapper)

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.

Goodreads • The 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.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Anxiety & panic attacks (protagonist)
  • Bullying