Category Archives: Kidlit

Nate Plus One by Kevin van Whye

Nate Hargraves – stage-shy singer-songwriter – is totally stoked for his cousin’s wedding in South Africa, an all-expenses-paid trip of a lifetime. Until he finds out his sleazeball ex-boyfriend is also on the guest list. Jai Patel – hot-as-hell high school rock-god – has troubles too. His band’s lead singer has quit, just weeks before the gig that was meant to be their big break. When Nate saves the day by agreeing to sing with Jai’s band, Jai volunteers to be Nate’s plus-one to the wedding, and the stage is set for a summer of music, self-discovery, and simmering romantic tension. What could possibly go wrong . . . ?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia
  • Racism & mentions of apartheid
  • Child abuse
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Animal death

Milo and Marcos at the End of the World by Kevin Christopher Snipes

Milo Connolly has managed to survive the first three years of high school without any major disasters, so by his calculations, he’s well past due for some sort of Epic Teenage Catastrophe. Even so, all he wants his senior year is to keep his head down and fly under the radar like the quiet, well-behaved, churchgoing boy that everyone thinks he is. Everything is going exactly as planned until the dreamy and charismatic Marcos Price saunters back into his life after a three-year absence and turns his world upside-down. Suddenly Milo is forced to confront the long-buried feelings that he’s kept hidden not only from himself but… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Hate crime
  • Racism
  • Internalised religious homophobia & threats of conversion therapy
  • Fire
  • Hurricane
  • Sinkhole
  • Bullying

Bloom by Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau

Though he loved working there as a kid, Ari cannot fathom a life wasting away over rising dough and hot ovens. But while interviewing candidates for his replacement, Ari meets Hector, an easy going guy who loves baking as much as Ari wants to escape it. As they become closer over batches of bread, love is ready to bloom . . . that is, if Ari doesn’t ruin everything.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Death of a grandmother mentioned
  • Fire & related loss of property and business

Champions of the Fox by Kevin Sands

Commanded by the magical artefact known as the Dragon’s Eye, junior con artist Callan and his friends are eagerly reaching the end of the epic quest that will finally free him from the Eye’s sinister hold. But their final task is their most ambitious: sneaking into the emperor’s private island prison and rescuing a man from a jail cell that has been locked tight for forty years. This impossible heist will strain the gang’s unique abilities to thieve and deceive everyone from the guards, the city elite, the warden, and even the nefarious local crime boss who warns them to stay away. Commanded by the magical… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption mentioned
  • Mentions of a dead body
  • Physical assault of a minor recounted
  • Minor knife & sword violence
  • Loss of autonomy (magical)

Seekers of the Fox by Kevin Sands

Rule number one: Never mess with magic. Even so, a life-or-death situation calls for Callan and his criminal friends to make a deal with the Eye—the sinister, sentient artifact they stole from a sorcerer. Something precious in exchange for a future task, and the gang has no choice but to agree. The cure—and their part of the deal—lies with the Dragon’s Teeth, a pair of swords with extraordinary powers, and the search for them leads the thieves on a quest that will unravel the mystery of the Eye.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption mentioned
  • Minor knife & sword violence
  • Loss of autonomy (magical)

Mark of the Plague by Kevin Sands

The Black Death has returned to London, spreading disease and fear through town. A mysterious prophet predicts the city’s ultimate doom—until an unknown apothecary arrives with a cure that actually works. Christopher’s Blackthorn shop is chosen to prepare the remedy. But when an assassin threatens the apothecary’s life, Christopher and his faithful friend Tom are back to hunting down the truth, risking their lives to untangle the heart of a dark conspiracy. And as the sickness strikes close to home, the stakes are higher than ever before…

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption mentioned
  • Plague (theme)
  • Physical injury & Illness (broken bones, plague)
  • Death of a child mentioned
  • Murder including mentions of a mob lynching
  • Explosion
  • Physical assault of minors & threats of torture
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Animal injury (bird)

The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands

Until he got that cryptic warning, Christopher Rowe was happy, learning how to solve complex codes and puzzles and creating powerful medicines, potions, and weapons as an apprentice to Master Benedict Blackthorn—with maybe an explosion or two along the way. But when a mysterious cult begins to prey on London’s apothecaries, the trail of murders grows closer and closer to Blackthorn’s shop. With time running out, Christopher must use every skill he’s learned to discover the key to a terrible secret with the power to tear the world apart.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse & physical assault of a minor
  • Murder & mentions of public executions
  • Torture by acid mentioned (secondary character)
  • Explosions

The Assassin’s Curse by Kevin Sands

Wherever Christopher Rowe goes, adventure—and murder—follows. Even a chance to meet King Charles ends in a brush with an assassin. All that’s recovered from the killer is a coded message with an ominous sign-off: more attempts are coming. So when Christopher’s code-breaking discovers the attack’s true target, he and his friends are ordered to Paris to investigate a centuries-old curse on the French throne. And when they learn an ancient treasure is promised to any assassin who succeeds, they realize the entire royal family is at stake—as well as their own lives.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption mentioned
  • Amputation (off-page)
  • Poisoning
  • Death from impaling
  • Death from animal attack (snake, bee)
  • Death of a snake from decapitation

Our Sister, Again by Sophie Cameron

On the Scottish coast, Isla and her family are grieving the loss of her older sister Flora, who died three years ago. Then they’re offered the chance to be part of a top-secret trial, which revives loved ones as fully lifelike AI robots using their digital footprint. Isla has her doubts about Second Chances, but they evaporate the moment the ‘new’ Flora arrives. This girl is not some uncanny close likeness; she is Flora – a perfect replica. But not everyone on their island feels the same. And as the threats to Flora mount, she grows distant and more secretive. Will Isla be able to protect the new Flora and bring the community back together?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction (theme)
  • Death of a sister recounted

Away With Words by Sophie Cameron

Gala and her dad, Jordi, have just moved to a town in Scotland, to live with Jordi’s boyfriend Ryan. Gala doesn’t speak much English, and feels lost, lonely and unable to be her usual funny self. Until she befriends Natalie, a girl with selective mutism. The two girls find their own ways to communicate, which includes collecting other people’s discarded words. They use the words to write anonymous supportive poems for their classmates, but then someone begins leaving nasty messages using the same method – and the girls are blamed. Gala has finally started adapting to her new life in Scotland and is determined to find the culprit. Can she and Natalie show the school who they really are?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Selective mutism (secondary character)