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.

The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins

The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins

Bears aren’t the only predators in these woods. Best friends Neena and Josie spent high school as outsiders, but at least they had each other. Now, with college and a two-thousand-mile separation looming on the horizon, they have one last chance to be together—a three-day hike deep into the woods of the Pisgah National Forest. Simmering tensions lead to a detour off the trail and straight into a waking nightmare; and then into something far worse. Something that will test them in horrifying ways.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Paedophilia
  • Rape of a minor mentioned
  • Necrophilia mentioned
  • Physical injury, including gunshot wounds & broken bones
  • Graphic blood, gore & dead bodies
  • Amputation
  • Death of a parent mentioned
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Car accident mentioned
  • Animal attack (bear)

Unpregnant by Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan

Unpregnant by Jenni Hendriks & Ted Caplan

Seventeen-year-old Veronica Clarke never thought she’d want to fail a test – until she finds herself holding a thick piece of plastic and staring at two solid pink lines. How her boyfriend managed to get her pregnant, even with the most consistent use of condoms, is a mystery–but with a college-bound future now disappearing before her eyes, Veronica considers a decision she never imagined she’d have to make: an abortion. Except the closest place to legally get one is nine hundred miles away in New Mexico–and Veronica doesn’t have a car. Desperate, she turns to the only person who won’t judge her: Bailey Butler… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Lesbomisia
  • Misogyny
  • Slut shaming
  • Classism
  • Sexual assault
  • Cheating mentioned
  • Parental abandonment mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Recreational drug use
  • Cancer mentioned
  • Emesis
  • Teen pregnancy
  • Abortion mentioned
  • Gun violence
  • Stalking
  • Death of a pet mentioned

Heart’s Blood by Juliet Marillier

Heart’s Blood by Juliet Marillier

Whistling Tor is a place of secrets, a mysterious, wooded hill housing the crumbling fortress of a chieftain whose name is spoken throughout the district in tones of revulsion and bitterness. A curse lies over Anluan’s family and his people; those woods hold a perilous force whose every whisper threatens doom. For young scribe Caitrin it is a safe haven. This place where nobody else is prepared to go seems exactly what she needs, for Caitrin is fleeing her own demons. As Caitrin comes to know Anluan and his home in more depth she realizes that it is only through her love and determ… com.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child neglect
  • Domestic violence
  • Suicide
  • Death of a parent
  • House fire
  • Animal death (dog)

Melt My Heart by Bethany Rutter

Melt My Heart by Bethany Rutter

Lily Rose is used to people paying attention to her gorgeous twin sister, Daisy. But even though Lily loves her own fat body, she can’t shake the idea that no one would ever choose her over Daisy – not when they could have the thin twin. .That is, until she meets Cal, the gorgeous, sweet guy from New Zealand who can’t seem to stay away. The gorgeous, sweet guy who also happens to be Daisy’s summer crush. Lily can’t seem to figure out why she isn’t as into him as she should be. She should be head-over-heels in love, not missing time at the ice-cream shack with her life-long… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Bimisia
  • Fatmisia & body shaming
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Cheating

Cross Fire by Fonda Lee

Cross Fire by Fonda Lee

Earth’s century of peace as a colony of an alien race has been shattered. As the alien-run government navigates peace talks with the human terrorist group Sapience, Donovan tries to put his life back together and return to his duty as a member of the security forces. But a new order comes from the alien home planet: withdraw. Earth has proven too costly and unstable to maintain as a colony, so the aliens, along with a small selection of humans, begin to make plans to leave. As word of the withdrawal spreads through the galaxy, suddenly Earth becomes vulnerable to a takeover from other aliens races. Aliens who do not seek to live in…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Medical procedures
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Terrorism

Wait for Me by Caroline Leech

Wait for Me by Caroline Leech

It’s 1945, and Lorna Anderson’s life on her father’s farm in Scotland consists of endless chores and rationing, knitting Red Cross scarves, and praying for an Allied victory. So when Paul Vogel, a German prisoner of war, is assigned as the new farmhand, Lorna is appalled. How can she possibly work alongside the enemy when her own brothers are risking their lives for their country? But as Lorna reluctantly spends time with Paul, she feels herself changing. The more she learns about him—from his time in the war to his life back home in Germany—the more she sees the boy behind the soldier. Soon Lorna is battling her… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault
  • War camps & prisoners of war
  • World War Two (theme)

Fracture by Megan Miranda

Fracture by Megan Miranda

By the time Delaney Maxwell was pulled from a Maine lake’s icy waters by her best friend, her heart had stopped beating. But somehow Delaney survived – despite the brain scans that show irreparable damage. Everyone wants Delaney to be fine, but she knows she’s far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can’t control or explain, Delaney now finds herself drawn to the dying, and when she meets Troy Varga, a boy who recently emerged from a coma with the same abilities, she is relieved to share this strange new existence. Unsure if her altered brain is predicting… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Coma
  • Death of a friend
  • Drowning
  • Fire

Jay’s Gay Agenda by Jason June

Jay’s Gay Agenda by Jason June

There’s one thing Jay Collier knows for sure—he’s a statistical anomaly as the only out gay kid in his small rural Washington town. While all these friends can’t stop talking about their heterosexual hookups and relationships, Jay can only dream of his own firsts, compiling a romance to-do list of all the things he hopes to one day experience—his Gay Agenda. Then, against all odds, Jay’s family moves to Seattle and he starts his senior year at a new high school with a thriving LGBTQIA+ community. For the first time ever, Jay feels like he’s found where he truly… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Homomisia
  • Adult-minor relationship
  • Cheating
  • Emesis

Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

Once a year, the path appears in the forest and Lucy Gallows beckons. Who is brave enough to find her–and who won’t make it out of the woods? It’s been exactly one year since Sara’s sister, Becca, disappeared, and high school life has far from settled back to normal. With her sister gone, Sara doesn’t know whether her former friends no longer like her…or are scared of her, and the days of eating alone at lunch have started to blend together. When a mysterious text message invites Sara and her estranged friends to “play the game” and find local ghost legend Lucy Gallows, Sara… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Physical child abuse, off-page
  • Amnesia
  • Suicide
  • Eye trauma
  • Starvation discussed
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a sister
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife violence
  • Disappearance of a sibling (theme)
  • Drowning, on-page
  • Animal attack

These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall

These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall

Helen Vaughan doesn’t know why she and her mother left their ancestral home at Harrowstone Hall, called Harrow, or why they haven’t spoken to their extended family since. So when her grandfather dies, she’s shocked to learn that he has left everything—the house, the grounds, and the money—to her. The inheritance comes with one condition: she must stay on the grounds of Harrow for one full year, or she’ll be left with nothing. There is more at stake than money. For as long as she can remember, Harrow has haunted Helen’s dreams—and now those dreams have… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Sexual assault mentioned
  • Eye trauma mentioned
  • Body horror
  • Death of a child
  • Deth of a grandfather
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Poisoning
  • Animal attack