Category Archives: Representation

Us Dark Few by Alexis Patton

Khalani is a Prisoner. Takeshi is a Guard. Both are slaves to the Underground. Khalani Kanes has never stood on the surface of the earth. In the underground city of Apollo, faith and dreams are as absent as the sun. She longed to visit Genesis, the infamous Domed City and the final place where humanity lives aboveground. But when Khalani is given a life sentence and thrown into prison for a theft she didn’t commit, those wishes shatter into oblivion. In Braderhelm Prison, murderers are neighbors, ruthless and cold-blooded guards live to punish, and every second is a battle… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault & attempted rape, thwarted by the perpetrator being beaten to death & having his eyes plucked out
  • Physical child abuse & domestic violence recounted, resulting in the love interest murdering his step-father in revenge for murdering his mother
  • Suicidal ideation (protagonist, on-page)
  • Alcohol consumption & mentions of smoking
  • Decapitation mentioned
  • Murder of a mother & father recounted (protagonist)
  • Physical assault & death in ‘fight pits’
  • Mass shooting mentioned
  • Imprisonment (theme), including inhumane treatment of prisoners through electrocution, starvation, and being worked to death
  • Nuclear fallout & terrorism recounted (post-apocalyptic world, set 300 years after the events)

Us Deadly Few by Alexis Patton

Khalani Kanes never imagined surviving Braderhelm Prison, let alone escaping to the desolate surface they had been told was uninhabitable. Haunted by the Governor of Apollo’s dark secrets, Khalani and her crew of criminals embark on a new perilous journey. Now, the true test begins as Khalani ventures through the treacherous “Death-Zone” toward the nearest underground city, Hermes. Abandoned relics of a once-great nation are not the only threats on the barren road. Violent storms sweep across the Death-Zone, the deadly Takeshi Steele has resumed…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault & attempted rape, thwarted by the perpetrator being beaten to death & having his eyes plucked out
  • Alcohol consumption & mentions of smoking
  • Drugging
  • Physical injury, including mention of secondary character going into septic shot from an arrow wound
  • Graphic fantasy violence including explosions, bombings, weapon violence (bow & arrow), physical assault/fight scenes & murder by gun violence
  • Torture, including electrocution, knife violence & lobotomy-like medical experimentation
  • Nuclear fallout & terrorism recounted (post-apocalyptic world, set 300 years after the events)
  • Kidnapping

Beard in Mind by Penny Reid

Beau Winston is the nicest, most accommodating guy in the world. Usually. Handsome as the devil and twice as charismatic, Beau lives a charmed life as everyone’s favorite Winston Brother. But since his twin decided to leave town, and his other brother hired a stunning human-porcupine hybrid as a replacement mechanic for their auto shop, Beau Winston’s charmed life has gone to hell in a handbasket. Shelly Sullivan is not nice and is never accommodating. Ever. She mumbles to herself, but won’t respond when asked a question. She glares at everyone, especially babies. She… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic violence recounted
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Depression
  • Self-harm (cutting)

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

To his customers and neighbors on 125th street, Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably priced furniture, making a decent life for himself and his family. He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their second child, and if her parents on Striver’s Row don’t approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, it’s still home. Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks, and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger all the time. Cash is tight, especially with all those installment… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Police shooting

Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert by Bob the Drag Queen

In an age of miracles where our greatest heroes from history have magically, unexplainably returned to shake us out of our confusion and hate, Harriet Tubman is back, and she has a lot to say. Harriet Tubman and four of the enslaved persons she led to freedom want to tell their story in a unique way. Harriet wants to create a hip-hop album and live show about her life, and she needs a songwriter to help her. She calls upon Darnell, a once successful hip-hop producer who was topping the charts before being outed on a BET talk show. Darnell has no idea what to expect when he steps… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & slavery discussed
  • Outing & homophobia recounted
  • Smoking
  • Death of a friend from cancer mentioned
  • Kidnapping of a child
  • American Civil War mentioned

A Mixture of Mischief by Anna Meriano

Leo Logroño may have discovered the true nature of her magical abilities, but her education in how to use them in her family’s magical bakery has only just begun. And that isn’t the only bit of trouble in her life: her family’s baking heirlooms have begun to go missing, and a new bakery called Honeybees has opened across the street, threatening to run Amor y Azúcar right out of business. With two of her sisters on a special spirit-hunting spring-break trip with her tía Paloma, and with Mamá busy guarding the bakery to keep away any more bad luck, Leo must work with her best… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother from cancer recounted
  • Kidnapping

A Sprinkle of Spirits by Anna Meriano

Leonora Logroño has finally been introduced to her family’s bakery bruja magic—but that doesn’t mean everything is all sugar and spice. Her special power hasn’t shown up yet, her family still won’t let her perform her own spells, and they now act rude every time Caroline comes by to help Leo with her magic training. She knows that the family magic should be kept secret, but Caroline is her best friend, and she’s been feeling lonely ever since her mom passed away. Why should Leo have to choose between being a good bruja and a good friend? In the midst… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother from cancer recounted

A Dash of Trouble by Anna Meriano

Leonora Logroño’s family owns the most beloved bakery in Rose Hill, Texas, spending their days conjuring delicious cookies and cakes for any occasion. And no occasion is more important than the annual Dia de los Muertos festival. Leo hopes that this might be the year that she gets to help prepare for the big celebration—but, once again, she is told she’s too young. Sneaking out of school and down to the bakery, she discovers that her mother, aunt, and four older sisters have in fact been keeping a big secret: they’re brujas—witches of Mexican ancestry—who pour a little bit of… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother from cancer
  • Bullying

It Sounds Like This by Anna Meriano

Yasmín Treviño didn’t have much of a freshman year thanks to Hurricane Humphrey, but she’s ready to take sophomore year by storm. That means mastering the marching side of marching band—fast!—so she can outshine her BFF Sofia as top of the flute section, earn first chair, and impress both her future college admission boards and her comfortably unattainable drum major crush Gilberto Reyes. But Yasmín steps off on the wrong foot when she reports an anonymous gossip Instagram account harassing new band members and accidentally gets the entire… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misgendering
  • Sexism
  • Toxic friendship
  • Cyberbullying & online harassment

Miss Camper by Kat Fajardo

Sue is heading to Camp Willow with her friends for two whole weeks this summer! She’s looking forward to hiking, archery, and making some comics in the fresh air. She’s especially excited about LARPing (live-action roleplaying), and can’t wait for the freedom that comes with being away from home. But she won’t be far from her family’s watchful eye because her big sister, Carmen, is a camp counsellor and her little sister, Ester, will be a camper! All Sue wants is to spend quality time and make memories with her friends, but Ester won’t give her any space and Sue can’t… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a grandmother recounted