The Backstagers, Vol. 2: The Show Must Go On by James Tynion IV & Rian Sygh

Jory and the rest of the Backstagers have one goal this semester: to put on the best show their town’s ever seen. But best laid plans aren’t easy to achieve when there’s an entire magical world that lives beyond the curtain! When one of the actors suddenly goes missing, the Backstagers must band together to save their comrade and maintain the natural balance of . . . theater.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableist language
  • Disappearance of a friend

The Backstagers, Vol. 1: Rebels Without Applause by James Tynion IV, Rian Sygh & Walter Baiamonte

When Jory transfers to an all-boys private high school, he’s taken in by the only ones who don’t treat him like a new kid, the lowly stage crew known as the Backstagers. Not only does he gain great, lifetime friends, Jory is also introduced to an entire magical world that lives beyond the curtain. With the unpredictable twists and turns of the underground world, the Backstagers venture into the unknown, determined to put together the best play their high school has ever seen.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableist language
  • Bullying
  • Disappearance of a friend

Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson

Kaylani is a born-and-bred Brooklyn girl. She expects to feel like a fish out of water spending the hot and sticky summer on Martha’s Vineyard with family friends, the Watsons. But her mother insists, especially since Kaylani still spends long hours on the phone with her imprisoned father. The Watsons live in the town of Oak Bluffs, a place with a rich Black history that fascinates Kaylani. Though the Watsons’ daughter, London, is snobby and unfriendly, Kaylani ends up connecting with some other kids in the town, who show… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Classism
  • Emesis
  • Blood depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Murder
  • Imprisonment
  • Bullying

All Fired Up by Jenn Burke

Paranormals are dying. All over the city, with no explanation and only one thing in common: their magic is missing. Vampire and private investigator Evan Fournier isn’t supposed to be taking on paranormal cases, but when the murderer hits close to home, he agrees to look into it. The last thing he expects is to become a target himself—and then to become irrevocably bonded to the man who just tried to kill him. With his memory gone and his soul bonded to a stranger, former firefighter Colin Zhang wants to be anywhere else. He doesn’t have a damn… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Amnesia
  • Suicide
  • Drugging
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Loss of autonomy (mind control)

Ali Cross by James Patterson

The brilliant DC detective who never gives up on a case.Ali CrossThe tenacious kid who’s determined to follow in his father’s footsteps.The case that finally gives him a chanceAli knows Gabe Qualls better than anyone, so when his friend goes missing, Ali jumps right into action. Being Alex Cross’s son has taught him the skills he needs to solve the intelligence, persistence, and logic. One thing he didn’t inherit? Patience.Because Ali knows that with every day that passes without the police finding Gabe, the less likely it is that he’ll ever be found. And being Alex Cross’s son, he refuses to accept those odds.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Disappearance of a friend

Alaskan Christmas Redemption by Belle Calhoune

Returning to Owl Creek after years away, Braden North’s determined to help his best friend, Piper Miller, save her failing diner. But as they work to revitalize her business, Braden’s convinced he must hide the truth about a tragedy from their past…or risk losing Piper for good. If he can find the courage, might telling her everything make this Christmas a time for healing and forgiveness?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Abandonment
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Heart attack mentioned
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Kidnapping mentioned

The Affairs of the Falcóns by Melissa Rivero

Ana Falcón, along with her husband Lucho and their two young children, has fled the economic and political strife of Peru for a chance at a new life in New York City in the 1990s. Being undocumented, however, has significantly curtailed the family’s opportunities: Ana is indebted to a loan shark who calls herself Mama, and is stretched thin by unceasing shifts at her factory job. To make matters worse, Ana must also battle both criticism from Lucho’s cousin—who has made it obvious the family is not welcome to stay in her spare room for much longer—and escalating and unwant… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & colourism
  • Homophobia
  • Rape mentioned & sexual assault
  • Abortion
  • Deportation

Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill

Crime fiction author Joe Penvale has won the most brutal battle of his life. Now that he has finished his intense medical treatment, he and his twin sister, Meredith, are boarding the glorious Orient Express in Paris, hoping for some much-needed rest and rejuvenation. Meredith also hopes that the literary ghosts on the train will nudge Joe’s muse awake, and he’ll be inspired to write again. And he is; after their first evening spent getting to know some of their fellow travelers, Joe pulls out his laptop and opens a new document. Seems like this trip is just… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Cancer
  • COVID-19 pandemic (theme)
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Confinement & stalking

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet, until the tranquillity is shattered by a woman’s terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who’d happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning—it just happens that one is a murderer.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & ableism, including mentions of police brutality
  • Physical child abuse by alcoholic parent(secondary character)
  • Dieting mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Parental infertility mentioned (secondary character)
  • Physical injury & mentions of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Death of a father from a heart attack mentioned (secondary character)
  • Death of a sister in a mountaineering accident recounted
  • Murder
  • Mugging with knife (secondary character)
  • Phyiscal assault
  • Incarceration for the murder of a stepfather in self-defence (secondary character)
  • Homelessness mentioned
  • Bushfires mentioned

The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston

The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts is Kingston’s disturbing and fiercely beautiful account of growing up Chinese-American in California. The young Kingston lives in two worlds: the America to which her parents have immigrated and the China of her mother’s “talk stories.” Her mother tells her traditional tales of strong, wily women warriors – tales that clash puzzlingly with the real oppression of women. Kingston learns to fill in the mystifying spaces in her mother’s stories with stories of her own, engaging her family’s past and her own present with anger, imagination, and dazzling passion.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Cheating
  • Suicide by drowning
  • Alcohol consumption & mentions of smoking
  • Pregnancy
  • Murder
  • Sword violence
  • Animal death