BIPOC Lit – Page 70 – Trigger Warning Database

Darling by K Ancrum

Darling by K. Ancrum

On Wendy Darling’s first night in Chicago, a boy called Peter appears at her window. He’s dizzying, captivating, beautiful—so she agrees to join him for a night on the town.

Wendy thinks they’re heading to a party, but instead they’re soon running in the city’s underground. She makes friends—a punk girl named Tinkerbelle and the lost boys Peter watches over. And she makes enemies—the terrifying Detective Hook, and maybe Peter himself, as his sinister secrets start coming to light. Can Wendy find the courage to survive this night—and make sure everyone else does, too?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Adult-minor relationships
Grooming
Child abuse & neglect
Anxiety
Panic attacks
PTSD & trauma
Alcohol consumption
Blood depiction
Death of a parent
Death of a child
Murder, off-page
Gun violence
Police brutality
Stalking
Kidnapping

One Carefree Day by Whitney Amazeen

One Carefree Day by Whitney Amazeen

For eighteen-year-old Willow Bates, anxiety is just a part of life. With her every decision ruled by intrusive thoughts, she’s worried she sometimes seems a little odd. Despite Willow’s efforts to hide her OCD from those around her, it isn’t always possible. Her rituals are her coping mechanism, and Willow’s past has left her with a lot to cope with.

But when Willow takes things too far, her mother breaks and gives her an ultimatum: Willow must finally start taking meds to treat her obsessive-compulsive disorder, or she’ll have to move out within three months… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Child abuse mentioned
Domestic violence mentioned
Suicide mentioned
Pregnancy loss mentioned

Maverick’s Madness by Lorrain Allen

Maverick’s Madness by Lorrain Allen

Maverick’s bigot father raised him to be a racist. The moment he sees me—the biracial new girl—an invisible target is placed on my back. Before the first day of school, he turns most of the senior class against me.

Maverick thought I would roll over and take his abuse, never anticipating a battle. He was mistaken. I will fight until my last breath. Maverick and his friends can suck it.

When I don’t fold under pressure, he comes at me full force, wanting to destroy me. He never expected to be the one to fold.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism

Black Girls Must Be Magic by Jayne Allen

Black Girls Must Be Magic by Jayne Allen

For Tabitha Walker, her grandmother’s old adage, “Black girls must die exhausted” is becoming all too true. Discovering she’s pregnant–after she was told she may not be able to have biological children–Tabitha throws herself headfirst into the world of “single mothers by choice.” Between her job, doctor’s appointments, and preparing for the baby, she’s worn out. And that’s before her boss at the local news station starts getting complaints from viewers about Tabitha’s natural hair.

When an unexpected turn of events draws Marc–her on and off-again ex-boyfriend–back into her world with surprising demands, and the situation at work begins to threaten her livelihood and her identity, Tabitha must make some tough decisions about her and her baby’s future… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism

Black Girls Must Die Exhausted by Jayne Allen

Black Girls Must Die Exhausted by Jayne Allen

Tabitha Walker is a black woman with a plan to “have it all.” At 33 years old, the checklist for the life of her dreams is well underway. Education? Check. Good job? Check. Down payment for a nice house? Check. Dating marriage material? Check, check, and check. With a coveted position as a local news reporter, a “paper-perfect” boyfriend, and even a standing Saturday morning appointment with a reliable hairstylist, everything seems to be falling into place.

Then Tabby receives an unexpected diagnosis that brings her picture-perfect life crashing down, jeopardizing the keystone she took for granted: having children. With her dreams at risk of falling through the cracks of her checklist, suddenly she is faced with an impossible choice… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Attempted suicide
Infertility
Police brutality

Black Birds in the Sky by Brandy Colbert

Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre by Brandy Colbert

In the early morning of June 1, 1921, a white mob marched across the train tracks in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and into its predominantly Black Greenwood District—a thriving, affluent neighbourhood known as America’s Black Wall Street. They brought with them firearms, gasoline, and explosives.

In a few short hours, they’d razed thirty-five square blocks to the ground, leaving hundreds dead. The Tulsa Race Massacre is one of the most devastating acts of racial violence in US history. But how did it come to pass? What exactly happened? And why are the events unknown to so many of us today?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism & racial profiling
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a brother in a gang shooting recounted

The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert

The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert

Marva Sheridan was born ready for this day. She’s always been driven to make a difference in the world, and what better way than to vote in her first election? Duke Crenshaw is so done with this election. He just wants to get voting over with so he can prepare for his band’s first paying gig tonight. Only problem? Duke can’t vote.

When Marva sees Duke turned away from their polling place, she takes it upon herself to make sure his vote is counted. She hasn’t spent months doorbelling and registering voters just to see someone denied their right. And that’s how their whirlwind day begins, rushing from precinct to precinct, cutting school, waiting in endless lines, turned away time and again, trying to do one simple thing: vote. They may have started out as strangers, but as Duke and Marva team up to beat a rigged system (and find Marva’s missing cat), it’s clear that there’s more to their connection than a shared mission for democracy.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism & racial profiling
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a brother in a gang shooting recounted

The Only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert

The Only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert

Beach-loving surfer Alberta has been the only black girl in town for years. Alberta’s best friend, Laramie, is the closest thing she has to a sister, but there are some things even Laramie can’t understand. When the bed and breakfast across the street finds new owners, Alberta is ecstatic to learn the family is black-and they have a 12-year-old daughter just like her. Alberta is positive she and the new girl, Edie, will be fast friends. But while Alberta loves being a California girl, Edie misses her native Brooklyn and finds it hard to adapt to small-town living.

When the girls discover a box of old journals in Edie’s attic, they team up to figure out exactly who’s behind them and why they got left behind. Soon they discover shocking and painful secrets of the past and learn that nothing is quite what it seems.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism
Cheating mentioned
Pregnancy
Bullying

The Revolution of Birdie Randolph by Brandy Colbert

The Revolution of Birdie Randolph by Brandy Colbert

Dove “Birdie” Randolph works hard to be the perfect daughter and follow the path her parents have laid out for her: She quit playing her beloved soccer, she keeps her nose buried in textbooks, and she’s on track to finish high school at the top of her class. But then Birdie falls hard for Booker, a sweet boy with a troubled past…whom she knows her parents will never approve of.

When her estranged aunt Carlene returns to Chicago and moves into the family’s apartment above their hair salon, Birdie notices the tension building at home. Carlene is sweet, friendly, and open-minded–she’s also spent decades in and out of treatment facilities for addiction. As Birdie becomes closer to both Booker and Carlene, she yearns to spread her wings. But when long-buried secrets rise to the surface, everything she’s known to be true is turned upside down.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism & racial profiling
Parental abandonment mentioned
Familial estrangement
Substance addiction
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use & abuse
Death of a parent from cancer mentioned
Physical assault recounted
Bullying mentioned

Hexslayer by Jordan Hawk

Hexslayer by Jordan L. Hawk

Horse shifter Nick has one rule: never trust a witch. Nick has devoted his life to making his saloon a safe haven for the feral familiars of New York. So when a brutal killer slaughters a feral under his protection, Nick has no choice but to try and catch the murderer. Even if that means bonding with a handsome Irish witch.

Officer Jamie MacDougal came back from the war in Cuba missing part of a leg and most of his heart. After his former lover becomes one of the killer’s victims, Jamie will do anything to solve the case.

Nick comes to Jamie with a proposal: after making a temporary bond, they will work together to stop the murders. Once the killer is caught, they walk away and never see one another again.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Police brutality, on-page