Tag Archives: Bullying & Hazing

That’s Not What Happened by Kody Keplinger

That’s Not What Happened by Kody Keplinger

It’s been three years since the Virgil County High School Massacre. Three years since my best friend, Sarah, was killed in a bathroom stall during the mass shooting. Everyone knows Sarah’s story–that she died proclaiming her faith. But it’s not true. I know because I was with her when she died. I didn’t say anything then, and people got hurt because of it. Now Sarah’s parents are publishing a book about her, so this might be my last chance to set the record straight . . . but I’m not the only survivor with a story to tell about what did–and didn’t–happen that day. Except Sarah’s… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Alcoholism mentioned
  • Substance addiction mentioned
  • Overdose mentioned
  • Blood depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • School shooting
  • Bullying

The Okay Witch and the Hungry Shadow by Emma Steinkellner

The Okay Witch and the Hungry Shadow by Emma Steinkellner

Moth Hush is starting to settle into her newfound witch heritage and powers, but life at school continues to be rough. Even her best friend, Charlie, doesn’t entirely understand what it’s like for her to always be the one who gets mocked, and things only get worse when Moth’s mom starts dating one of the dorkiest teachers in the school! Then Moth gets hold of a mysterious charm that can unleash another version of herself—one who is confident, cool, and extremely popular. What could possibly go wrong?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Persecution for witchcraft
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)
  • Bullying

I’m Not Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl by Gretchen McNeil

I’m Not Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl by Gretchen McNeil

Beatrice Maria Estrella Giovannini has life all figured out. She’s starting senior year at the top of her class, she’s a shoo-in for a scholarship to M.I.T., and she’s got a new boyfriend she’s crazy about. The only problem: All through high school Bea and her best friends Spencer and Gabe have been the targets of horrific bullying. So Bea uses her math skills to come up with The Formula, a 100% mathematically guaranteed path to social happiness in high school. Now Gabe is on his way to becoming Student Body President, and Spencer is finally getting his art noticed. But when… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Homomisia & homomisic slurs
  • Ableism
  • Misogyny
  • Cheating
  • Bullying

I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan

I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan

In her small town, seventeen-year-old Delia “Dee” Skinner is known as the girl who wasn’t taken. Ten years ago she witnessed the abduction of her best friend, Sibby. And though she told the police everything she remembered, it wasn’t enough. Sibby was never seen again. At night, Dee deals with her guilt by becoming someone else: the Seeker, the voice behind the popular true crime podcast Radio Silent, which features missing persons cases and works with online sleuths to solve them. Nobody knows Dee’s the Seeker, and she plans to keep it that way.. When another… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slut-shaming
  • Pedophilia & grooming, implied
  • Recreational drug use
  • Disappearance of a loved
  • Kidnapping of a child
  • Bullying

Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Julia has followed her mum and dad to live on a remote island for the summer – her dad, for work; her mother, on a determined mission to find the elusive Greenland shark. But when her mother’s obsession threatens to submerge them all, Julia finds herself on an adventure with dark depths and a lighthouse full of hope…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Parental abandonment recounted
  • Parent with Bipolar Disorder including manic and depressive episodes
  • Attempted suicide of a parent by overdose, off-page
  • Bullying

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she’s a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training. In her new home, Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha-one who can wield elemental magic. But dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles and make a choice.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & gore depiction including dead bodies
  • Death of a brother
  • War themes
  • Bullying

Nanny for the Neighbors by Lily Gold

Nanny for the Neighbors by Lily Gold

‘To the boys in apartment 5A. Congratulations. You have a kid.’ That’s what the note attached to the abandoned baby carrier says. And now my three gorgeous neighbors are in deep trouble. None of them have a clue how to look after the baby that’s been left on their doorstep. Luckily, there’s a nanny in the building. I can barely believe my eyes when the sizzling boys next door come knocking for my help. The truth is, I’ve been secretly crushing on the guys in 5A for years—and now I finally have an excuse to meet them all. There’s Jack, the sweet, nerdy game designer with the… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexual harassment
  • Child abandonment
  • Foster care system
  • Anxiety & depression
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Infertility
  • Bullying

Faking with Benefits by Lily Gold

Faking with Benefits by Lily Gold

My name is Layla Thompson, and I am undateable. Seriously. I’m twenty-eight and I’ve never had a boyfriend. And with my thirties rapidly approaching, I’m starting to lose patience. Lucky for me, I have three overprotective best friends who are all too eager to help hone my dating skills. There’s Zack, the huge rugby player with the cheeky grin and rippling biceps. Josh, the boy next door with the sculpted jaw and calculating stare. And Luke, the silver-haired divorcee who also happens to be my old professor. After a bad date leaves me crying on their shoulders, the three… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slut-shaming
  • Sexual harassment
  • Divorce mentioned
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Emesis
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a partner from terminal illness recounted
  • Bullying recounted
  • Cyberbullying & online harassment

Delicates by Brenna Thummler

Delicates by Brenna Thummler

Marjorie Glatt’s life hasn’t been the same ever since she discovered a group of ghosts hiding in her family’s laundromat. Wendell, who died young and now must wander Earth as a ghost with nothing more than a sheet for a body, soon became one of Marjorie’s only friends. But when Marjorie finally gets accepted by the popular kids at school, she begins to worry that if anyone learns about her secret ghost friends, she’ll be labelled as a freak who sees dead people. With Marjorie’s insistence on keeping Wendell’s ghost identity a… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism mentioned
  • Depression
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Toxic friendships
  • Bullying

Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones

Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones

Walking through his own house at night, a fifteen-year-old thinks he sees another person stepping through a doorway. Instead of the people who could be there, the figure reminds him of his long-gone father, who died mysteriously before his family left the reservation. When he follows it he discovers his house is bigger and deeper than he knew. The house is the kind of wrong place where you can lose yourself and find things you’d rather not have. Over the course of a few nights, the boy tries to map out his house in an effort that puts his little brother in the worst danger, and puts him in the position to save them… at terrible cost.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Seizures
  • Emesis
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Animal cruelty
  • Bullying