Tag Archives: Bullying & Hazing

The Words by Ashley Jade

The Words by Ashley Jade

He was the talented bad boy everyone wanted. I was the irrelevant geek everyone hated. He was the sun, drawing all of us in. I was a black hole, taking up space. He was destined to be a star. I was destined to remain an insignificant no one. Until he made me believe I was special… And then he destroyed me. I never thought I’d see Phoenix Walker again after he broke my heart, but fate had other plans. One tour. Eight weeks. Forty shows. Countless opportunities to make him pay. The world thought he was a God… But I knew the truth.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Fatmisia & body-shaming (theme)
  • Dubious consent scenario, on-page
  • Child abuse
  • Abusive & toxic relationship
  • Recovery from substance abuse issues
  • Parent with early-onset dementia
  • Disordered eating as a coping mechanism for grief mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse recounted
  • Drug abuse & use recounted
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother during childbirth recounted
  • Bullying*

*Context : The heroine is hired as the hero’s sober companion. The heroine was bullied for her weight in high school.

The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu

The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu

Rumour has it that Alice Franklin is a slut. It’s written all over the bathroom stall at Healy High for everyone to see. And after star quarterback Brandon Fitzsimmons dies in a car accident, the rumours start to spiral out of control. But exactly what is the truth about Alice? In the end there’s only one person to ask: Alice herself.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slut-shaming (theme)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Abortion
  • Bullying

The Awakening Storm by Jaimal Yogis and Vivian Truong

City of Dragons: The Awakening Storm by Jaimal Yogis and illustrated by Vivian Truong

When Grace moves to Hong Kong with her mom and new stepdad, her biggest concern is making friends at her fancy new boarding school. But when a mysterious old woman gifts her a dragon egg during a field trip, Grace discovers that the wonderful stories of dragons she heard when she was a young girl might actually be real–especially when the egg hatches overnight. The dragon has immense powers that Grace has yet to understand. And that puts them both in danger from mysterious forces intent on abusing the… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Death of a father from cancer in hospital, on-page
  • Bullying

Sweet Like a Psycho by Ivy Smoak

Sweet Like a Psycho by Ivy Smoak

To most people, suburbia is synonymous with good school districts, manicured lawns, and friendly neighbours. But you can never really tell what’s hiding behind those white picket fences and smiling faces. I mean, we all have secrets. The kid down the street steals lawn gnomes. The woman on the corner is having an affair. And me? I’m a murderer. At least…that’s what everyone thinks. Because that’s the other thing about the suburbs. Rumours spread like wildfire. Handsome detectives start poking around. Houses explode. You know…the usual. Yes, I have secrets. But… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Murder
  • Bullying

Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Donte wishes he were invisible. As one of the few black boys at Middlefield Prep, he feels as if he is constantly swimming in whiteness. Most of the students don’t look like him. They don’t like him either. Dubbed the “Black Brother,” Donte’s teachers and classmates make it clear they wish he were more like his lighter skinned brother, Trey. Quiet, obedient. When an incident with “King” Alan leads to Donte’s arrest and suspension, he knows the only way to get even is to beat the king of the school at his own game: fencing. With the help of a former Olympic fencer, Donte embarks on a… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Police brutality
  • Bullying

Names for the Dawn by CL Beaumont

Names for the Dawn by C.L. Beaumont

Seasoned Park Ranger Will Avery has found his home in the Denali wilderness, cherishing his solitary routines for the decade leading up to 1991. The trade-off that no one knows of his identity as a transgender man feels worth it for the comforting assurance he finds in the towering glaciers. Until Will discovers an unexpected passenger in his truck—the visiting wolf biologist everyone in the Park is ecstatic to meet—Nikhil Rajawat. Nikhil doesn’t return his new colleagues’ fervour. He’s dreamt of Denali for one reason: the pinnacle of his research, and it isn’t anyone’s business that this is the last year he’ll get to chase the wolves. He… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Homomisia discussed
  • Transmisia recounted*
  • Familial estrangement & disownment*
  • Physical child abuse recounted*
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Insomnia
  • Nightmare
  • Parent with alcoholism recounted
  • Recovery from substance addiction including an off-page relapse
  • Suicidal ideation recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Pregnancy & childbirth mentioned (sc)
  • Weight loss mentioned
  • Gender dysphoria & body dysmorphia
  • Scars from top surgery mentioned
  • Gun violence*
  • Bullying
  • Animal death, including a wolf cub & death of a pet dog

*Context : When the protagonist came out to his father, his father shot a gun at the barn near him. He has wondered for years if it was intentional or an accident. As a child, the protagonist’s mother physically abused him and burnt him with cigarettes.

A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat

A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat

Dan’s always been a good kid. The kind of kid who listens to his teachers, helps his mom with grocery shopping, and stays out of trouble. But being a good kid doesn’t stop him from being bullied and feeling like he’s invisible, which is why Dan has low expectations when his parents send him on a class trip to Europe. At first, he’s right. He’s stuck with the same girls from his middle school who love to make fun of him, and he doesn’t know why his teacher insisted he come on this trip. But as he travels through France, Germany,… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Bullying

Squished by Megan Wagner Lloyd and Michelle Mee Nutter

Squished by Megan Wagner Lloyd and illustrated by Michelle Mee Nutter

Eleven-year-old Avery Lee loves living in Hickory Valley, Maryland. She loves her neighbourhood, school, and the end-of-summer fair she always goes to with her two best friends. But she’s tired of feeling squished by her six siblings! They’re noisy and chaotic and the younger kids love her a little too much. All Avery wants is her own room — her own space to be alone and make art. So she’s furious when Theo, her grumpy older brother, gets his own room instead, and her wild baby brother, Max, moves into the room she already shares with her clinging sister Pearl! Avery hatches a plan…Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Bullying

Hail Mary by Kandi Steiner

Hail Mary by Kandi Steiner

Leo F*cking Hernandez. North Boston University’s star running back, notorious bachelor, and number one on my people I would murder if I could get away with it list. And now? He’s my new roommate. I used to think I loved him. But that was before I hated him. He doesn’t remember who I am, or how he made my life miserable for years. And before I unknowingly moved across the street from him, I couldn’t have cared less. I was living my life despite him and what happened that summer, chasing my dream of becoming a tattoo artist, “The Pit,” as the university so gracefully nicknamed… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexual harassment, on-page
  • Bullying

Witchlings by Claribel A. Ortega

Witchlings by Claribel A. Ortega

Every year, in the magical town of Ravenskill, Witchlings who participate in the Black Moon Ceremony are placed into covens and come into their powers as full-fledged witches. And twelve-year-old Seven Salazar can’t wait to be placed in the most powerful coven with her best friend! But on the night of the ceremony, in front of the entire town, Seven isn’t placed in one of the five covens. She’s a Spare! Spare covens have fewer witches, are less powerful, and are looked down on by everyone. Even worse, when Seven and the other two Spares perform the magic circle to seal their coven and cement themselves as sisters, it doesn’t work! … Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child abuse mentioned*
  • Death of a brother
  • Bullying

*Context: Valley’s father starved her for two days because of school grades.