Tag Archives: Bullying & Hazing

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

Enemies With Benefits by Roxie Noir

Enemies With Benefits by Roxie Noir

Eli Loveless was my nemesis from the first day of kindergarten until we graduated high school. Everything I did, he had to do better – and vice versa. The day he left town was the best day of my life. Ten years later, the day he came back was the worst. Now he’s my co-worker. Grown-up Eli Loveless is sexy as sin. He’s hotter than asphalt in the summer. The irritating kid I once knew is gone, and he’s been replaced by a man with green eyes, perfect abs, and a cocky smile. It’s bad that I want him. It’s worse that he… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Nonconsensual distribution of nude photographs
  • Sexual harassment
  • Slut shaming
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Death of a father mentioned
  • Death of a mother from lung cancer mentioned
  • Bullying recounted

Twelfth Grade Night by Molly Horton Booth and Stephanie Kate Strohm

Twelfth Grade Night by Molly Horton Booth, Stephanie Kate Strohm, and illustrated by Jamie Green

Vi came to Arden High for a fresh start and a chance to wear beanies and button-ups instead of uniform skirts. And though doing it without her twin feels like being split in half, Vi finds her stride when she stumbles (literally!) into broody and beautiful poet-slash-influencer, Orsino. Soon Vi gets roped into helping plan the school’s Twelfth Grade Night dance, and she can’t stop dreaming about slow dancing with Orsino under the fairy lights in the gym. The problem? All Vi’s new friends assume she’s not even into guys. And before Vi can ask Orsino to the dance, he recruits Vi to help woo his crush, Olivia. Who has a crush of her own.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Bullying

The Boy with the Spider Face by A.J. Franks

The Boy with the Spider Face by A.J. Franks

Jeff Pritchet isn’t much different from other teenage boys, with one exception. His monstrous, spider-like appearance and loner persona make him a target for bullying when all he wants is a friend who sees beyond the surface. Enter transfer student, Aarav Jain. Thoughtful, accepting, and insightful, he sparks an untapped hope in Jeff, transforming his life. But as the boys grow closer, their deepening relationship becomes hijacked by a darkness Aarav can’t escape and a life-altering secret Jeff can barely contain. The unconventional pair find themselves… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Queermisia
  • Child abuse
  • Alcoholism
  • Drug abuse
  • Emesis
  • Body horror
  • Murder
  • Death of a parent
  • Animal death
  • Bullying

Seven Days at the Hot Corner by Terry Trueman

7 Days at the Hot Corner by Terry Trueman

In baseball, fielding your position at third base is tricky—that’s why third is called “the hot corner.” You have to be aware that anything can happen at any time. This should be the best year of Scott’s life: It’s his last season of varsity ball, his team is about to go to the city championship, and a pro career is on the line. Instead, everything he always counted on comes crashing down at the same time, and his whole life is like one blazing hot corner—full of deadly line drives and crazy “bad hops.” Scott can’t believe the awful stuff… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Homomisia
  • Bullying

Spell Sweeper by Lee Edward Födi

Spell Sweeper by Lee Edward Födi

Most students at Dragonsong Academy spend their days practising spells and wielding wands, but after flunking her sixth-grade standardized tests, Cara Moone is on the fast track to becoming a MOP (a.k.a. Magical Occurrence Purger). See, when a real wizard casts a spell, it leaves behind a residue called spell dust—which can be dangerous if not disposed of properly. It’s a MOP’s job to clean up the mess. And no one makes more of a mess than Dragonsong Academy’s star student, Harlee. Widely believed to be… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent in a car accident recounted
  • Bullying

My Whole Truth by Mischa Thrace

My Whole Truth by Mischa Thrace

Seventeen-year-old Seelie Stanton never wanted to kill someone. She never wanted to be invisible in her own family, never wanted to crush on her best friend Alyssa, and she definitely never wanted to know how effectively a mallet could destroy someone’s head. But the universe doesn’t care what she wants. Shane Mayfield doesn’t care what Seelie wants either. When the former high school basketball star attacks her, she has no choice but to defend herself. She saved her own life, but she can’t bring herself to talk about what happened that night. Not all of it. Not even when she’s arrested for murder.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Victim blaming
  • Rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Abortion
  • Bullying

The Knockout by Sajni Patel

The Knockout by Sajni Patel

If seventeen-year-old Kareena Thakkar is going to alienate herself from the entire Indian community, she might as well do it gloriously. She’s landed the chance of a lifetime, an invitation to the US Muay Thai Open, which could lead to a spot on the first-ever Olympic team. If only her sport wasn’t seen as something too rough for girls, something she’s afraid to share with anyone outside of her family. Despite pleasing her parents, exceling at school, and making plans to get her family out of debt, Kareena’s never felt quite Indian enough, and her training is only making… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Hospitalisation
  • Blood depiction
  • Bullying

Face Offs and Cheap Shots by Eden Finley and Saxon James

Face Offs & Cheap Shots by Eden Finley and Saxon James

For the last three years, I’ve lived and breathed hockey with one goal: team captain. There’s only one thing standing in my way. TJ Beckett. Beck is irresponsible and immature, and I’ve hated him since the moment we met freshman year. Yet, the coaches see something in him I obviously can’t, and they refuse to choose between us. The captain spot is going to a team vote, and the team thinks that what we need are a bunch of challenges to prove our worth. Challenges that have nothing to do with hockey. Challenges that are throwing me and Beck together. And he’s still as… Read more,

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Coming out themes
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Hazing

Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase

Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase

Tough-minded Jessica Trent’s sole intention is to free her nitwit brother from the destructive influence of Sebastian Ballister, the notorious Marquess of Dain. She never expects to desire the arrogant, amoral cad. And When Dain’s reciprocal passion places them in a scandalously compromising, and public, position, Jessica is left with no choice but to seek satisfaction. Damn the minx for tempting him, kissing him and then for forcing him to salvage her reputation! Lord Dain can’t wait to put the infuriating bluestocking in her place and in some amorous position. And if this means marriage, so be it though Sebastian is less… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Racism
  • Antizganism
  • Sex worker shaming
  • Parental abandonment
  • Arson
  • Bullying recounted