The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull

The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull

An alien ship rests over Water Island. For five years the people of the U.S. Virgin Islands have lived with the Ynaa, a race of super-advanced aliens on a research mission they will not fully disclose. They are benevolent in many ways but meet any act of aggression with disproportional wrath. This has led to a strained relationship between the Ynaa and the local Virgin Islanders and a peace that cannot last. A year after the death of a young boy at the hands of an Ynaa, three families find themselves at the center of the inevitable conflict, witness and victim to events that will touch everyone and teach a terrible lesson.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Cancer
  • Dismemberment
  • Murder
  • Colonialism
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Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills

My birth name is Elizabeth, but I’m a guy. Gabe. My parents think I’ve gone crazy and the rest of the world is happy to agree with them, but I know I’m right. I’ve been a boy my whole life. When you think about it, I’m like a record. Elizabeth is my A side, the song everybody knows, and Gabe is my B side–not heard as often, but just as good. When you think about it, I’m like a record. Elizabeth is my A side, the song everybody knows, and Gabe is my B side–not heard as often, but just as good.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Transmisia
  • Deadnaming
  • Misgendering
  • Coming out themes
  • Bullying
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Empty Net by Avon Gale

Empty Net by Avon Gale

Spartanburg Spitfires’ goalie and captain Isaac Drake ended last season with an unexpected trip to the playoffs. He’s found a home and family with his coach and mentor, Misha Samarin, and he’s looking forward to making a serious run for the Kelly Cup. But things take an interesting turn when Isaac’s archnemesis, Laurent St. Savoy, is traded to the Spitfires. After Laurent’s despicable behavior in the playoffs last year, Isaac wants nothing to do with him – no matter how gorgeous he is. But that changes when Isaac discovers the reason for Laurent’s attitude. Laurent St. Savoy… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Misogyny
  • Homomisia
  • Threatened outing
  • Conversion therapy mentioned
  • Sex work mentioned
  • Nonconsensual filming of sex mentioned
  • Physical, verbal & emotional parental abuse recounted
  • Eating disorder*
  • Panic attacks
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blackmail mentioned
  • Bullying

*Context : This includes disordered eating and food thoughts, food restriction, purging, therapy & recovery, and mentions of relapses.

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Earn Your Extra Credit by Meghan Quinn

Earn Your Extra Credit by Meghan Quinn

“She went home with someone else that night?” Hearing the disbelief from my best friend’s mouth makes the events of my failed date sting that much more. I would like to make it known, I have a lot more swagger than what it seems. I don’t normally ask a girl out, have her fail to recognize it’s a date, and then give me a high five–as if I’m her wingman–and take off with someone else. No. Normally I’m the one taking the girl home but with Stella, it’s been one failed attempt after another and frankly, I’m done trying. But thanks to my best friend getting married in Hawaii right before the school year starts, I’m stuck on a tropical… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Bullying
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The Match by Harlan Coben

The Match by Harlan Coben

Wilde has grown up knowing nothing of his family and even less about his own identity. All he knows is that, as a young child, he was found living a feral existence in the Ramapo mountains of New Jersey. He became known simply as Wilde, the boy from the woods. Now Wilde has had a hit on the DNA website he has been researching. A 100% match. His father. They meet up, and Wilde soon realises that his father doesn’t even know he had a son and is as mystified as Wilde is by his existence. Undaunted, Wilde continues his research for his family on DNA websites where he… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Rape mentioned
  • Domestic violence mentioned
  • Drugging
  • Torture
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Bullying mentioned
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The Boy from the Woods by Harlan Coben

The Boy from the Woods by Harlan Coben

Thirty years ago, Wilde was found as a boy living feral in the woods, with no memory of his past. Now an adult, he still doesn’t know where he comes from, and another child has gone missing. No one seems to take Naomi Pine’s disappearance seriously, not even her father-with one exception. Hester Crimstein, a television criminal attorney, knows through her grandson that Naomi was relentlessly bullied at school. Hester asks Wilde-with whom she shares a tragic connection-to use his unique skills to help find Naomi… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Rape recounted
  • Sexual assault
  • Workplace sexual harassment of a minor
  • Parental abandonment mentioned
  • Physical child abuse recounted
  • Postpartum depression mention
  • Involuntary amputation of a finger
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a father, son, & husband in a car accident recounted
  • Threats of gun violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Disappearance of a child (theme)
  • Wrongful imprisonment mentioned
  • Military service recounted
  • Bullying
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The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor

The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor

Sam Sylvester’s not overly optimistic about their recent move to the small town of Astoria, Oregon after a traumatic experience in their last home in the rural Midwest. Yet Sam’s life seems to be on the upswing after meeting several new friends and a potential love interest in Shep, the pretty neighbor. However, Sam can’t seem to let go of what might have been, and is drawn to investigate the death of a teenage boy in 1980s Astoria. Sam’s convinced he was murdered–especially since Sam’s investigation seems to resurrect some ghosts in the town… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Transmisia & misgendering
  • Bimisia
  • Homomisia
  • Hate crime
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Attempted murder
  • Gun violence
  • Strangulation mentioned
  • Stalking
  • Bullying

Cupcake by Cookie O’Gorman

Cupcake by Cookie O’Gorman

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking this will be just one more story of the ignored, “big-boned ” girl, who sheds her glasses and a few extra pounds and finally attracts the notice of the most popular guy in school. Except it isn’t. Because I’m not unpopular. Not all that ignored. And I love the way I look―just as I am. Then someone puts my name in for Homecoming Court. The bigger surprise? People actually vote for me! Now, I’m a “princess”―whether I like it or not―but the guy I’m paired with isn’t exactly Prince Charming. Rhys Castle is the strong, silent type who always wears a frown―he’s certainly never smiled at me… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Fatmisia & body shaming
  • Disordered eating
  • Bullying
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The Serpent’s Secret by Sayantani DasGupta

The Serpent’s Secret by Sayantani DasGupta

On the morning of her twelfth birthday, Kiranmala is just a regular sixth grader living in Parsippany, New Jersey… until her parents mysteriously vanish and a drooling rakkhosh demon slams through her kitchen, determined to eat her alive. Turns out there might be some truth to her parents’ fantastical stories-like how Kiranmala is a real Indian princess and how she comes from a secret place not of this world. To complicate matters, two crush-worthy princes ring her doorbell, insisting they’ve come to rescue her. Suddenly, Kiran is swept into another dimension full of… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Physical child abuse
  • Death of a father in prison recounted
  • Sword violence
  • Kidnapping of children
  • Near-drowning
  • Earthquakes, fire and lightning storms
  • Animal attack (snake)
  • Bullying

Choke by Diana López

Choke by Diana López

If she could—if her parents would let her—eighth-grader Windy would change everything about herself. She’d get highlights in her hair, a new wardrobe; she’d wear makeup. But nothing ever changes. The mean girls at school are still mean, and Windy’s best friend Elena is still more interested in making up words than talking about boys. And then one day, Windy gets the change she’s been looking for. New girl Nina—impossibly cool, confident, and not afraid of anyone—starts hanging out with Windy! Nina even wants to be “breath sisters.” Windy isn’t sure what that means… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Graphic self-harm (theme)
  • Attempted suicide
  • Brain injury from repeated self-strangulation
  • Bullying
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