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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Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas

Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas

Bree can’t wait for her first day at her new middle school, Enith Brigitha, home to the Mighty Manatees–until she’s stuck with the only elective that fits her schedule, the dreaded Swim 101. The thought of swimming makes Bree more than a little queasy, yet she’s forced to dive headfirst into one of her greatest fears. Lucky for her, Etta, an elderly occupant of her apartment building and former swim team captain, is willing to help. With Etta’s training and a lot of hard work, Bree suddenly finds her swim-crazed community counting on her to turn the… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Panic attack
  • Bullying
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Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Five months ago, Valerie Leftman’s boyfriend, Nick, opened fire on their school cafeteria. Shot trying to stop him, Valerie inadvertently saved the life of a classmate, but was implicated in the shootings because of the list she helped create. A list of people and things she and Nick hated. The list he used to pick his targets. Now, after a summer of seclusion, Val is forced to confront her guilt as she returns to school to complete her senior year. Haunted by the memory of the boyfriend she still loves and navigating rocky relationships with her family, former friends, and the girl whose life she… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Parental infidelity mentioned
  • Depression
  • Suicide & attempted suicide
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use
  • School shooting, on-page
  • Bullying

People Like Us by Dana Mele

People Like Us by Dana Mele

Kay Donovan may have skeletons in her closet, but the past is past, and she’s reinvented herself entirely. Now she’s a star soccer player whose group of gorgeous friends run their private school with effortless popularity and acerbic wit. But when a girl’s body is found in the lake, Kay’s carefully constructed life begins to topple. The dead girl has left Kay a computer-coded scavenger hunt, which, as it unravels, begins to implicate suspect after suspect, until Kay herself is in the crosshairs of a murder investigation… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Classism
  • Teacher-student relationship
  • Parent with depression mentioned
  • Suicide, recounted & on-page
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Recreational drug use & doping mentioned
  • Dead body
  • Death of a friend, recounted & on-page
  • Death of a brother recounted
  • Murder
  • Drowning
  • Death of a pet cat
  • Bullying

Beasts of Abigaile, Volume 4 by Spica Aoki

Beasts of Abigaile, Vol. 4 by Spica Aoki

Nina has been drugged and is being held captive! Roy is hot on her trail, but Angelica and the student council will do everything they can to interfere. With luga fighting luga and Nina’s secret on the line, the fall of Abigaile has begun in this final volume of Beasts of Abigaile!

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Drugging
  • Murder
  • Kidnapping
  • Bullying

Is This Tomorrow by Caroline Leavitt

Is This Tomorrow by Caroline Leavitt

In 1956, when divorced, working-mom Ava Lark rents a house with her twelve-year-old son, Lewis, in a Boston suburb, the neighborhood is less than welcoming. Lewis yearns for his absent father, befriending the only other fatherless kids: Jimmy and Rose. One afternoon, Jimmy goes missing. The neighborhood in the era of the Cold War, bomb scares, and paranoia seizes the opportunity to further ostracize Ava and her son. Lewis never recovers from the disappearance of his childhood friend. By the time he reaches his twenties, he’s living a directionless life, a failure in love, estranged from his mother. Rose is now a schoolteacher in… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Divorce recounted
  • Bullying

Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean

Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean

Izumi Tanaka has never really felt like she fit in—it isn’t easy being Japanese American in her small, mostly white, northern California town. Raised by a single mother, it’s always been Izumi—or Izzy, because “It’s easier this way”—and her mom against the world. But then Izzy discovers a clue to her previously unknown father’s identity… and he’s none other than the Crown Prince of Japan. Which means outspoken, irreverent Izzy is literally a princess. In a whirlwind, Izzy travels to Japan to meet the father she never knew and discover the country she always dreamed of… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Emesis
  • Bullying

Tokyo Dreaming by Emiko Jean

Tokyo Dreaming by Emiko Jean

When Japanese-American Izumi Tanaka learned her father was the Crown Prince of Japan, she became a princess overnight. Now, she’s overcome conniving cousins, salacious press, and an imperial scandal to finally find a place she belongs. She has a perfect bodyguard turned boyfriend. Her stinky dog, Tamagotchi, is living with her in Tokyo. Her parents have even rekindled their college romance and are engaged. A royal wedding is on the horizon! Izumi’s life is a Tokyo dream come true… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Classism
  • Panic Disorder & panic attacks
  • Bullying

Empress of All Seasons by Holly Miller

Empress of All Seasons by Holly Miller

Each generation, a competition is held to find the next empress of Honoku. The rules are simple. Survive the palace’s enchanted seasonal rooms. Conquer Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Marry the prince. All are eligible to compete—all except yōkai, supernatural monsters and spirits whom the human emperor is determined to enslave and destroy. Mari has spent a lifetime training to become empress. Winning should be easy. And it would be, if she weren’t hiding a dangerous secret. Mari is a yōkai with the ability to transform into a terrifying monster. If discovered, her life… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Rape
  • Child abuse
  • Parental abandonment
  • Self-injury
  • Childbirth
  • Forced adoption
  • Exile
  • Death by starvation
  • Murder
  • Poisoning
  • Explosions
  • Fire
  • Cyclones
  • Animal attack
  • Animal cruelty & death
  • Bullying