Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy by Emmanuel Acho

Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Boy by Emmanuel Acho

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy is an accessible book for children to learn about systemic racism and racist behavior. For the awkward questions white and non-black parents don’t know how to answer, this book is an essential guide to help support communication on how to dismantle racism in our youngest generation.

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy creates a safe, judgment-free space for curious children to ask questions they’ve long been afraid to verbalize. How can I have white privilege if I’m not wealthy? Why do Black people protest against the police? If Black people can say the N-word, why can’t I? And many, many more

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Slavery
  • Death of a child
  • Death of a parent
  • Police brutality
  • Gun violence
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In The Clearing by JP Pomare

In The Clearing by J.P. Pomare

Amy has only ever known what life is like in the Clearing. She knows what’s expected of her. She knows what to do to please her elders, and how to make sure life in the community remains happy and calm. That is, until a new young girl joins the group. She isn’t fitting in; she doesn’t want to stay. What happens next will turn life as Amy knows it on its head.

Freya has gone to great lengths to feel like a ‘normal person’. In fact, if you saw her go about her day with her young son, you’d think she was an everyday mum. That is, until a young girl goes missing and someone from her past, someone she hasn’t seen for a very long time, arrives in town.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Paedophilia & child sexual abuse
  • Physical child abuse
  • Staged suicide
  • Death of a child
  • Murder
  • Kidnapping
  • Drowning
  • Animal attack
  • Cults
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A Thousand Fires by Shannon Price

A Thousand Fires by Shannon Price

Valerie Simons knows the city’s gang wars are dangerous—her own brother was killed by the Boars two years ago. But nothing will sway her from joining the elite and beautiful Herons to avenge his death—a death she feels responsible for.

But when Valerie is recruited by the mysterious Stags, their charismatic and volatile leader Jax promises to help her get revenge. Torn between old love and new loyalty, Valerie fights to stay alive as she races across the streets of San Francisco to finish the mission that got her into the gangs.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Abusive relationship
  • Graphic self harm
  • Attempted suicide
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Recreational drug use
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Open heart surgery
  • Cancer mentioned
  • Death of a sibling
  • Death of a child
  • Murder
  • Gang violence
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Drowning mentioned
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The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

The lonely young Appalachian woman joins the historical Pack Horse Library Project of Kentucky and becomes a librarian, riding across slippery creek beds and up treacherous mountains on her faithful mule to deliver books and other reading material to the impoverished hill people of Eastern Kentucky.

Along her dangerous route, Cussy, known to the mountain folk as Bluet, confronts those suspicious of her damselfly-blue skin and the government’s new book program. She befriends hardscrabble and complex fellow Kentuckians, and is fiercely determined to bring comfort and joy, instill literacy, and give to those who have nothing, a bookly respite, a fleeting retreat to faraway lands.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Rape
  • Suicide
  • Medical experimentation
  • Death of a child
  • Murder
  • Poverty themes
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The Guest List by Lucy Foley

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

The bride ‧ The plus one ‧ The best man ‧ The wedding planner ‧ The bridesmaid ‧ The body

On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Revenge porn
  • Statutory rape
  • Child abuse
  • Abusive relationship mentioned
  • Cheating
  • Suicide
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Graphic self harm
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Abortion
  • Death of a sibling recounted
  • Death of a child recounted
  • Murder
  • Hazing
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The Mall by Megan McCafferty

The Mall by Megan McCafferty

The year is 1991. Scrunchies, mixtapes and 90210 are, like, totally fresh. Cassie Worthy is psyched to spend the summer after graduation working at the Parkway Center Mall. In six weeks, she and her boyfriend head off to college in NYC to fulfill The Plan: higher education and happily ever after.

But you know what they say about the best laid plans…

Set entirely in a classic “monument to consumerism,” the novel follows Cassie as she finds friendship, love, and ultimately herself, in the most unexpected of places. 

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Recreational drug use mentioned
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Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living, with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the same. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains’ toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket. The store’s security guard, seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right.

But Emira herself is aimless, broke, and wary of Alix’s desire to help. At twenty-five, she is about to lose her health insurance and has no idea what to do with her life… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Fatmisia & body shaming
  • Racism & racial profiling (theme)
  • Child neglect
  • Dieting & disordered food and weight thoughts
  • Emesis
  • Death of a pet fish, off-page
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The Whisper Man by Alex North

The Whisper Man by Alex North

After the sudden death of his wife, Tom Kennedy believes a fresh start will help him and his young son Jake heal. A new beginning, a new house, a new town: Featherbank.

But Featherbank has a dark past. Twenty years ago, a serial killer abducted and murdered five residents. Until Frank Carter was finally caught, he was nicknamed “The Whisper Man,” for he would lure his victims out by whispering at their windows at night.

Just as Tom and Jake settle into their new home, a young boy vanishes. His disappearance bears an unnerving resemblance to Frank Carter’s crimes… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Domestic violence
  • Alcohol abuse
  • Death of a child
  • Death of a spouse recounted
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Murder
  • Kidnapping
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A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair

A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair

Persephone is the Goddess of Spring by title only. The truth is, since she was a little girl, flowers have shriveled at her touch. After moving to New Athens, she hopes to lead an unassuming life disguised as a mortal journalist.

Hades, God of the Dead, has built a gambling empire in the mortal world and his favorite bets are rumored to be impossible.

After a chance encounter with Hades, Persephone finds herself in a contract with the God of the Dead and the terms are impossible: Persephone must create life in the Underworld or lose her freedom forever… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sexual assault
  • Cheating
  • Addiction
  • Death of a spouse
  • Death of a child
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The Black Farm by Elias Witherow

The Black Farm by Elias Witherow

After the loss of a child along with a slew of agonizing misfortunes, Nick and Jess decide to end their lives. Unable to cope with the misery that fills their days, they commit one last act together and die in loving relief.

But when Nick wakes up, he soon realizes that death isn’t the gentle darkness he expected. Panicked and horrified, he struggles to understand the twisted abominations and hellish world he’s now trapped in… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Graphic rape
  • Suicide & suicidal ideation
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Torture
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