The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly by Jamie Pacton

The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly by Jamie Pacton

Working as a wench ― i.e. waitress ― at a cheesy medieval-themed restaurant in the Chicago suburbs, Kit Sweetly dreams of being a knight like her brother. She has the moves, is capable on a horse, and desperately needs the raise that comes with knighthood, so she can help her mom pay the mortgage and hold a spot at her dream college.

Company policy allows only guys to be knights. So when Kit takes her brother’s place and reveals her identity at the end of the show, she rockets into internet fame and a whole lot of trouble with the management. But the Girl Knight won’t go down without a fight. As other wenches join her quest, a protest forms. In a joust before Castle executives, they’ll prove that gender restrictions should stay medieval―if they don’t get fired first.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Emotional abuse
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug abuse
  • Poverty themes
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Moriarty the Patriot, Vol. 1 by Ryōsuke Takeuchi and Hikaru Miyoshi

Moriarty the Patriot, Vol. 1 by Ryōsuke Takeuchi & illustrated by Hikaru Miyoshi

Before he was Sherlock’s rival, Moriarty fought against the unfair class caste system in London by making sure corrupt nobility got their comeuppance. But even the most well-intentioned plans can spin out of control—will Moriarty’s dream of a more just and equal world turn him into a hero…or a monster?

In the late 19th century, Great Britain rules over a quarter of the world. Nobles sit in their fancy homes in comfort and luxury, while the working class slaves away at their jobs. When young Albert James Moriarty’s upper-class family adopts two lower-class orphans, the cruelty the boys experience at his family’s hands cements Albert’s hatred of the nobility he was born into. He asks the older of the two boys—who has a genius mind and a killer instinct—to help him rid the world of evil, starting with Albert’s own family! 

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Child abuse
  • Self-harm
  • Nonconsensual drugging
  • Drug abuse
  • Death of a child mentioned
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Poisoning
  • Arson
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Everything I Thought I Knew by Shannon Takaoka

Everything I Thought I Knew by Shannon Takaoka

Seventeen-year-old Chloe had a plan: work hard, get good grades, and attend a top-tier college. But after she collapses during cross-country practice and is told that she needs a new heart, all her careful preparations are laid to waste.

Eight months after her transplant, everything is different. Stuck in summer school with the underachievers, all she wants to do now is grab her surfboard and hit the waves—which is strange, because she wasn’t interested in surfing before her transplant. (It doesn’t hurt that her instructor, Kai, is seriously good-looking.)

And that’s not all that’s strange. There’s also the vivid recurring nightmare about crashing a motorcycle in a tunnel and memories of people and places she doesn’t recognize.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Nightmares
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Recreational drug use
  • Surgery (organ transplant)
  • Motorcycle accident
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Calling My Name by Liara Tamani

Calling My Name by Liara Tamani

This unforgettable novel tells a universal coming-of-age story about Taja Brown, a young African American girl growing up in Houston, Texas, and deftly and beautifully explores the universal struggles of growing up, battling family expectations, discovering a sense of self, and finding a unique voice and purpose.

Told in fifty-three short, episodic, moving, and iridescent chapters, Calling My Name follows Taja on her journey from middle school to high school.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Alcohol consumption mentioned
  • Recreational drug use (smoking) mentioned
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Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin

Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin

The Walker family is good at keeping secrets from the world. They are even better at keeping them from each other. Max Walker is a golden boy, with a secret that the world may not be ready for. This novel is a riveting tale of a family in crisis, a fascinating exploration of identity, and a coming-of-age story like no other.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia
  • Graphic rape (chp. 3)
  • Graphic attempted suicide
  • Panic attacks
  • Drug & alcohol abuse
  • Teen pregnancy
  • Abortion
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Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

There is a Wild Man who lives in the deep quiet of Greenhollow, and he listens to the wood. Tobias, tethered to the forest, does not dwell on his past life, but he lives a perfectly unremarkable existence with his cottage, his cat, and his dryads.

When Greenhollow Hall acquires a handsome, intensely curious new owner in Henry Silver, everything changes. Old secrets better left buried are dug up, and Tobias is forced to reckon with his troubled past—both the green magic of the woods, and the dark things that rest in its heart.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Mild blood depiction & physical injuries
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gun violence
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Kidnapping
  • Disappearance of a loved one
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On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least make it out of her neighborhood one day. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died before he hit big, Bri’s got big shoes to fill. But now that her mom has unexpectedly lost her job, food banks and shutoff notices are as much a part of Bri’s life as beats and rhymes. With bills piling up and homelessness staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it—she has to make it.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Abeism & ableist language
  • Classism
  • Racism & racial profiling
  • Substance addiction
  • Drug use
  • Death of a parent
  • Gun violence
  • Incarceration
  • Police brutality mentioned
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Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas

Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas

If there’s one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it’s that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. With this money he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad’s in prison.Life’s not perfect, but with a fly girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, Mav’s got everything under control.

Until, that is, Maverick finds out he’s a father. Suddenly he has a baby, Seven, who depends on him for everything. But it’s not so easy to sling dope, finish school, and raise a child. So when he’s offered the chance to go straight, he takes it. In a world where he’s expected to amount to nothing, maybe Mav can prove he’s different.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Coming out themes
  • Bimisia
  • Child neglect & parental abandonment
  • Recreational drug use
  • Substance addiction mentioned
  • Postnatal depression discussed
  • Teen pregnancy (theme)
  • Abortion discussed
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a cousin
  • Death of a sister to sickle cell mentioned
  • Incarceration
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gun violence
  • Gang violence
  • Police brutality & violence mentioned
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The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Physical child abuse & domestic abuse mentioned
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) & nightmares
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Recreational drug use mentioned
  • Teen pregnancy recounted
  • Death of a friend & child (on-page & recounted)
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Gang violence
  • Incarceration recounted
  • Police brutality & violence, including the fatal shooting of an unarmed Black teen

Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee

Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee

Noah Ramirez thinks he’s an expert on romance. He has to be for his popular blog, the Meet Cute Diary, a collection of trans happily ever afters. There’s just one problem—all the stories are fake. What started as the fantasies of a trans boy afraid to step out of the closet has grown into a beacon of hope for trans readers across the globe.

When a troll exposes the blog as fiction, Noah’s world unravels. The only way to save the Diary is to convince everyone that the stories are true, but he doesn’t have any proof. Then Drew walks into Noah’s life, and the pieces fall into place: Drew is willing to fake-date Noah to save the Diary. But when Noah’s feelings grow beyond their staged romance, he realizes that dating in real life isn’t quite the same as finding love on the page.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism mentioned
  • Transmisia & transmisogyny mentioned
  • Anxiety
  • Panic attacks
  • Attempted suicide recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Recreational drug use
  • Emesis
  • Bullying mentioned
  • Cyberharassment
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