Drug Use & Abuse – Page 86 – Trigger Warning Database

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.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Alcohol consumption mentioned
Recreational drug use (smoking) mentioned

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.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Homomisia
Graphic rape (chp. 3)
Graphic attempted suicide
Panic attacks
Drug & alcohol abuse
Teen pregnancy
Abortion

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.

Goodreads • The 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

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.

Goodreads • The 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

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.

Goodreads • The 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

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.

Goodreads • The 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.

Goodreads • The 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

Wild and Crooked by Leah Thomas

Wild and Crooked by Leah Thomas

In Samsboro, Kentucky, Kalyn Spence’s name is inseparable from the brutal murder her father committed when he was a teenager. Forced to return to town, Kalyn must attend school under a pseudonym . . . or face the lingering anger of Samsboro’s citizens, who refuse to forget the crime.

Gus Peake has never had the luxury of redefining himself. A Samsboro native, he’s either known as the “disabled kid” because of his cerebral palsy, or as the kid whose dad was murdered. Gus just wants to be known as himself.

When Gus meets Kalyn, her frankness is refreshing, and they form a deep friendship. Until their families’ pasts emerge. And when the accepted version of the truth is questioned, Kalyn and Gus are caught in the center of a national uproar. Can they break free from a legacy of inherited lies and chart their own paths forward?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism & ableist slurs (r slur)
Classism
Slut-shaming
Queermisia (f & d slur)
Transmisia
Conversion therapy
Child abuse
Recreational drug use
Descriptions of dead bodies
Murder
Incarceration of a parent

The God Game by Danny Tobey

The God Game by Danny Tobey

You are invited! Come inside and play with G.O.D. Bring your friends! It’s fun! But remember the rules. Win and ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE.™ Lose, you die!

With those words, Charlie and his friends enter the G.O.D. Game, a video game run by underground hackers and controlled by a mysterious AI that believes it’s God. Through their phone-screens and high-tech glasses, the teens’ realities blur with a virtual world of creeping vines, smoldering torches, runes, glyphs, gods, and mythical creatures. When they accomplish a mission, the game rewards them with expensive tech, revenge on high-school tormentors, and cash flowing from ATMs. Slaying a hydra and drawing a bloody pentagram as payment to a Greek god seem harmless at first. Fun even… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism & ableist language
Fatmisia & body shaming
Misogyny
Homomisia & homomisic slurs
Parental abuse
Depression
Attempted suicide & suicidal ideation
Self-harm
Drug abuse
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a family member
Blackmail

Be the Girl by K.A. Tucker

Be the Girl by K.A. Tucker

Almost sixteen-year-old Aria Jones is starting over. New postal code, new last name, new rules. But she doesn’t mind, because it means she can leave her painful regrets behind. In the bustling town of Eastmonte, she can become someone else. Someone better.

With the Hartford family living next door, it seems she will succeed. Sure, Cassie Hartford may be the epitome of social awkwardness thanks to her autism, but she also offers an innocent and sincere friendship that Aria learns to appreciate. And Cassie’s older brother, Emmett—a popular Junior A hockey player with a bright future—well … Aria wishes that friendship could lead to something more. If he didn’t already have a girlfriend, maybe it would … Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism
Cheating
Suicide by overdose mentioned
Recreational drug use
Bullying & cyberbullying