Winterborne Home for Mayhem and Mystery by Ally Carter

Winterborne Home for Mayhem and Mystery by Ally Carter

April thought she had her happy ending. After all, she has her new house and new friends and new guardian. But she also has a very big new secret. The kids of Winterborne House are the only ones who know that Gabriel Winterborne—famous billionaire and terrible cook—is really a sword-wielding vigilante. What they don’t know is that he’s not the only one.

When a masked figure breaks in, looking for… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment, recounted & discussed (on-page)
  • Drugging
  • Blood depiction
  • Physical injuries including gunshot wounds, stab wounds, and a sprained ankle
  • Death of a mother & father recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gun violence
  • Sword violence & stabbing
  • Fire, on-page & recounted
  • Boating accident recounted
  • Explosion
  • Home invasion
  • Kidnapping & attempted kidnapping
  • Disappearance & presumed death of a loved one
  • Experiences in orphanages, group homes, and foster care discussed including child abuse & neglect
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

Lies that Bind by Ami Allen 

Lies that Bind by Ami Allen

It’s been six years of anger simmering. Six years of lies growing into truths. Antoni only has a few more months until he turns eighteen. Then he’ll be free of Child Protective Services and can leave high school behind. Everything’s set in motion. His whole life’s set before him. Leave it to Kyrah to ruin it all.

It’s just a few fake dates- nothing serious. But each day he spends with her unravels the lies he’s bound by.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Foster care system
  • Bullying
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

The Problem with Forever by Jennifer Armentrout 

The Problem with Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Growing up, Mallory Dodge learned that the best way to survive was to say nothing. And even though it’s been four years since her nightmare ended, she’s beginning to worry that the fear that holds her back will last a lifetime. Now, after years of homeschooling, Mallory must face a new milestone—spending her senior year at a public high school. But she never imagined she’d run into Rider Stark, the friend and protector she hasn’t seen since childhood, on her very first day… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Abuse in the foster care system
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

Suicide Watch by Kelley York

Suicide Watch by Kelley York

18-year-old Vincent Hazelwood has spent his entire life being shuffled from one foster home to the next. His grades sucked. Making friends? Out of the question thanks to his nervous breakdowns and unpredictable moods. Still, Vince thought when Maggie Atkins took him in, he might’ve finally found a place to get his life—and his issues—in order. But then Maggie keels over from a heart attack. Vince is homeless, alone, and the inheritance money isn’t going to last long. A year ago, Vince watched a girl leap to her death off a bridge, and now he’s starting to think she had the… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Foster care system
  • Suicidal ideation (theme)
  • Suicide by jumping off a bridge recounted
  • Cancer mentioned
  • Heart attack
  • Homelessness
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

At the End of Everything by Marieke Nijkamp 

At the End of Everything by Marieke Nijkamp

The Hope Juvenile Treatment Center is ironically named. No one has hope for the delinquent teenagers who have been exiled there; the world barely acknowledges that they exist. Then the guards at Hope start acting strange. And one day…they don’t show up. But when the teens band together to make a break from the facility, they encounter soldiers outside the gates. There’s a rapidly spreading infectious disease outside, and no one can leave their houses or travel without a permit. Which means that they’re stuck at Hope. And this time, no one is watching out for them at all.

As supplies quickly dwindle and a deadly plague tears through their ranks, the group has to decide whom among them they can trust and figure out how they can survive in a world that has never wanted them in the first place

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism & racial profiling
  • Transmisia
  • Deadnaming
  • Ableism
  • Blood depiction
  • Gun violence
  • Imprisonment
  • Homelessness
  • Foster care system
  • Animal hunting
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

Planet Earth Is Blue by Nicole Panteleakos 

Planet Earth Is Blue by Nicole Panteleakos

Twelve-year-old Nova is eagerly awaiting the launch of the space shuttle Challenger–it’s the first time a teacher is going into space, and kids across America will watch the event on live TV in their classrooms. Nova and her big sister, Bridget, share a love of astronomy and the space program. They planned to watch the launch together. But Bridget has disappeared, and Nova is in a new foster home.

While foster families and teachers dismiss Nova as severely autistic and nonverbal, Bridget understands how intelligent and special Nova is, and all that she can’t express. As the liftoff draws closer, Nova’s new foster family and teachers begin to see her potential, and for the first time, she is making friends without Bridget. But every day, she’s counting down to the launch, and to the moment when she’ll see Bridget again. Because Bridget said, “No matter what, I’ll be there. I promise.”

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism
  • Disappearance of a sibling
  • Foster car system
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

What I Carry by Jennifer Longo

What I Carry by Jennifer Longo

Growing up in foster care, Muir has lived in many houses. And if she’s learned one thing, it is to Pack. Light. Carry only what fits in a suitcase. Toothbrush? Yes. Socks? Yes. Emotional attachment to friends? foster families? a boyfriend? There’s no room for any additional baggage.

Muir has just one year left before she ages out of the system. One year before she’s free. One year to avoid anything–or anyone–that could get in her way. Then she meets Francine. And Kira. And Sean.

And everything changes.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Foster care system
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

Goth Girl, Queen of the Universe by Lindsay Zrull 

Goth Girl, Queen of the Universe by Lindsay S. Zrull

Jess was claimed by the state when her bio mom’s mental illness made her unstable. While their relationship is far from traditional, blood ties are hard to break. There’s only one problem: Jess can’t reunite with her mom in New York City without a bunch of paperwork and she worries her social worker will never approve the trip. That’s when she remembers Oscar’s cosplay group, which is aiming for that big convention in New York . . .

So, Jess joins Oscar’s team—with every intention of using them to get to her mom. But her plan gets complicated when she discovers that, actually, cosplay is pretty great, and so is having friends. And Oscar, who Jess thought was just a shy nerd, can be as gallant and charming as the heroes he pretends to be. As the big convention draws near, Jess will have to decide whether or not chasing a dream of “family” is worth risking the family she’s built for herself.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Schizophrenia
  • Anxiety
  • Panic attacks, on-page
  • Foster care system
  • Bullying