Poverty & Financial Difficulties – Page 12

City of Secrets by Victoria Ying

City of Secrets by Victoria Ying

Ever Barnes is a shy orphan guarding a secret in an amazing puzzle box of a building. Most of the young women who work at the building’s Switchboard Operating Facility, which connects the whole city of Oskar, look the other way as Ever roams around in the shadows. But one of them, Lisa, keeps an eye on the boy. So does the head of the Switchboard, Madame Alexander . . . a rather sharp eye. Enter Hannah, the spunky daughter of the building’s owner. She thinks Ever needs a friend, even if he doesn’t know it yet. Lisa and Madame Alexander are each clearly… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Hospitalisation for injury & blood depiction
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a father recounted
Murder & attempted murder
Death from a fall
War themes, including a missile strike
Child homelessness & poverty

I Am Change by Suzy Zail

I Am Change by Suzy Zail

They told her that her body belonged to men and her mind didn’t matter. They were wrong.

“What if I don’t want to marry?” Lillian held her breath. She had never said the words out loud. “Not want to marry?” Her aunt frowned. “What else would you do?”

Set in a Ugandan village, Lilian has learned to shrink herself to fit other people’s ideas of what a girl is. In her village a girl is not meant to be smarter than her brother. A girl is not meant to go to school or enjoy her body or decide who to marry. Especially if she is poor.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Rape
Incest
Domestic violence
Female genital mutilation
Poverty themes

Counting by Sevens by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn’t kept her from leading a quietly happy life…until now.

Suddenly Willow’s world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a baffling world. The triumph of this book is that it is not a tragedy. This extraordinarily odd, but extraordinarily endearing, girl manages to push through her grief.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Fatmisia & body shaming
Infertility & miscarriage mentioned
Blood depiction
Hospitalisation mentioned
Coma
Death of a parent in a car accident
Vietnam War mentioned
Poverty themes

Renegades by Marissa Meyer

Renegades by Marissa Meyer

The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies – humans with extraordinary abilities – who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone… except the villains they once overthrew. Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice – and in Nova. But Nova’s allegiance is to a villain who has the power to end them both

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Ableism
Physical injury (burns)
Death of a mother from a fall
Murder of a mother, father and baby sister by gun violence recounted
Gun violence including fatal shootings, stun guns and tranquilizer guns with poisoned ammunition
Fire, poisonous gas and explosions
Animal death & cruelty
Poverty
Bullying
War themes recounted & battle scenes (on-page)

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen’s new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan’s most high-profile and mysterious buildings. Recently heartbroken and just plain broke, Jules is taken in by the splendor of her surroundings and accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind.

As she gets to know the residents and staff of the Bartholomew, Jules finds herself drawn to fellow apartment sitter Ingrid, who comfortingly, disturbingly reminds her of the sister she lost eight years ago. When Ingrid confides that the Bartholomew is not what it seems and the dark history hidden beneath its gleaming facade is starting to frighten her, Jules brushes it off as a harmless ghost story—until the next day, when Ingrid disappears… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Classism
Cheating recounted
Nightmares
Suicide (on-page & recounted)
Self harm by burning (on-page)
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use
Nonconsensual drugging
Blood & physical injuries depiction
Nonconsensual medical procedures & experimentation
Emesis
Hospital
Surgery
Needles & syringes
Cancer & terminal illness mentioned
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a mother & father mentioned
Death of a friend
Murder & attempted murder
Knife violence
Gun violence
Graphic fire (on-page)
Kidnapping & captivity
Car accident
Disappearance of a friend (theme)
Death from a fall (on-page)
Poverty theme
Homelessness

Adequate Yearly Progress by Roxanna Elden

Adequate Yearly Progress by Roxanna Elden

Adaquate Yearly Progress by Roxanna Elden book cover

Each new school year brings familiar challenges to Brae Hill Valley, a struggling high school in one the biggest cities in Texas. But the teachers also face plenty of personal challenges and this year, they may finally spill over into the classroom.

English teacher Lena Wright, a spoken-word poet, can never seem to truly connect with her students. Hernan D. Hernandez is confident in front of his biology classes, but tongue-tied around the woman he most wants to impress. Down the hall, math teacher Maybelline Galang focuses on the numbers as she struggles to parent her daughter, while Coach Ray hustles his troubled football team toward another winning season. Recording it all is idealistic second-year history teacher Kaytee Mahoney, whose anonymous blog gains new readers by the day as it drifts ever further from her in-class reality. And this year, a new superintendent is determined to leave his own mark on the school—even if that means shutting the whole place down.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Misogyny and sexism
Classim
Racism & racial slurs
Slut-shaming
Body-shaming
Victim blaming
Child sexual assault
Statutory rape
Adult-minor relationship
Verbal abuse
Workplace harassment
Estrangement
Anxiety attacks
Depression
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Alcohol consumption
Abortion
Physical injuries
Poverty themes
White supremacy
Blackmail

The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris

The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris

Sixteen-year-old Alex Rufus is trying his best. He tries to be the best employee he can be at the local ice cream shop; the best boyfriend he can be to his amazing girlfriend, Talia; the best protector he can be over his little brother, Isaiah. But as much as Alex tries, he often comes up short.

It’s hard to for him to be present when every time he touches an object or person, Alex sees into its future. When he touches a scoop, he has a vision of him using it to scoop ice cream. When he touches his car, he sees it years from now, totaled and underwater. When he touches Talia, he sees them at the precipice of breaking up, and that terrifies him. Alex feels these visions are a curse, distracting him, making him anxious and unable to live an ordinary life.

And when Alex touches a photo that gives him a vision of his brother’s imminent death, everything changes.

With Alex now in a race against time, death, and circumstances, he and Isaiah must grapple with their past, their future, and what it means to be a young Black man in America in the present.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism
Self-harm
Depression
Anxiety
Death of a parent
Death of a sibling
Anti-black violence
Slavery
Inter-generational trauma
Poverty
Police brutality

A Sin Such as This by Ellen Hopkins

A Sin Such as This by Ellen Hopkins

Tara thought she was finally settling down when she married charming, handsome Dr. Cavin Lattimore, but life seems to be only getting more complicated. During the honeymoon, Tara’s niece Kayla moved into their Lake Tahoe home and quickly hooked up with Cavin’s manipulative, seductive son Eli. In a matter of weeks, Tara has gone from rich, single San Francisco professional to suburban housewife managing her niece’s emotional ups-and-downs, as well as her stepson’s continuing overt advances.

Adding to the family drama, Tara’s younger sister Melody is going through a serious marital breakdown. During a heated argument, her husband Graham insists he and Tara once had an affair. Despite Tara’s vehement denials, Melody is desperate to find the truth… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Child abuse & neglect recounted
Cheating discussed
Murder
Poverty themes recounted

Life Before Legend by Marie Lu

Life Before Legend by Marie Lu

Find out more about June and Day in this never-before-seen glimpse into their daily lives before they met in Marie Lu’s New York Times bestselling LEGEND series. As twelve-year-olds struggling to survive in two very different worlds within the Republic’s stronghold, June was starting her first day of school at Drake University as the youngest cadet ever admitted, and Day was fighting for food on the streets of the Lake sector.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Homelessness
Poverty themes

Wildcard by Marie Lu

Wildcard by Marie Lu

Emika Chen barely made it out of the Warcross Championships alive. Now that she knows the truth behind Hideo’s new NeuroLink algorithm, she can no longer trust the one person she’s always looked up to, who she once thought was on her side.

Determined to put a stop to Hideo’s grim plans, Emika and the Phoenix Riders band together, only to find a new threat lurking on the neon-lit streets of Tokyo. Someone’s put a bounty on Emika’s head, and her sole chance for survival lies with Zero and the Blackcoats, his ruthless crew. But Emika soon learns that Zero isn’t all that he seems–and his protection comes at a price.

Caught in a web of betrayal, with the future of free will at risk, just how far will Emika go to take down the man she loves?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism & ableist language
Child abuse & neglect
Cheating
Substance addiction
Suicide & mass suicide
Substance addiction & recovery
Nonconsensual drugging
Blood & gore depiction
Physical injuries
Dead bodies
Emesis
Terminal illness
Hospital
Nonconsensual medical treatment & experimentation
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a child
Death of a brother
Death of a father
Murder & attempted murder
Torture
Explosions
Hanging mentioned
Kidnapping & captivity
Blackmail
Poverty themes