Poverty & Financial Difficulties – Page 9

Fallen Grace by Mary Hooper

Fallen Grace by Mary Hooper

Grace Parkes has just had to do a terrible thing. Having given birth to an illegitimate child, she has travelled to the famed Brookwood Cemetery to place her small infant’s body in a rich lady’s coffin. Following the advice of a kindly midwife, this is the only way that Grace can think of to give something at least to the little baby who died at birth and to avoid the ignominy of a pauper’s grave. Distraught and weeping, Grace meets two people at the cemetery: Mrs Emmeline Unwin and Mr James Solent. These two characters will have a profound effect on Grace’s life. But Grace doesn’t know that yet. For now… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Pregnancy
Pregnancy from rape
Stillbirth
Death of a parent
Poverty themes

Permanent Record by Mary HK Choi

Permanent Record by Mary H.K. Choi

After a year of college, Pablo is working at his local twenty-four-hour deli, selling overpriced snacks to brownstone yuppies. He’s dodging calls from the student loan office and he has no idea what his next move is.

Leanna Smart’s life so far has been nothing but success. Age eight: Disney Mouseketeer; Age fifteen: first #1 single on the US pop chart; Age seventeen, *tenth* #1 single; and now, at Age nineteen…life is a queasy blur of private planes, weird hotel rooms, and strangers ask… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Anxiety
Depression
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use
Cancer mentioned
Financial difficulties

This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi

This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi

To all the world, Alizeh is a disposable servant, not the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom forced to hide in plain sight.

The crown prince, Kamran, has heard the prophecies foretelling the death of his king. But he could never have imagined that the servant girl with the strange eyes, the girl he can’t put out of his mind, would one day soon uproot his kingdom—and the world.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Child abuse
Attempted suicide
Blood & injury depiction
Dead bodies & body parts
Decapitation & dismemberment mentioned
Death of a father
Death of a child
Knife violence
Kidnapping
Drowning mentioned
Poverty

The Bones of Ruin by Sarah Raughley

The Bones of Ruin by Sarah Raughley

As an African tightrope dancer in Victorian London, Iris is used to being strange. She is certainly a strange sight for leering British audiences always eager for the spectacle of colonial curiosity. But Iris also has a secret that even “strange” doesn’t capture… She cannot die.

Haunted by her unnatural power and with no memories of her past, Iris is obsessed with discovering… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism
Sexism
Slavery
Human trafficking
Eugenics mentioned
Sex work mentioned
Sexual harassment
Domestic abuse
Amnesia
Suicide
Drugging
Blood & gore depiction
Involuntary medical experimentation
Hospitalisation
Cannibalism
Murder
Torture
Kidnapping
Police brutality
Fire
Poverty

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

Acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught everywhere from inner-city grade schools to universities across the country, and translated all over the world, The House on Mango Street is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero. Told in a series of vignettes – sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous–it is the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Few other books in our time have touched so many readers

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism
Classism
Sexual assault
Domestic violence
Child abuse
Poverty

Keep My Heart in San Francisco by Amelia Diane Coombs

Keep My Heart in San Francisco by Amelia Diane Coombs

Caroline “Chuck” Wilson has big plans for spring break—hit up estate sales to score vintage fashion finds and tour the fashion school she dreams of attending. But her dad wrecks those plans when he asks her to spend vacation working the counter at Bigmouth’s Bowl, her family’s failing bowling alley. Making things astronomically worse, Chuck finds out her dad is way behind on back rent—meaning they might be losing Bigmouth’s, the only thing keeping Chuck’s family in San Francisco. And the one person other… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Depression
Bipolar Disorder
Alcohol consumption
Death of a mother from suicide
Financial difficulties

Finding Yvonne by Brandy Colbert

Finding Yvonne by Brandy Colbert

Since she was seven years old, Yvonne has had her trusted violin to keep her company, especially in those lonely days after her mother walked out on their family. But with graduation just around the corner, she is forced to face the hard truth that she just might not be good enough to attend a conservatory after high school.

Full of doubt about her future, and increasingly frustrated by her strained relationship with her successful but emotionally closed-off father… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racist microaggressions discussed
Adult-minor relationship*
Parental abandonment & child neglect (theme)
Cheating
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use
Unplanned teen pregnancy
Abortion discussed, off-page
Homelessness mentioned
Financial struggles & poverty mentioned

* Note : Yvonne, the main character, turns eighteen during the story and her love interests are both adult men; one is a 21-year-old man and the sous chef at her father’s restaurant. She does not have penetrative sex with either of them until after her birthday but she was dating one of them when she was seventeen at the beginning of the book.

I Kissed Alice by Anna Birch

I Kissed Alice by Anna Birch

Rhodes and Iliana couldn’t be more different, but that’s not why they hate each other. Hyper-gifted artist Rhodes has always excelled at Alabama’s Conservatory of the Arts despite a secret bout of creator’s block, while transfer student Iliana tries to outshine everyone with her intense, competitive work ethic. Since only one of them can get the coveted Capstone scholarship, the competition between them is fierce… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Anxiety
Depression
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use
Bullying
Financial issues & bankruptcy

Zoo City by Lauren Beukes

Zoo City by Lauren Beukes

Zinzi has a Sloth on her back, a dirty 419 scam habit, and a talent for finding lost things. But when a little old lady turns up dead and the cops confiscate her last paycheck, she’s forced to take on her least favourite kind of job – missing persons.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Rape
Drug use
Child soldiers
Poverty
Refugee experiences

The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry

The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry

Dolssa is an upper-crust city girl with an uncanny gift. Branded a heretic, she’s on the run from the monk who burned her mother at the stake and wants her executed. Botille is a matchmaker and a tavern-keeper, struggling to make a living and keep herself and her sisters in the good graces of their seaside town of Bajas.

When their lives collide in the forest, Botille rescues Dolssa and shelters her in the tavern, where an unlikely friendship blooms. Botille does her best to nurse Dolssa back from the brink… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Parent with alcoholism
Murder of a parent by fire
Physical assault
Poverty themes