Tag Archives: Racism

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of racism.

See also White supremacy, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, and Antiziganism.

Charlotte Spies for Justice by Nikki Shannon Smith

Twelve-year-old Charlotte lives on a plantation in Richmond, Virginia, where the American Civil War is raging. All around her, citizens and the Confederate army are fighting to protect slavery: the very thing Charlotte wishes would end. When she overhears the plantation owner conspiring against the Confederates, Charlotte knows she must join forces with her. Maybe together they can help the Union win the war and end slavery. Helping a spy is dangerous work, but Charlotte is willing to risk everything to fight for what is right!

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical racism & slavery (on-page)
  • Mentions of a dead body
  • American Civil War & prison camps

Lena and the Burning of Greenwood by Nikki Shannon Smith

In the early 1920s, the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is the wealthiest Black community in the United States. But Tulsa is still a segregated city. “Black Wall Street” and white Tulsa are very much divided. Twelve-year-old Lena knows this, but she feels safe and sheltered from the racism in her successful, flourishing neighbourhood. That all changes when Dick Rowland, a young Black man from Greenwood, is accused of assaulting a white woman. Racial tensions boil over. Mobs of white citizens attack Greenwood… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical racism & hate crimes, including the Tulsa Race Massacre (theme)

Sarah Journeys West by Nikki Shannon Smith

n the midst of the California Gold Rush, twelve-year-old Sarah and her family are living in the North as free Black people. Seeking a better life, Sarah’s parents decide they will venture west on the Oregon Trail. On the trail, Sarah and her family face all kinds of hardship, including racism, extreme weather, difficult terrain, and disease. But the journey will be worth it if they can find fortune in California. Will Sarah and her family endure the trail and make a new life out west?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical racism & slavery
  • Cholera epidemic

Ann Fights for Freedom by Nikki Shannon Smith

Twelve-year-old Ann understands there is only one thing to be grateful for as a having her family together. But when the master falls into debt, he plans to sell both Ann and her younger brother to two different owners. Ann is convinced her family must run away on the Underground Railroad. Will Ann’s family survive the dangerous trip to their freedom in the North?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical racism & slavery (theme)

Noelle at Sea by Nikki Shannon Smith

Thirteen-year-old Noelle feels like the luckiest girl in the world to be cruising the Atlantic aboard the famed Titanic. The trip is made even better by her new friend, Pauline, a girl who is traveling with her father to live in America. The girls spend the first days of the journey exploring, but on the fifth night, Noelle awakes to a sinking ship. Women and children will be rescued first, and Noelle realizes motherless Pauline will be left all alone. Despite her parents’ wishes, Noelle breaks away from her family to find and help her friend.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical racism & classism
  • Titanic tragedy (theme)

Deep Secrets by Nikki Shannon Smith

Colette only wants three to prove she isn’t weak, to get a job, and to uncover the mystery surrounding her father. All her life she’s heard that he died in a factory accident, but she’s haunted by dreams of bitter cold and a sea of stars—and part of her knows it’s somehow connected to him. Colette is not to work, is not to leave the house, and is to never speak of her father. But when Colette secretly gets a job, she becomes fascinated by the stories that Walter, the store owner, tells. He was aboard the Titanic before it sank. He saw… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical racism discussed
  • Death of a father in a factory accident
  • Death of a brother in the Titanic tragedy (secondary character)
  • Poverty & financial difficulties during the Great Depression

I Know You’re Lying by Daphne Benedis-Grab

There’s been a theft at the middle school! Sasha’s bag has been stolen from her locker. The security cams on the school’s front entrance have captured four students entering the building early. Present at the time of the crime, Maddie, Jack, Nora, and Henry become top suspects. Each of them has a reason to dislike Sasha. Each has something to hide. But which of them is responsible for the break-in? And can they figure out who the thief is before Sasha gets her revenge… on all of them.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • COVID-19 pandemic
  • Blackmail

Phoenix by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Harper’s life just exploded. Her parents are getting a divorce. And she suspects her best friend, Cat, may have known the reason for it long before she did. Now Harper and her mom are starting over in a cramped house, in a new town, where everything feels unfamiliar, including the riding barn next door. There, Harper watches the kids she avoids at her new school take lessons. Harper’s never been around horses before. And no, she does not want to learn to ride. Then with no warning, a truck dumps a starved and neglected horse right in Harper’s yard. She has no idea… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Parental divorce discussed (theme)
  • Bullying
  • Animal death (chickens)

Kiss and Tell by Adib Khorram

Hunter never expected to be a boy band star, but, well, here he is. He and his band Kiss & Tell are on their first major tour of North America, playing arenas all over the United States and Canada (and getting covered by the gossipy press all over North America as well). Hunter is the only gay member of the band, and he just had a very painful breakup with his first boyfriend–leaked sexts, public heartbreak, and all–and now everyone expects him to play the perfect queer role model for teens. But Hunter isn’t really sure what being the perfect queer kid even means. Does it… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism with mentions of colourism, homophobia & slut-shaming
  • Sexual assault (groping) & sexual harassment, including statutory sexual assault and attempted statutory rape of an inebriated minor (protagonist)
  • Image-based sexual abuse (protagonist’s ex-partner leaks sexts online, mentions of unsolicited nude photos from fans)
  • Panic attack
  • Dieting mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption & mentions of alcohol abuse by ex-partner
  • Graphic sports injury
  • Death of a father in a car accident mentioned
  • Bullying recounted & online harassment including taunts of suicide

The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar

When Nishat comes out to her parents, they say she can be anyone she wants—as long as she isn’t herself. Because Muslim girls aren’t lesbians. Nishat doesn’t want to hide who she is, but she also doesn’t want to lose her relationship with her family. And her life only gets harder once a childhood friend walks back into her life. Flávia is beautiful and charismatic and Nishat falls for her instantly. But when a school competition invites students to create their own businesses, both Flávia and Nishat choose to do henna, even though Flávia is appropriating Nishat’s culture. Amidst… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & cultural appropriation discussed
  • Lesbophobia
  • Forced public outing & coming out themes
  • Bullying