Use of trigger warnings for YA

[JoeySL]

As I am getting ready to self-publish a hardcover version of a YA novel that I first published in 2014, I'm starting to wonder if I should use trigger warnings anywhere. My book is a contemporary coming-of-age about a 15yo who meets her dad's Hawaiian family for the first time when her paternal grandfather is in the last stages of Alzheimer's. The grandfather passes toward the end of the story.

I was thinking maybe to use trigger warnings in the book description on the sales page or even add keywords like 'death of a family member.'
However, this isn't supposed to be a dark story, and I don't want to scare away readers, because it is also about first love, family, sight-seeing Hawaii, surfing...

Do you have any suggestions for me?

 

[FirePrince]

This is just my 0.1 cents of suggestion (as a reader). For me, reading YA books is just watching a movie. Of course, the young characters will always pass through something and we discover it as we watch - putting on a trigger warnings about the death of a family member is just like a spoiler especially if the character loved and was attached to her grandfather and you make me as a reader also feel attached to her grandfather. But I think if you feel the warning needs to be there, you should add it.

 

[JoeySL]

Thank you for your input, @FirePrince !

putting on a trigger warnings about the death of a family member is just like a spoiler

In a real-life scenario, the grandfather's death wouldn't come as a surprise. Also, it's clear from the beginning that things are dire, because the MC's father has refused to see his family for all her life.

I guess, the question is, can I expect readers at the age of 13-17 to know what's to come and not touch the book if they would rather not read about it?

 

[FirePrince]

I guess, the question is, can I expect readers at the age of 13-17 to know what's to come and not touch the book if they would rather not read about it?

Oh. If I was at age, I would definitely not know what to expect from his last stages of Alzheimer's. But I still don't think a trigger warning for his death is needed. It could potentially divert them away from your books especially sensitive parents who will buy your books for their children. As you said before, the grandfather's death wouldn't come as a surprise in a real-life scenario. Putting the tragger warning might suggest dark themes (or that he was killed/died in a different way).

Also, it's clear from the beginning that things are dire, because the MC's father has refused to see his family for all her life.

But I am guessing, he must have reunited with them towards the end? If he did, it might be better to blend it into the blurb rather than a trigger warning.

 

[neandermagnon]

My dad's currently in later stages of Alzheimer's - so my YA aged kids are literally in the same situation as your character - and I don't think you need a trigger warning. It's more important that you handle the whole topic sensitively and accurately. I'd be more upset about an inaccurate or stereotypical (including rose-tinted-spectacled versions of inaccurate) than not being given a warning. There's a lot of things that are more traumatic about a loved one having Alzheimer's than them dying.

Kids are a lot more able to cope with difficult topics in fiction than adults given them credit for. There are MG/children's books that have death of family members, including in horrible circumstances, for example:

Gangsta Granny by David Walliams - Gangsta Granny dies at the end and yes it will make you cry even though it's a kid's book
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl - James's parents are killed by a large animal that escaped from a zoo and he's sent to live with two abusive aunts who physically and verbally abuse him and make him sleep on the floorboards or outdoors in the winter
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnet - the ten year old main character's parents die of cholera early in the book, and all the household servants that looked after her either die of cholera and run away, leaving her alone in her parents large house until some soldiers discover her by accident - amongst other traumatic things, including her cousin Colin who, well... if you follow all the details very carefully, you realise that he wasn't born disabled and then magically learned to walk in the secret garden - his doctor had been trying to make him die ever since he was born.

None of these have content warnings and they're aimed at younger kids than YA.

There also was a book called The Granny Project by Anne Fine that we read/studied in English class, which deals with a relative having dementia (I don't remember which kind of dementia or if it was even specified). If I recall correctly, Granny dies at the end.

 

[JoeySL]

But I am guessing, he must have reunited with them towards the end?

This may be a misunderstanding? The MC's father was at odds with his own father, who is now dying.

so my YA aged kids are literally in the same situation as your character - and I don't think you need a trigger warning.

So sorry to hear that. And yes, that's the kind of situation I have in mind. I don't want to rub salt into wounds.

It's more important that you handle the whole topic sensitively and accurately.

Actually, this part is largely autobiographic, so I am hoping I got it right enough.
Thank you for the comp titles!

Kids are a lot more able to cope with difficult topics in fiction than adults given them credit for.

I know that. It's just that grandparents are especially dear to some teens.

Maybe I can word it something like this: MC finally gets to meet her grandfather before it is too late.

 

[neandermagnon]

I know that. It's just that grandparents are especially dear to some teens.

Maybe I can word it something like this: MC finally gets to meet her grandfather before it is too late.

I still think you're over thinking. It's normal - expected even - for some books to make readers cry.

 

[FirePrince]

This may be a misunderstanding? The MC's father was at odds with his own father, who is now dying.

Mmm. You already answered the question below;

Maybe I can word it something like this: MC finally gets to meet her grandfather before it is too late.

This is what I was referring to. She met her grandfather before it was too late. I think it is enough to comfort the young readers (even for me too). I don't think you need a trigger warning for that.

 

[JoeySL]

It's normal - expected even - for some books to make readers cry.

Huh, there's a thought!

 

[JoeySL]

I think that is enough comfort before he dies. I don't think you need a trigger warning for that.

Thank you so much, @neandermagnon and @FirePrince !

That clears things up for me.

 

[lizmonster]

I included content warnings in my self-published anthology. Not in the blurb or the product description, though - I wrote a short introduction that included a link to a content warning page at the end of the book (since spoilers were inevitable). I figured readers could check the page if they were concerned, but it otherwise wouldn’t disrupt the flow. I put the warnings on my web site as well, just in case.

I have no idea if anyone ever refers to them.

 

[FirePrince]

That clears things up for me.

Goodluck! All these discussions just made me realise how much I have missed reading books that are similar to themes as yours or watching touching movies. I hope you'll announce here when you publish it!

 

[JoeySL]

I hope you'll announce here when you publish it!

Uh, I would, only it's in German.

 

[Sage]

I have appreciated trigger warnings in the past. While nothing is triggering for me, there are times when some of the typical things that receive trigger warnings are not something I’m looking to read about at the moment, and I appreciate that I am given the choice to decide what I can handle when I check out the book. I imagine that for readers who would be triggered, that appreciation is magnified hundredsfold.

I don’t know that you need a trigger warning for yours, Joey, but I don’t think it hurts anything. I think if you decide to do it, your first instinct, “death of a family member,” is the way to go. You could add “peaceful” because it helps suggest the type of book this is. I also think that if you decide to go with a trigger warning at all, you might consider including the Alzheimer’s. But that’s all up to you.

Might someone choose not to read your book because of it? I mean, that’s the point of trigger warnings, so yeah. But, IMO, that’s never a reason not to use one.

 

[JoeySL]

Might someone choose not to read your book because of it?

That is not my concern at all, because that's exactly what I'm intending.