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Browse → Themes → Shame & Guilt

Shame & Guilt

Shame and guilt are among the most isolating emotions children experience. They're the feelings that convince you the bad thing you did defines who you are. These 0 books help children separate what they did from who they are, and find their way back from both.

For when a child made a mistake and can't stop replaying it. Stories about owning up, forgiving yourself, and moving forward.

Related:Honesty & Integrity Forgiveness Anger

Shame & Guilt Books for Kids | Wonderlit

2,238 books about shame & guilt

0–3 yrs610 books

4–7 yrs1456 books

8–11 yrs1318 books

Age

0–2 3–5 6–8 9–12 13+

Format

Middle Grade Young Adult Graphic Novels

Cover of Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone

Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone

For the child grappling with the guilt of being a bystander or the pressure to fit in at the cost of being kind.

Cover of White Cat

The Curse Workers #1

Cassel is the only one in his family without magic until strange dreams about a white cat reveal he’s been the victim of

Cover of Life Without Friends

Life Without Friends

Ellen Emerson White

Guilt and isolation follow Beverly after a school tragedy. Alone and struggling to move on, she finds a glimmer of hope

Cover of Night Games

1 2 3...94

12–18 yrs

1691 books

Fear Street #40

Night Games

R.L. Stine

What begins as a night of harmless pranks with friends turns terrifying for Diane when a joke on a teacher goes horribly

Ages 12–17

Cover of Forest Born

The Books of Bayern #4

Rin carries a secret that has stolen her peace, but leaving her forest home for the city leads her toward an unexpected

Cover of Zane's Trace

Zane embarks on a desperate journey to his mother's grave, but an encounter with a group of mystical strangers changes h

Cover of The Dollar Kids

The Dollar Kids

Jennifer Richard Jacobson

A family moves to a struggling town to buy a house for just one dollar, hoping a new home can help them leave their heav

Cover of Living with Jackie Chan

Jumping Off Swings #2

Living with Jackie Chan

Moving in with his Jackie-Chan-obsessed uncle, Josh struggles with the guilt of a life-changing night while finding focu

Cover of Six Words and a Wish

Ally's World #13

Six Words and a Wish

Spooky coincidences lead Jem to wonder if her sister's disappearance wasn't her fault after all, sparking a summer of my

Cover of Sisterland

As Hilly’s grandmother loses her memory to Alzheimer’s, long-buried secrets from Nazi Germany emerge, forcing the family

Cover of The Bone Queen

The Books of Pellinor

The Bard Cadvan wanders in exile, haunted by the shadow he unleashed, while a young girl discovers her own unsettling an

Cover of The Midnight Star

The Young Elites #3

The Midnight Star

The White Wolf’s victory is threatened by a growing internal darkness, forcing a queen to form a dangerous alliance to s

Cover of One of Us Is Lying

One of Us Is Lying #1

One of Us Is Lying

Karen M. McManus

Five students walk into detention, but only four come out alive. With everyone a suspect, the race is on to uncover who

Cover of Dragon's Rock

Ever since Benjamin stole a stone from Dragon's Rock, a beast has hunted him in his dreams, forcing him to return to the

Cover of The Third Daughter

The Third Daughter #1

The Third Daughter

Adrienne Tooley

For teens grappling with the weight of expectations and the guilt of mistakes, this fantasy explores how to fix what we'

Cover of The Children and the Wolves

The Children and the Wolves

For mature teens exploring the darkest corners of human behavior: three drifters kidnap a child, blurring the lines betw

Cover of My Life as a Rhombus

My Life as a Rhombus

A trigonometry tutoring session forces high school junior Rhonda to confront a painful secret from her past and the choi

Cover of You'll Be the Death of Me

You'll Be the Death of Me

Karen M. McManus

Three former friends ditch class to relive their glory days, only to stumble upon a murder scene that reveals they all s

Cover of The Drowned Woods

The Bone Houses

The Drowned Woods

Emily Lloyd-Jones

The last living water diviner joins a lady of thieves and a suspicious corgi on a high-stakes heist to destroy the magic

Cover of Claiming Georgia Tate

Claiming Georgia Tate

Twelve-year-old Georgia Tate struggles to protect her hope and find healing while carrying a painful secret after being

Cover of The Time Paradox

Artemis Fowl #6

The Time Paradox

To save his mother from a life-threatening illness, Artemis Fowl must travel back in time to undo a heartless bargain he

Cover of In the Role of Brie Hutchens...

In the Role of Brie Hutchens...

Soap opera fan Brie navigates a web of lies at her Catholic school while trying to understand her new feelings for the g

Cover of The Ruinous Sweep

The Ruinous Sweep

Tim Wynne-Jones

Donovan wakes up on a dark highway with no memory, a stolen briefcase, and the police closing in on him for a crime he d

Cover of If Only I Had Told Her

If He Had Been with Me #2

If Only I Had Told Her

Three different perspectives weave together a story of truth and tragedy, following the unexpected bonds that form when