Reviews written by Kim Baccellia, Staff Reviewer

It's Chicago 1910 and the Davenports are one of the few wealthy Black families in the city. Mr. Davenport is a formerly enslaved man who founded the Davenport Carriage Company years ago. Within his family there is drama. The oldest Olivia is set to marry a handsome man from England...

In this contemporary YA, Samantha 'Sam' Kang doesn't understand her tight-laced mother. After a fight, a strange ride share ends up taking her back in time where she meets her mother as a teen. Sam ends up thinking she needs to make things right in 1995 by helping her...

What worked: A good practical guide and a good start for those curious about such things as tarot readings, witchcraft, astrology, and much more. This book uses a collection of eclectic sources that help guide readers toward self-fulfillment and discovery. The author touches on a...

Eighteen-year-old Wren's dream British trip ends up turning out like nothing she had planned. Not only is she sick with a virus most of the trip, but she also ends up missing her flight back to the states. She ends up running into a British prince who is fleeing. Add...

What worked: BLACK MIRROR in space where not all is what it seems. There are so many twists, turns, and quirky reveals in this Sci-fi dystopian novel where two boys fall in love while on the run of their lives in outer space. Noa wakes...

Seventeen-year-old Evan Bright has been in and out of boarding schools. She's also the illegitimate daughter of the King of England. When disaster hits her last boarding school, she finds herself in London with a father she doesn't remember and his current royal family. Her stepmother resents her presence and...

In this sequel, it's close to twenty years after Buffy sealed the Hellmouth-Sunnydale. After a terrible explosion, Buffy is feared dead. Only it gets out that maybe she might still in fact be alive. The new slayer in town is Frankie. She's the daughter of Willow. Spike is her Watcher....

What worked: Powerful portrayal of the complicity of friendship and small acts of resistance during WWII Nazi Germany. This story shows the underground contraband Swingjugend movement and American Jazz in Berlin before and during the war. Friends Geli, Charlie, Minna, and Renate start with discovering the joy of Swingjugend....

It's senior year and Maeve and her friends carry on after they helped break the Housekeeper's spell over Lilly. In the process, they all have some supernatural gift. Mixed into all of this is the uncertainty of their futures after school. Only the Children of Brigid aren't finished with...

What worked: I'm a huge fan of Neal Shusterman's Scythe series and of short story anthologies. GLEANINGS delivers on both of these and more! Readers get to read about other Scythes in this very engaging novel. Here's a few of...

What worked: Fun, engaging contemporary romance set during a whiteout in Atlanta, Georgia. All the stories are intertwined and come together in a satisfying conclusion. Stevie and her girlfriend Sola have a big fight and Stevie tries everything she can to make things right with...

What worked: Fun, engaging witchy tale where a teen is suddenly uprooted from her Californian home to a coven. Emsy loves surfing and hanging out with her girlfriend. When her parents tell her they have to move back to a coven, she's shocked and then...

What worked: Bittersweet and heartbreaking at times story of firsts that also is filled with hope. This is an amazing prequel to THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END. I couldn't put this story down! Silvera starts at the very beginning of Death-cast and how the first 'Decker's life is intertwined...

What worked: Powerful, poignant coming-of-age story. Seventeen-year-old Avery moves from DC to a small town in Georgia to help her dying grandmother. There are many secrets that include intergenerational trauma. One of those secrets involves a tragedy with Avery's family and anger that continues to haunt the family. ...

What worked: Hilarious take on a modern-day Lord of the Flies. I'd say this is more satire on what would happen if the top Influencers ended up on an island to be part of a very popular music fest. Only in this case, it's nothing like they'd hoped. ...