Reviews written by Kim Baccellia, Staff Reviewer

What worked: I love a good spooky tale! There's so much to love about this story set in 1885 Sacramento, California. For one, my own great-grandfather settled in downtown Sacramento around this same time so the descriptions of the area brought back fond memories. Another huge plus is how the...

What worked: I'm a huge fan of short story anthologies, including ones that include Latinx monster tales. This anthology is a collection of fifteen shorts that are filled with stories of vampires, werewolves, zombies, and much more! Here are a few of my favorites: ...

What worked: Creepy, surreal story of Helen Vaughan and a mysterious ancestral home filled with deadly secrets. This story had an almost Edgar Allan Poe feel going for it with ghostly mysteries that keep readers on the edge of their seats. Helen doesn't get why...

What worked: Engaging portrayal of a girl dealing with death anxiety that just happens to live in a funeral home. This novel goes a step further than other paranormal ghost stories in which readers are introduced to Georgia, 'G', and are shown the anxieties she daily deals with. I love...

Jessamine Monet feels it's important to be there for her family. Her twin brother Joel has a secret boyfriend and her transgender cousin Solange is thriving. Jessamine is stressed about her upcoming senior year and the pressure to get college scholarships to get out of New Orleans. Then Tennessee Williams,...

What worked: Inspiring collection of short stories with a theme of hope written by best-selling children's authors. I loved the premise of this anthology, especially after the last few years that were filled with fear and darkness. Each of these stories gives a glimmer of...

What worked: Compact detailed history behind Jim Crow laws that continue to affect us now. This nonfiction book goes over the truth of our country's history that hopefully leads to informed awareness. The author goes over such topics as the makings of oppression;...

Grace struggles to understand her gift of 'echoes' where she has visions that distort her past. One morning when tragedy hits, the echoes come full force. One of them has her remembering three years previously when she escapes after her mother's murder to Mexico. Once there she stumbles into the...

Natasha Clarke knows she should listen to her friend Mason's warning about beautiful, impulsive Elodie but she can't help herself. When one of their little trips to a club turns into something she doesn't expect, Nat finds herself at Gray Wolf Academy which has a mysterious purpose. One that...

Kat Finn lives and works with mortals while barely making it on Hema, a synthetic blood substitute. She fantasizes about attending Harcote, an elite vamp boarding school, and goes behind her mother's back to apply. She's beyond excited when she's accepted. Even better she finds out an unknown benefactor...

Colorful celebration of what Pride means shown through LGBTQA+ role models. This picture book starts with the historical background of some leaders who fought for their rights at Stonewall. There's a breakdown of what LGBTQA means. The book also shows how celebrities, sports figures,...

What worked: Stranger Things meets Stephen King. Only in this novel, it's a twelve-year-old boy who gets sucked into a supernatural pinball machine. There are tons of late 80s/early 90s references throughout this novel. Basically, though it's a novel about friendships and what one would do to help a friend...

Lou is biracial-half white and half Metis/Michif and works the summer at her uncle's ice cream shack. She just broke up with Wyatt and wonders why she didn't feel anything whenever they were together. Add to this her biological father has just been released from prison and is insisting on...

What worked: Engaging collection of fantasy short stories that celebrate Black girl protagonists. These stories include takes on historical past like Roanhorse's inspiration of an all Black settlement in the early 1900s. Other stories include Acevedo's twist on a slave rebellion in 1951 Hispaniola. There's also ones with witches...

Izzy's not too excited to go on a Bermuda cruise with her family. While on deck she meets Jade, who is impulsive and livens up the otherwise boring cruise. Then Jade goes missing. Izzy tries to find out what happened to her friend, but no one will listen. Later, Izzy...