Reviews written by Kim Baccellia, Staff Reviewer

What worked: Latinx ARE YOU THERE GOD, IT'S ME MARGARET. I LOVE how the author shows a strong preteen heroine who deals with issues like her changing body, her first menstrual period, and first crush. Told in verse, this novel follows bicultural Celi Rivera who has questions about so many...

What worked: Fast-paced time travel romp through Tudor England. Readers find out what might have happened if Queen Elizabeth I married Robert Dudley and had a son. In this case it would have been Nicholas the Ironheart. High school senior Emmie didn't think her research on Nicholas...

What worked: This is an emotional tale of Lida, a young Ukrainian girl, who is stolen from her home and sent to a slave camp to work for the Nazis. Little has been known about this part of WWII. What readers see is the horrific plight of Ukrainians that are...

Seventeen-year-old Layla Amin and her family live in fear after reporting that they were Muslim on a Census record. Because of that they find themselves on a registry that sends them and others to an internment camp. There are some, like her boyfriend David, that fight for her, but it's...

Eliza is an aspiring geologist and self-professed 'nerd'. Even though she feels like the odd one out, Eliza tries hard to appease her two best friends Sherri and Meg. When her friends drag her with them to a swamp on a dare, she goes. Eliza's knows about the town's urban...

Italian-American Evalina Cassano falls in love with Japanese-American Taichi Hamasaki in 1941. Then Pearl Harbor happens and their forbidden love faces anti-Japanese hatred. When Taichi and his family, along with other Japanese-Americans, are set to US internment camps, Evalina refuses to give up on him. Life at Manzanar Relocation Center...

Just wow. This is a chilling, haunting portrayal of what might be the long-term consequences of tampering with our bodies. By this I mean when individuals modify their bodies to the extreme. What worked: There are six tales of different characters starting in the near future to...

Hendricks and her family buy an old building in Drearford, New York after an incident. Her family 'hopes' this will be a fresh start for all of them. Only little do they know that the house they purchased is the site of a murder. Hendricks senses strange things in the...

What worked: This is an amazing glimpse into the life of Macy. Others say she's 'disturbed', but she's the kind of friend you'd want in your corner. Macy shows her life in dictionary entries. At times they're hilarious and at other times bittersweet as she holds nothing back. ...

Young Margaret lives on an island convent. She doesn’t know who her parents were, but enjoys living among the nuns, who pass the time sewing, gardening, and raising Margaret. Then Queen Eleanor of Albion is banished to the island and with her comes questions. Margaret finds that the nuns are...

Seventeen-year-old Nedra Brysstain leaves her small village to study medicinal alchemy at the famous Yugen Academy. She wants to be able to help find a cure for the plague that has been killing so many people. While there she meets "Grey" Astor. They grow close, but when the plague strikes...

What worked: Explores one teen's experience of dealing with the divorce of her parents. For those going through a similar situation, this book will help them realize that they're not alone and not to blame. That message is powerful and also helpful. At times though this tale...

This is a graphic novel adaptation of a real teen's experience of being bullied online. What worked: This is sure to resonate with teen readers as some might relate with Alexandra's story of being bullied on social media. Her story leads up to what caused the bullying...

After the death of her parents to smallpox, Camille Durbonne struggles to get by with her younger sister Sofie. One thing Camille can do is use magic to change metal into coins, but that isn't enough. After her older brother steals her money, she uses dark magic to use glamour...

What worked: Gripping tale that deals with survivor guilt after a horrific murder. This story is intense, but one I feel needs to be told. I lost my own younger sister to gun violence a number of years ago. The author nails the emotions of a loved one who lost...