Reviews written by Kim Baccellia, Staff Reviewer

Rachel Caine is an amazing storyteller with her Morganville Vampire series. I love her characters including the town where Vamps and humans live side by side in a Texan town. This series is totally addictive! I loved it when Morganville: The Series was available online. Now Caine has...

Julie needs to get away. So she signs up to go with her church youth group to New Orleans to help rebuild some homes. But she can't deal with the clingy leader or the over the top enthusiasm which she doesn't feel. A chance encounter has her...

Creepy, haunting tale of a girl with a deadly power. Her touch literally can kill. I love YA horror stories and this one totally doesn't disappoint! What worked: This dark and haunting horror story introduces readers to seventeen-year-old Kenna who has a dangerous secret. ...

I'm a huge fan of YA anthologies. The collection of short stories in SUMMER DAYS AND SUMMER NIGHTS are hilarious, engaging, haunting, and bittersweet. So there is something for everyone! What worked: Short stories are perfect for those readers on the go and those...

As a former first grade teacher, I loved sharing pop-up books with my students. My students loved them as much as I did! I taught during more than a few presidential elections. THE WHITE HOUSE: A POP-UP of OUR NATION'S HOME would have been perfect to share...

Solara needs to get to the outer realm where she hopes to make a fresh start. Then she runs into arrogant, rich, Doran Spaulding who made her life miserable while in school. But beggars can't be choosers and when Doran offers her a chance to indenture herself in...

Imagine Hamlet being told through social media! This is a fun retelling of Hamlet told through text messages, Twitter, and emojis. The texts are hilarious and still convey Shakespeare's tale only in a fun, modern way. As an educator, I love finding other ways...

I'm a huge fan of Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles series. When I found out there was a collection of short stories from her Lunar world, I had to read it. What worked: All of it! I love short stories analogies but especially ones...

The year is 1945 and the war is ending. Four teens from different parts of Europe are fleeing the oncoming Soviet presence. Each teen has his/her own secret. Joana is a nurse traveling with a group of refugees. Emilia is in the midst of being brutalized by...

The Heir and The Spare is an enjoyable romp through London where an American girl searches for the truth of her mother. Add to that one of the boys in her Oxford dorm just happens to be royalty. Remind you of Prince William and Catherine Middleton? I...

Seventeen-year-old Tenley "Ten" Lockwood has been sentenced to Prynne Asylum after she refuses to sign on to a place after her death. Firstlife only prepares someone for Everlife, where life really begins. There are two realms to choose from-Myriad and Troika. Both worlds will do anything to sign...

Tyler didn't 'fit' in with Opportunity, Alabama but no-one knew just what he'd do that fateful day. THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS is a gut-wrenching tale of a school shooting shown through the eyes of those involved in some way with the shooter. What worked: I...

Seventeen-year-old Itzy Nash is sent to the ritzy Carlyle Hotel in New York City to spend her summer with an elusive aunt. There's a problem though. Her aunt doesn't show up but Luc, a hot stranger does. Once at the hotel, bizarre things occur like the swarm...

Five days ago a UFO crashed in the Midwest. Alice's father is in NASA and gets to investigate the ship. To keep her close by, Alice finds herself sent to a boarding school not far from the crash. Then the ship opens and aliens appear that aren't...

It's always fun to find a book where a character not only likes French but LOVES it too. THE DISTANCE FROM A TO Z is one of those books that grabs your attention on the first page and doesn't let you go. Abby's passion for French leads her...