Reviews written by Kim Baccellia, Staff Reviewer

I still remember not long ago reading about a teen who died after what authorities assumed was the result of kissing someone who'd eaten peanut butter. It seemed pretty far fetched at the time. Then I found out my own son has tree nut allergies. One day...

Cat Crawford might be the daughter of a big name Hollywood director but she doesn’t really care for the spotlight. But her soon to be stepmother wants to throw Cat this huge sixteenth birthday party for MTV. Cat wants nothing to do with the party or her future...

Before dystopias became hot, there was the book THE GIVER. I still remember how much I loved this story with it's powerful, haunting message. A true classic. I read all the other books that followed and fell in love with the writing. The next...

I was really excited to not only meet YA author Libba Bray at ALA this last June but get a copy of THE DIVINERS. Let me tell you waiting in line(I was number 96) to get an advanced copy was so worth the wait. There's a...

This book's premise intrigued me. What if you had to pay for the privilege to have oxygen? Only those privileged enough are able to have enough oxygen to play sports, play instruments, have 'real' food, and even have larger families. The story is very similar...

I'm a huge Ellen Hopkins's fan. Her writing gives sensitive topics such as abuse, drug use, a powerful, emotional punch. TILT is the companion novel to TRICKS where the teens were first introduced. In this novel we see third different teens stories. ...

I have to admit, I’m not really a fan of angel YA novels. When I received a galley of EMBRACE to read, the packaging intrigued me enough for me to start reading. Let’s just say I was hooked! I loved Violet, who finds out she’s...

Italy has a big place in my heart. Both sides of my family came from Italy. I grew up with the warm smells of Italian cooking from my Grandpa Consoli. His secret was adding wine to everything. THE DEMON CATCHERS OF MILAN reminds me...

I read a teaser of EVERY DAY from the BUZZ BEA ebook from Netgalley and knew I had to read this novel! I was bummed I wasn't able to snatch a galley at ALA this last June but I ended up preordering a copy from my local Barnes and...

Our household LOVES Vordak! I was able to grab a galley at ALA this summer. When son found out a rep from Egmont gave me a copy? Well, he snatched the book out of my bag and rushed upstairs. Later, I heard giggles from his...

I'm a huge Tiffany Trent fan. When I was a Cybils panelist for the Sci-Fi/fantasy category I was able to read one of her nominated HALLOWMERE books. I was hooked. I was bummed when the last book in that series wasn't published after her then publisher folded....

I was really excited to be able to grab a galley of ORIGIN at ALA. I read the teaser in the BEA BUZZ that was available on Netgalley. That teaser alone made me want to read this story! This is a beautifully written futuristic YA...

I'm a huge fan of James Patterson's one successful YA fantasy MAXIMUM RIDE. His writing is potato chip fiction at it's best. Short action packed chapters keep the reader turning the pages. CONFESSIONS is his first YA mystery series. Once again Patterson's...

I'm a huge fan of the Merry Sisters of Fate: Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton, and Brenna Yovanoff. I purchased their first collection of short stories back in 2008 and was hooked. So when I heard another collection of their stories was coming out, I had to have it....

I was intrigued with the premise of a teen that not only sees the dead but decides to follow in her dead mother's footsteps and become a paranormal investigator. Think Veronica Mars meets the paranormal world. First off I have to admit I do like Violet's...