Reviews written by Kim Baccellia, Staff Reviewer

What worked: Great condensed introduction to African American History that's perfect for classrooms and libraries. There's a sampling of history tidbits in this easy-to-follow non-fiction book. As a former first-grade teacher, I would have loved to share this book with my six-year-old students during Black History Month. ...

Fifteen-year-old Marisol shreds her skin every new moon. She follows in the footsteps of her soucouyant mother. They are Caribbean shape-shifters. Only now her mother has taken her to Brooklyn, far from her island home. Seventeen-year-old Genevieve is the daughter of a college professor who is obsessed with Caribbean...

In New York City, during the pandemic, Miles and Chloe stay connected through late-night phone calls and Zoom calls. During one call Chloe shares a package she received from her grandmother that has them searching for answers. In 1980 Jenny arrives with her family to...

Chelsea and her twin Angelica are very close. The problem is Angelica is dead. Chelsea is shy and afraid of starting middle school because she's afraid the rumor of her seeing her dead twin might get out. Then a new girl shows up and wants to be friends. Chelsea spends...

What worked: Creepy atmospheric thriller set in the ocean. Beautiful descriptions of the sea mixed with terrifying supernatural elements. I was hooked! This fast-paced mystery goes back and forth in time when Phoebe "Phibs" Ray first meets Gabe, the Florida Keys dive shop...

What worked: Easy-to-follow book on decoding the Constitution. What I loved about this book is how the author makes an important document in our country easy to understand. The illustrations help as they're engaging and pull readers right in. The translations are in plain...

The James sisters help with their family cafe in Caball Hollow. Each sister has a paranormal ability. Rowan has the gift of smelling a lie. She hopes to use this gift to find who is behind a series of thefts. Then she encounters a beaten, bloody Hadrian, who asks for...

The infamous gambling den Fortune's Kiss returns to Ciudad Milagro and its game is Loteria. Best friends Mayte and Lorena dream of a better life. Mayte's father lost their fortune. Lorena's mother disappeared with rumors she played Fortune's Kiss and left Lo and her sisters to their abusive, controlling...

Beautifully written historical of a seventeenth-century apothecary in Rome and those who risk everything to help those in need. What worked: I loved this powerful story of sixteen-year-old Carmela Tofana and the apothecary where she works with her mother and other women. Carmela loves working...

Bessie and her closest friends sneak out to a deserted castle in the middle of the English countryside. Her friend Allegra has planned the perfect party there. Once everyone shows up things take a terrible turn with not only a deadly storm but someone dying. When the body count rises...

Right before Liz is scheduled to go to college a horrific event changes her life forever. She goes to the only safe place she knows, the bookstore where she used to work. A fellow employee and friend stays with her until she leaves Liz behind. In the meantime, other survivors...

Shortly after Covid, another virus comes but the survivor's whole countenance on life changes for the better. Suddenly people no longer desire to fight or are angry at others. Instead, they are filled with happiness and joy. Not everyone is happy about this. There's Mariel and her mother who are...

What worked: Powerful portrayal of how a simple act of kindness showed courage in the face of hatred during the Holocaust. Readers follow twelve-year-old Sara Blum who lived a sheltered life in Vichy France during WWII. That changes once the Nazis take over her village. After fellow Jewish classmates are...

Cade Webster is a talented football star at his private high school but lives on the other side of town. He hates that some around him fear his presence. After avoiding an encounter with the police, he stumbles into a pawnshop. But this is no regular shop. He purchases a...

What worked: The Buccaneers meets Gossip Girls where British royalty's quest for a husband collides with the heart. Readers meet Alix of Hesse, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria with a secret; Helene D'Orleans, daughter of the exiled King of France whose indiscretions might cause her to lose the one person...