Reviews written by Karen Klein, Staff Reviewer

Amy leads a tortured life. She has a monster for a father and a distant mother. Amy self-harms and has suicidal tendencies. Then tragedy in her life leads her in a dangerous direction. '22 Scars' highlights mental illness in teenagers. With recent events, I think a...

Sam, Antonio, and Lucy are hall monitors at Eerie Elementary. Eerie Elementary is haunted by its evil founder, Orson Eerie. When the mysterious happenings at the school get a little too dangerous, the powers that be decide to tear the school down. Sam, Antonio, and Lucy, must do everything they...

Zara feels shut off from her Bosnian born mother. She knows that her mother survived some horrible things in the Bosnian war but Zara wants desperately to understand who her mother is. So when Zara, her mother, and her little brother are...

Will’s dad commits suicide. His childhood friend, Playa, is raped at a party. His mom works long over-night shifts as a nurse. Will then decides to take the negatives in his life and turn them into something completely wonderful. Will’s father’s death helps him realize that...

‘The Carlswick Deception’ is a series of mystery/detective. Each novel can stand alone as back story is given about what happened previously in the series. Stephanie is an art history student at Oxford. In the past she had an internship with the arts and antiques unit...

‘The Scent of Rain’, centers mainly around Rose. Rose is a teenager living in a fundamentalist Mormon community. The main storyline centers on Rose’s terrifying life. The story is told through multiple points of view. The POV’s are those of Rose, Adan ,the FLDS ‘prophet’, Trak, Chase,...

Seventeen year old Shelby and her best friend, Helene, are in a horrific car crash. Helene is left in a permanent coma. Shelby recovers physically but she follows a path of self-destructive behavior. Shelby’s behavior is not only a way to punish herself for the accident but also a way...

Gabe is used to helping care for his ailing grandfather. Then tragedy strikes and thrusts eighteen-year-old Gabe into the position of primary care giver for his grandfather with dementia. They’re so many things to love about, ‘No Sad Songs’. The thing I love most is that...

Gabe is used to helping care for his ailing grandfather. Then tragedy strikes and thrusts eighteen-year-old Gabe into the position of primary care giver for his grandfather with dementia. They’re so many things to love about, ‘No Sad Songs’. The thing I love most is that...

Subhi is a refugee. Born in an Australian permanent detention center after his mother and sister fled the violence of a distant homeland, Subhi has only ever known life behind the fences. But his world is far bigger than that—every night, the magical Night Sea from his mother's stories brings...

Aza is a high school student who struggles with severe OCD (she constantly worries that C.Diff is going to kill her). She must fight against her own mind and help her friend Daisy find a fugitive billionaire and claim her reward. Oh, John Green, how I love to hate...

Billie McCaffrey is a gender fluid teen who lives in a small Kentucky town. Even though she is the daughter of the town's preacher, she is living life by her own terms. This is to chagrin of both her father and the rest of the town of Otters Holt. ...

Nessa and Jacie have been friends since kindergarten. When they both have had a terrible year, they decide to take up Jacie’s aunt’s invitation to stay with her at her home on the Jersey Shore. Jacie and Nessa plan to live summer to the fullest before they begin their senior...

I admit that I’m not a big anthology fan. I find the stories in them are hit and miss. ‘My True Love Gave to Me’ was a choice for one of my on-line book clubs. I thought it would help me to get into the holiday spirit and to acquaint...

‘The Otis’ series features vibrant illustrations by Loren Long. Part of the magic of the ‘Otis and the Kittens’ is discovering all the fine details of the story displayed in the illustrations. ‘Otis and the Kittens’ features the important themes of safety, family,...