Reviews written by Kim Baccellia, Staff Reviewer

What worked: Poignant glimpse into what might have been Anne Frank's life before the diary. Readers see Anne from age 10 as being curious about the world around her; her close relationship with her grandmother; a complicated relationship with her mother and sister; and a first romantic relationship. ...

It's 1517. Seventeen-year-old grifter Rosa Cellini arrives in Florence when Medici Pope, Leo X, returns. Needless to say, his arrival doesn't sit kindly on the Florence people. Rosa rounds up a group of highly trained misfits to help pull off a huge heist to regain the money the Medici family...

Nineteen-year-old Jakob Novis and his younger sister Lizzie love riddles and puzzles. When their mother is listed as dead after the bombing in Poland, Lizzie questions if that is true. She ends up at Bletchley Park during the summer of 1940. The same place where some, like her brother, are...

Devon plans the 'Perfect summer' before her twin Drew leaves for college. But not all goes as expected. Drew's friend Avery brings an Ouiji board out at her graduation party. Devon's friends know not to mess with that supernatural stuff. Little do they know that a released demon has its...

Sadie has been haunted by a ghost her whole life. When her best friend Anna dies, she's traumatized. Sadie fears the ghost had something to do with the death of Anna. When Sadie moves to a new school, she's afraid of being friendly as the ghost shows its displeasure by...

The Lo Family sticks together. Honor has heard this since childhood. Her family was part of the popular reality TV show Lo and Behold. Though the show is now off the air, the Lo family has podcasts, conferences, brand partnerships, and more. When Honor's father and mother decide to separate,...

It's November 1914. Eighteen-year-old Clara Ketterling-Dunbar has fought alongside her suffragette sisters, but nothing prepares her for exploring the Antarctic. Told in journal format, Clara describes her journey as the only woman crew member of The Resolute. Her experiences in the suffragette movement taught her to fight, but will they...

After a horrific incident, Calvin and his family leave Chicago and settle in a new White suburban housing development in Levittown. Calvin misses his friends and resents that his father insists they 'pass' as White to have a better life. It's 1955, a year after Brown vs. the Board of...

Amber Brown and her best friend Justin Daniels have been friends since preschool. He helps her in their third-grade class with fractions. She whispers in his ear when he needs help during reading time. Then word comes that his family is moving to Alabama. Amber wishes and crosses her fingers...

It's the first day of school and almost sixteen-year-old Kat Evans wants to organize a bit of activism on campus. Her attempt at feminism brings hilarious results. Her friends help her along the way. Kat tries to get the attention of a new student, Hot Josh, but she wonders if...

Isabeau and her five friends used to be inseparable until they weren't. Now only Reuel stays at her side. All the girls shared many things, including the same birthday. Then on the night of Iz's birthday, things take a tragic turn. Reuel goes missing. Then she comes back but isn't...

Seventeen-year-old Eleanor is shy but loves numbers. Her classmates call her 'Nervous Nelly'. She's a math whiz but she has other worries. She worries about her Jewish relatives in Europe as the war rages overseas. And she blames herself for her father's stroke. Then during a chance encounter at Math...

St. Bernadette's is a stellar school with an equally stellar reputation. It also has a dark secret. Girls who scream. Khadijah is silent after a traumatic incident. Her friends look out for her. Rachel is an overachieving girl with an overbearing mother. Both find their fates intertwined as they look...

Former best friends Naya Morgan and Yana Bunpraserit always felt out of place in their small Oklahoma town. When both are inducted into the exclusive society of Yatesville High's top recent graduates, they're offered a chance to go on a yacht trip to Bermuda. Only something sinister is underfoot. Along...

It's 2001 and Omid tries to make sense of his recently arrived Iranian grandparents. He starts high school and has a crush on Emily a girl who introduces him to theater and Shakespeare. Omid's parents are from Iran and expect the best from him. Then 9/11 happens and he witnesses...