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A Blessing and a Curse
The Haunted Purse follows a teenage girl who stumbles upon an old denim purse in a thrift store that quickly reveals its supernatural abilities with things vanishing and reappearing, adding unplanned complications to her already messy life. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Believe it or not, The Haunted Purse was inspired by a true incident. When my son was a high school junior mulling over college options, we visited an auto technology school three hours from home. After the tour, I couldn’t find my car keys. I searched my purse multiple times, but the keys were nowhere to be seen.
Our tour guide assembled a search team. A dozen students combed the campus for half an hour, but the keys never turned up. The tour guide offered to call a car dealership to see if they could provide a new set of keys. While he was on the phone, I checked my purse one last time…and found the keys. Oh, the mortification! I apologized profusely, and my son and I beat a hasty retreat out of there.
I couldn’t stop thinking about those keys as I drove home. How could I have missed them during my repeated searches? Was I really that dimwitted? Or could there be another explanation? My brain chewed on that question, and by the time I pulled into our driveway, it had come up with an answer: something supernatural was going on. Some mischievous other-worldly being had infiltrated my purse and hidden my keys. I wasn’t an idiot after all—just the victim of some supernatural pranking. Oh, how I wanted to believe that!
And then I thought, A haunted purse. What a great premise for a novel…
In many contemporary coming-of-age fiction novels, authors often add their own life experiences to the story. Are there any bits of you in this story?
An angsty teen still lives inside me, so I was able to channel that spirit while writing the novel. Like Libby, I grew up in a low-income household, so I know what it’s like to want things you can’t have. And Libby’s crush on a classmate is based loosely on my early experiences with crushes and heartbreak. But that’s about it. Most of the stuff in the story is totally made up.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I wanted to explore adolescent friendship in all its intensity, all its messiness. Feminine beauty was also a prominent theme: as Libby discovered, it can be both a blessing and a curse. And I threw in multiple references to Cinderella to reflect Libby’s transformation over the course of the story.
I find a problem in well-written stories, in that I always want there to be another book to keep the story going. Is there a second book planned?
No, this one has a very conclusive ending, so I feel no need to continue Libby’s story.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon
Filled with apprehension and yet intrigued by the mounting pile of evidence, Libby digs for the truth. And eventually finds it. But the story of the purse is darker than she imagined—and its next horrific chapter is going to be all about her.
The Haunted Purse
Kimberly Baer’s The Haunted Purse tells the story of Libby, a teenage girl who stumbles upon an old denim purse in a thrift store, an object that quickly proves to be anything but ordinary. What begins as a quirky tale about misplaced homework turns into a strange, emotional journey, blending the everyday struggles of adolescence with eerie, supernatural twists. The purse makes things vanish and reappear, leading Libby to uncover pieces of another girl’s life while also grappling with her own fractured family, fragile friendships, and the heavy weight of being far more responsible than a 15-year-old should be.
What I really liked about this book is the way Baer balances the supernatural element with the gritty realism of Libby’s life. Right from the first chapter, when her history report goes missing only to reappear later in the depths of her purse, I was hooked. The purse feels almost like a character itself, playful, mysterious, and sometimes cruel. But what kept me reading wasn’t just the magic. It was Libby herself. She’s sharp, sarcastic, and quietly hurting, and her voice feels completely authentic. When her mom breezes back into her life for a night of fake promises and cigarette smoke, the ache in Libby’s words made me want to both hug her and cheer her resilience.
Another standout for me was the friendship between Libby and Toni. It’s messy and complicated in exactly the way teenage friendships usually are. Toni is bossy, dramatic, and sometimes dismissive, like when Libby finally confides in her about the purse’s supernatural powers and Toni just laughs it off as “woo-woo crap”. Yet, despite all their friction, the bond is real. Their arguments over school dances and borrowed clothes feel so grounded, and it’s through these moments that the story explores deeper themes, loyalty, envy, and the fear of being left behind.
And then there’s the haunting itself. I loved how Baer keeps the paranormal subtle and slippery, never giving us easy answers. Objects vanish, like the bottle of perfume or Toni’s brand-new jeans, and sometimes they reappear, sometimes not. The uncertainty adds tension, but it also works as a metaphor for Libby’s unstable life. She’s constantly holding on to things, friends, family, dreams, that seem to slip through her fingers no matter how tightly she grips them. The purse is magical, yes, but it’s also heartbreakingly symbolic.
By the end, I was both unsettled and moved. The story never veers into outright horror, but it carries a steady undercurrent of dread, softened by the warmth of Libby’s determination to keep pushing forward. Baer’s writing is vivid but unpretentious, full of small, sharp details that make the characters and their world feel lived in.
I’d recommend The Haunted Purse to anyone who likes their coming-of-age stories with a supernatural twist. It’s perfect for readers who appreciate strong, flawed teenage voices, or for anyone who remembers what it felt like to navigate the messy in-between of adolescence, when friendships, family, and self-identity all feel like they could disappear at any second. For me, it was equal parts strange, sad, and hopeful, and that combination made it a book I won’t forget anytime soon.
Pages: 265 | ASIN : B0FLWK2DQM
Would You Rather…
Kimberly Baer’s Would You Rather… is a young adult thriller that starts as a harmless classroom game but quickly twists into something much darker. When a substitute teacher introduces a game of “Would You Rather” in physics class, the students think it’s just another way to kill time. But then, their chosen fates start coming true. Winning the lottery? Check. Losing hair? Check. Going missing forever? That’s when things get real. The story follows a group of high school students trying to unravel the mystery of their eerie predicament before it’s too late.
The dialogue is sharp, and the characters feel authentic. Henry, Blake, Ava, and their friends banter like real teenagers, sometimes goofy, sometimes awkward, but always believable. The moment the substitute teacher, Mr. Trinkley, enters the scene, the atmosphere shifts. He’s unsettling in a way that’s hard to pinpoint at first, but his chilling presence grows with every page. The game starts off lighthearted but quickly escalates. The moment Maddy pulls the card that forces her to choose between killing someone or being kidnapped by a serial killer? Goosebumps. It’s the kind of scene that makes you grip the book tighter.
Baer does a fantastic job balancing suspense with emotional depth. The friendships in the book feel genuine, especially the bond between the “Alphabet Quartet,” Ava, Blake, Charlie, and Deej. Their easy camaraderie adds a layer of warmth to the story, making the stakes feel even higher when things start spiraling. One of the creepiest moments for me was Reina’s hair loss. Her “Would You Rather” choice seemed harmless at first, but when her bald spots start appearing, it’s impossible to ignore the growing sense of doom. The way Baer describes it, little by little, until Blake accidentally yanks off her wig sent a shiver down my spine. It’s these slow, creeping horrors that make the book so effective.
The pacing is solid, though the middle drags a bit when the students are still debating whether the curse is real. I also wish we had more insight into Mr. Trinkley. He’s terrifying, but I wanted to know why, what his real deal was beyond being a creepy substitute. That said, once Maddy goes missing, the urgency skyrockets, and I couldn’t put the book down. The final chapters are a whirlwind of fear, desperation, and a race against time.
I’d highly recommend Would You Rather… it’s perfect for readers who love a mix of supernatural horror and high-stakes mystery, with just enough teenage drama to make it relatable. If you’ve ever played “Would You Rather” and thought, What’s the worst that could happen?—this book has your answer.
Pages: 178 | ASIN : B0DP364MX2
Vivid Memories
Out of Body follows a teenage girl experiencing weird dreams who discovers they are not dreams but out-of-body experiences. What inspired the setup of your story?
Sometimes I dream that I’m flying, and after one particularly vivid dream, I wondered, “What if these aren’t dreams? What if my spirit actually leaves my body while I’m sleeping and goes flitting around town?” My next thought was, “What a great premise for a novel!” The idea marinated in my brain for a couple of years before I finally got around to turning it into a novel.
In many contemporary coming-of-age fiction novels, authors often add their own life experiences to the story. Are there any bits of you in this story?
Absolutely. I have vivid memories of my angsty teenage years. Unrequited love, shifting friendships, school drama—I lived it all, so it was easy for me to incorporate those elements into my story. For instance, in Out of Body, Abby has brilliant imaginary conversations with the boy she likes, but when she encounters him in person, she morphs into a tongue-tied idiot. Yep—been there, done that!
This sets up the novel to deliver some very entertaining scenes. What scene was the most fun to write?
At one point in the story, Abby’s astral travels take her to a very bizarre place, so I had to do some serious world-building. Those scenes were fun to write because I could let my imagination run wild. Since this was a made-up fantasy world, I didn’t have to worry about adhering to the laws of physics or biology. I just had to make sure everything seemed plausible in the context of the story. Constructing that world from scratch made me feel a little bit like a demigod: powerful, omnipotent, creative.
Will there be a follow-up novel to this story? If so, what aspects of the story will the next book cover?
Astral projection is a fascinating subject, one with infinite plot possibilities, so there could very well be additional books. Since finishing Out of Body I’ve been working on an unrelated project, but I do have a solid idea for a sequel. In Out of Body, Abby sets out to save her cousin after he gets lost on the astral plane. Without giving too much away, I can say that in the sequel, Abby will be the one in trouble, but it will be a different sort of trouble. Her world will be turned upside down, and she will have to go on the run as she figures out how to save herself.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Instagram | Website | Amazon
Out of Body
In Out of Body by Kimberly Baer, we meet Abby, a teenager grappling with the loneliness and loss she feels after her cousin and best friend, Logan, moves to a new town. Set against the backdrop of a town steeped in supernatural history, the story begins on Halloween—a night when Abby, now without Logan, finds herself alone. While attempting to distract herself with a horror film, Abby begins to notice strange and unsettling occurrences: objects shifting location and clothes seemingly moving on their own. These eerie happenings leave her questioning her sanity. However, when Abby uncovers the truth behind these strange events, her life takes a dramatic turn, revealing that her connection to Logan is far deeper and more mysterious than she ever imagined.
The book’s tagline, “Astral travel is amazing…if you survive the trip,” immediately draws readers into its blend of the supernatural and science fiction, and the story delivers on these promises. Baer’s novel is a captivating Young Adult fiction piece that dives into the spooky and unexplained. The opening line—“Dad’s recliner was rocking by itself again”—hooks readers right from the start, setting the tone for a story filled with intrigue and suspense. Beyond the central plot of a teenage girl discovering her hidden powers, Out of Body touches on themes that resonate deeply with its young adult audience. The novel explores common adolescent struggles, from friction with parents and feeling isolated at school to dealing with social anxiety. These relatable themes make the story not only an exciting supernatural adventure but also a meaningful exploration of the challenges that many young readers face.
Out of Body is a perfect escape for readers of any age, whether they are currently navigating the complexities of adolescence or have already been through it. It’s the kind of book you can easily imagine curling up with on a cozy autumn evening, offering both a thrilling story and an emotional journey. I highly recommend this novel to anyone looking for a captivating and relatable read.
Pages: 292 | ASIN : B0CQ34D8H5
LITERARY TITAN 