YA FANS...CHECK OUT "FOR ALWAYS"

For Always is the debut novel of Danielle Sibarium.  In this young adult novel, Stephanie feels that death haunts her.  Too many circumstances in the past have caused her to feel like she is a magnet of death, and she feels socially ostracized until she develops a friendship with an older boy named Jordan.

As Stephanie and Jordan become closer, their age difference becomes an issue.  Stephanie knows in her heart that Jordan is the one, and waits for him until he can see it too.  Then tragedy strikes in more ways than one.  Stephanie feels broken and defeated.  The emotional roller coaster of Stephanie are effortlessly correlated, and the reader therefore, can feel nothing but empathetic.

Sibarium does an enormous job in reaching out to her audience.  The emotional conflicts, along with the intensity of the emotional ups and downs of adolescence, are brilliantly conveyed through her writing.  There were several points in the book when Stephanie’s story caused me to look back and reminisce about my own adolescent years.

Sibarium truly drew me in from the beginning.  The story takes place in Brooklyn where I have lived half my life, so it was familiar.  I have lived on Staten Island the past several years, but it was nice to read a story taking place in my old neighborhood.  It made it that much more real to me.  While I am not a big young adult reader, I found this novel really touching, emotional, and relatable.  Her characters are not only well developed, but also credible.  I found myself turning page after page, enticed by the story and curious for the outcome.  In the words of Danielle Sibarium, “live, love, dream!”

 AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT:

Danielle Sibarium grew up as an only child of divorced parents in Brooklyn, New York. Her imagination was developed at an early age. Surrounded by stuffed animals and imaginary friends, she transported herself into a fantasy world full of magic and wonder. Books were the gateway between her play world and reality. On any given summer afternoon she became Snow White sweeping and cooking for the dwarves, or Cinderella waiting for the prince.

Danielle always loved dialogue and in elementary school began writing plays and short stories. This is when she began to understand she could not only bring her fantastical world to life for herself, but she could enchant others as well. And so she wrote. She wrote and wrote and wrote.

Sadly the first piece she ever sent out for publication of any sort was a letter to the editor of The Home News Tribune. It was a piece thanking the first responders for their bravery and selflessness on Sept 11th. It was chosen as letter of the week.

In 2007 Danielle collaborated with Charlotte Doreen Small to write songs for her CD More. Danielle wrote the lyrics for Take My Hand, and Goodbye, while Charlotte contributed the melody.

Danielle graduated from Farleigh Dickinson University with honors, and currently lives in New Jersey with her husband and three children.