Plot: With a creative plot based on Norse mythology, the storyline here is simply captivating. From the fall of Odin and Thor to Thyra's ultimate achievement, the reader will be hard-pressed to put this one down until the final conclusion.

Prose/Style: This book was a true pleasure to read. The author is clearly gifted, with a great command of language and an astute understanding of dialogue and action. The story appears to be effortless, which is a sign of a great writer/storyteller.

Originality: While the basic premise here is built upon Nordic legend, the author is able to make the story distinctly his own. The creativity is notable, but is also in keeping with the tone and real aura of the original myth.

Character Development/Execution: Thyra comes alive off the page and is a likable and spirited heroine who readers will be sure to love.

Blurb: Petersen breathes new life into Norse mythology, and the result is an enthralling story with a spunky heroine that will captivate readers.

Plot: In this futuristic YA novel set in historic 1895 New York City, bionic Crimsonfall Reapers Genie Gearhart, her brother Hans, and Alice Walker are tasked with hunting monsters, such as the Abominations called Mistlings, undoing curses, and otherwise protecting the citizenry from everything from supernatural nuisances to life-threatening evil. Their job, however, is complicated by the requirement that Genie conform at all times to Miss Haversham’s Primer for Proper Young Ladies, 1895 edition, creating such conundrums as, how do you effect a proper introduction to a street gang?

Prose/Style: The book is full of wonderfully detailed visual images presented in straightforward sentences that make the story easily accessible. Jordan Brooks Hill presents the parameters of her created world in well-integrated and easily assimilated passages as the story progresses, enticing the reader to come along on the adventure. We learn about Skycracks and the Scourge, Curseweavers, Clankers, Faraday cages, and Sprocket’s goo.

Originality: An unusual premise, inventive machines (The Pneumatic Omni-Directional Ventilator, for example), and a wide array of other-worldly ghastly and ghostly beings and doings make this a wonderfully entertaining story that will appeal to adult as well as junior high and high school readers.

Character Development/Execution: Genie and Hans are twenty-somethings just learning their jobs in this world fraught with danger. Alice Walker is a rich socialite and airship captain who is truly a delight with her not-at-all-proper take on nineteenth century New York. Many other characters, human and not, inhabit the story, each a distinct personality that Hill describes succinctly and convincingly.

Plot: Thirteen-year-old Vasilisa Petrovna Nikolayeva does not believe in fairy tales. Yet. This is a remarkable novel with folktales interwoven seamlessly with the tribulations of a junior high school age girl finding a place in a not always accommodating world. In addition, it is rich in history, relating much information about early twentieth-century Russia and the Bolshevik Revolution with which American readers are not likely to be familiar. And, as appropriate in any hero’s quest, there are mysteries to solve, questions to be answered and tasks to be accomplished, all in a universe where the real and fantastical merge effortlessly.

Prose/Style: Here is to be found finely-crafted prose of a grace and precision not often found in young adult novels. The vocabulary and syntax are perfectly suited to middle school/junior high school reader, and the names of the characters are wonderfully inventive and authentic.

Originality: The combination of Russian folk tales, fantasy (including a few witches and an ogre), history, and a coming-of-age story is unique. Julie Mathison has written a story that has meaning on many levels and is therefore a compelling read.

Character Development/Execution: Mathison’s depiction of the young teenagers here indicates careful observation and deep sympathy with the personal and social challenges girls face in early adolescence. Babka is portrayed as a wise and sympathetic older woman without relying on the typical trappings of a “fairy godmother.”

Blurb: A stellar YA novel full of adventure, history, fantasy and a careful observation and deep sympathy with the personal and social challenges girls face in early adolescence.

Plot: CJ, a victim of child sex abuse at the hands of his movie star father and his father’s friend, is a tormented teenager trying to make sense of what happened to him and to figure out how to move forward in his relationship with his girlfriend Meg. But Dad’s still in his life, and his younger sister Miranda’s, because he provides the money, and no one ever talks about what happened with Dad, or Ivan, or that twelve-year-old girl, or his sister. It is, CJ believes, nobody’s business. This is a difficult novel that tackles a difficult subject and Duddridge does not pull her punches. She writes about child sexual abuse and the grooming of children to be the victims of their abusers with clarity and obvious expertise, perhaps fueled by her work in Justice and Law Enforcement. Her sympathy for CJ is palpable, yet she never detracts from his agency or his responsibility to find a way forward.

Prose/Style: The vocabulary and syntax make this a very easy to read novel, accessible to early elementary school age children. Because of the extremely explicit content, parents and school librarians will have to decide whether it is appropriate for their kids.

Originality: CJ has a lot to deal with—rage against his father, ambivalence toward a fragile mother who blames him instead of protecting him, confusion about his own sexuality, guilt over what he did and what was done to him. It is a rare YA novel that takes so much on in such a straightforward way.

Character Development/Execution: The struggle to attain a healthy maturity is challenging for every teen, but CJ has a particularly difficult history to overcome. Duddridge explicates his journey with compassion and honesty.

Plot: In her second Chloe Crandall adventure, Burrows has combined her interests in YA fiction and historical fiction to create an engaging novel that not only takes readers back to pioneer days of the Old West but also depicts the behind-the-camera facts about a TV reality show. Rising high school junior Chloe has won a spot on the American West Channel’s reality TV series Bridal Train. She and nine other young women will reenact the experience of traveling by wagon train (i.e., walking) 500 miles along the Santa Fe Trail from Independence, Missouri, to Bent’s Old Fort in Colorado. The story is full of mysteries, both those that are part of these women’s actual westward journey and those that are revealed in the historical accounting of the journey as experienced by the pioneer women of two hundred years ago.

Prose/Style: Chloe’s narration has a wonderful snarky tone, as only the voice of a sixteen-year-old can have. Vocabulary and syntax are appropriate for junior high school, exactly the right audience for this book, though older kids and adults will enjoy it too for its meticulous research and rousing storytelling.

Originality: Burrows has a real knack for making history come alive and seem relevant in the contemporary world.

Character Development/Execution: Chloe is a thoroughly three-dimensional character who is resourceful, intelligent, driven by the motivations that concern most teens, and funny. The other women, especially Millie, have distinct personalities, and the true personalities of other characters such as the hunk Toby are revealed in tantalizingly slow-motion as the story progresses.

Blurb: In her second YA Chloe Crandall adventure, Burrows has a real knack for making history come alive and seem relevant in the contemporary world.

Plot: Peter Aronson is a former journalist who started writing for kids when he noticed his own children were reading mostly fantasy dystopian novels. Mandalay Hawk’s Dilemma, the first in a planned series, is also a futuristic fantasy, but the three teen protagonists aren’t going to settle for a dystopia; they’re going to try to prevent one. It’s 2030 and 13-year-old Mandalay Hawk’s first act of civil disobedience nearly gets her locked up in juvie, but then she and her dad move to New York City where Mandalay finds other like-minded kids, and they’re off as KRAAP: Kids Revolt Against Adult Power heads to D.C. to confront ineffectual leaders in person about the Big Heat, the exponential increase in temperatures that scientists had not predicted, and to present a plan of action to mitigate the damage.

Prose/Style: The novel is well-written in language easily accessible to middle grade readers. Aronson is skilled at keeping the action interesting while still introducing enough of the science to explain the protagonists’ concerns and actions.

Originality: Aronson has written a novel intended to evoke hope and action—to tell kids they do have agency even though the world’s problems seem overwhelming, even to adults.

Character Development/Execution: Aronson has crafted relatable teen characters whose relationships, insecurities, school challenges, and growth are as important as the message he wishes to convey. Mandalay was a hungry foster child before her new dad adopted her, Gute is a mixed-race boy whose mother abandoned the family years ago, and Jasmin was born in Morocco; her mother brought her to America when she was two after her father died. Mandalay, under a stricture from the judge to behave or have her probation revoked, learns to channel her justified anger into effective political action.

Blurb: Mandalay Hawk’s Dilemma is a futuristic fantasy, but one in which the three teen protagonists aren’t going to figure out how to live in a dystopia; they’re going to try to prevent one.

Plot: In this YA novel, which India-born American author, poet, and playwright Kamla K. Kapur describes as a metaphysical fantasy, Malini receives a magical book for her thirteenth birthday. Eager to escape her boring life in the village of Himali in the foothills of the Himalayas, her bickering parents, and her possibly mad grandmother locked in the basement, Malini opens The Book of Potentiality and her adventure begins.

Prose/Style: Kapur’s descriptions of Malini’s interior life are perceptive and convincing. The prose is accessible to middle school readers without ever being condescending, and its melodious flow will keep readers of all ages turning pages well into the night.

Originality: Cleverly conceived and skillfully executed, Malini in Whirlwood is a YA fantasy that does not rely on the usual tropes of the genre. Here the magic exists not just for effect but to illuminate for Malini her own hopes and capabilities. In a world of shapeshifters where the laws of logic and physics do not apply, Malini, with the help of the Rainbow Serpent and other magic beings, must discover her own path to maturity. While most coming-of-age fantasies rely on exterior events to move the story forward, this novel shows that the journey is truly one that must take place within the protagonist’s mind and heart.

Character Development/Execution: The story is first and foremost about Malini, whom we know at the beginning as a bold but thoroughly disgruntled child and at the end as a young woman of compassion and purpose.

Plot: Floyd Piccolo, 14, is indeed unfortunate, and he’s anxious about starting high school, with good reason. On a trip to London he was the first person in a few hundred years to contract bubonic plague; his fast-food burgers tended to be season with bits of glass, and on his first day at his new school, the entire boys’ restroom collapsed when he flushed. Scientifically-inclined classmate Piers Pitstick posits hypotheses and conducts experiments intended to figure out – and stop --what’s going on with Floyd, all to no avail until they finally settles on the very unscientific premise that Floyd has been cursed by the Brazilian saint Babalú-Ayé, whose feast day is Floyd’s birthday, which is tomorrow….

Prose/Style: Kambitsis has an overly active sense of humor that he transforms into an understated narrative of hilarious happenings and observations. The vocabulary and sentence structure are synced to a YA audience’s comfort level, so youngsters will enjoy the story without having to stop and parse the meaning of the text.

Originality: This YA novel is a gem; it is a well-written, funny, highly inventive narrative with natural-sounding dialogue – all without the slightest hint of condescension or any noticeable didactic intent. Kids and adults alike will be engrossed in the story and gales of laughter will echo down middle-school hallways.

Character Development/Execution: Floyd has an identical twin brother, Lloyd, a raft of other sibs, parents who seem to take his multitude of misfortunes in stride, a good friend and a girl whose boyfriend he would like to be —all of whom are distinct, sympathetic, likable characters one would welcome as next-door neighbors. The other characters may be a little extreme in their thinking, or a little oblivious, but all are portrayed as unique individuals, and most are harmless.

Plot: Fantasy crashes into reality when high-school sophomore Jennet Carter delves into the amazingly immersive video game invented by her father and discovers the virtual fairyland full of weird creatures, inventive weapons and magical events in which she is gaming is actually her real life where she must fight the Dark Queen of the Faeries in order to remain alive and save humanity. Enter Tam Lin, a reticent, poor boy with massive family problems whom she must convince to see past her family’s wealth and help her. And there follows a complex, fast-action tale that the reader will not be able to put down as Jennet and Tam learn to trust, and eventually to care for, each other in the face of overwhelming danger. This is the first in Anthea Sharp’s 8-book YA Feyland series.

Prose/Style: The vocabulary and syntax are easy to construe and don’t for a moment impede the action of the story. The dialogue is reasonably fluent and realistic, especially the interactions between Jennet and Tam. The story could be easily read by upper elementary school students.

Originality: Sharp, a lifelong gamer herself, is expert at describing the action characteristics of a video game. Not only Jennet, but the reader too, will feel they are embedded in the game in some way more profound that just playing it. The real crux of the story is perhaps best explained by this once-alive-now-virtual (maybe) character.

Character Development/Execution: Jennet and Tam are not full-realized, complex, human characters and that is one of the reasons this novel works so well. They could be characters in a video game as easily as they could be humans playing the game itself.

Plot: This story is an incredible work of fantasy. The exciting plot will leave the reader guessing and eager for more. The fantasy world that Lynn and Craven have created is detailed and well thought out, with humorous and complex characters.

Prose/Style: The writing is clear and detailed, and the authors clearly craft the settings and action here. The dialogue is witty and interesting.

Originality: While this story does follow some elements and tropes that are familiar to fantasy readers (i.e., fae, magic, and changelings) it manages to be a breath of fresh air in the genre. It is exciting and the plot is not predictable; it is complex without growing past the YA audience.

Character Development/Execution: The characters are layered and display depth. but there is room for them to continue to mature as they become adults. The characters also provide representation and inclusion for YA readers of varied sexual orientations.

Blurb: This story is an incredible addition to the fantasy genre. It is filled with exciting fight scenes and sweet romance, all with an undercurrent of the value of loyalty and honesty. 

Plot: The plot manages to be so true to life and yet it remains an original story, unique to Diego and his situation in life. The story explores real-world events and common problems adolescents face on their path to adulthood, yet the main character’s experiences as not only a Hispanic individual, but a deaf young man in modern America, shape the plot in a unique way and add exceptional value and meaning to its many messages.

Prose/Style: The prose is beautifully written—the balance between showing and telling is excellent and the language is appropriate for a YA audience. The story showcases consistent and effective pacing and voice, though after a while, the narration may leave readers wishing they could see more scenes actively play out in the moment rather than relying solely on the main character’s memories of those events.

Originality: Valiance is an effective blend between writing about a marginalized population and modern YA storytelling. Rather than falling into the ample tropes for the genre, the story reads almost like a biography of a real person’s life and the struggles which many teenagers face, in addition to those unique to those with disabilities. All of these elements combine to produce a unique and engaging read with timeless and meaningful messages.

Character Development/Execution: Diego, his family, his friends, and his complicated love interest, Seema, all play important roles in developing the realistic conflicts and coming-of-age developments throughout the story. This diverse cast of individuals play important roles in developing Diego’s character throughout the story and serve to bring the novel to life. Each character is realistic and complex, and each one serves an essential purpose.

Blurb: A breathtaking and evocative representation of young adult life and the lives of a deeply underrepresented population. 

Plot: Set in a time and place loosely based on Bronze Age Crete, The Last Golden Light is the story of cousins Samara and Idas, whose lives are governed by the gods, traditions, signs, and omens. They are destined to become dull palace administrators in a corrupt government, but 13-year-old Samara is bold, courageous, a warrior—she yearns for excitement and adventure, which come in the form of terrifying earth rumblings that people believe portend disaster and the end of the golden age. When volcanic eruption on a nearby island throws everything into chaos, food is rationed, and people start disappearing, Samara learns that she has a special destiny to be fulfilled in this time of darkness.

Prose/Style: Smith is adept at taking his readers into the world he has created and making them feel at home there.

Originality: Smith has written an engaging novel with a strong young woman as its focus. Samara is believable, sympathetic, and likable. While this is not exactly historical fiction, his use of ancient Crete as the setting is interesting and the world he imagines is not so far removed from what it might have been like.

Character Development/Execution: Samara grows into her destiny very quickly and assumes a leadership role with mercifully little of the self-doubt and few of the false starts that authors so often attribute to female protagonists.

Plot: Siblings Carrie, Tim, and Jessie take a risk and share their secret with their new friend Kevin— like the Brontë children, they have created an elaborate imaginary world, Shindaria, peopled with genii, talking animals, and every kind of magic. To their astonishment, Kevin unwittingly provides the key that turns the imaginary world into reality—a reality more thrilling, and also far more perilous, than they could have dreamed.

Prose/Style: From the very first paragraph, Alison Baird captivates her reader with humor, imagination, and magic. Beautifully imagined, and so gorgeously written that the most impossible fantasy landscapes rise clearly in the mind's eye of the reader, the most complex battle scenes are described in clear, lucid, and thrillingly exciting prose, and the compulsion to keep reading to find out what happens next is well-nigh irresistible.

Originality: At last, a writer has appeared to answer the prayers of those who wished that C.S. Lewis, Edward Eager, E. Nesbit and the other greats who plunked ordinary children in wildly fantastical magical adventures had just written a few more books. Baird must have dipped her pen in stardust, for the adventures of Kevin, Carrie, Tim, and Jessie will keep readers riveted from the first page to the last.

Character Development/Execution: Kevin, Carrie, Tim and Jessie are in the best tradition of children in magical adventures—they have an inborn nobility of character that carries them through every danger they meet, yet they are entirely human and terrifically likable. A great fantasy kingdom has arisen; if you are wise, you, too, will visit the land of Shindaria.

Plot: This quirky, charming YA novel opens with three twelve-year-old self-styled private detectives looking for Charles the Fifth’s codpiece, which has been stolen from their local Perceval Town Museum—what could be better? Samantha, Bert, and Kennedy established the Albatross Investigative Agency over the summer and stepped in to take on the missing codpiece case because so far no one has wanted to hire them to investigate graffiti, embezzlement, nasty rumors, or anything else. The kids take statements from everyone and in the best Poirot style reveal the name of the thief, which, given the clues, many readers will also have figured out. And of course, one case leads to another.

Prose/Style: The writing is crisp and often includes understated humor that middle schoolers will appreciate. This is prose that does its job without drawing attention to itself.

Originality: The characters are original, engaging, and most importantly, interesting, a feature that characters in other YA novels often lack. The plot of each case is carefully constructed so that the reader learns everything needed to solve it without the clues being obvious. Serious Business on Albatross Lane is a wonderful addition to the genre that cleverly references its predecessors in both the YA and adult canon of mystery stories.

Character Development/Execution: The characters are wonderfully idiosyncratic and Smith deftly reveals a little more about each as the story progresses.

Blurb: Wonderfully inventive, challenging mysteries and a cast of three slightly odd but eminently likable twelve-year-old’s will bring even the most reluctant middle school reader to the library to check out Serious Business on Albatross Lane.

Plot: This novel grips the reader from the first page when abnormal (short for “above normal”) Grace James, a dendrite with telepathic powers, and her brother Justin start at their new school in her parents’ hometown of Shady Woods, where classmates and teachers include vampires, werewolves, sirens and miscellaneous other paranormal characters, and where her task is to learn to control and mask her special powers. Grace, who was raised in Chicago among “normals,” hates it all—the town, the people who stay here in order to keep the normals safe and oblivious, the cliquey classmates who may or may really be her new friends. One of J. Mercer’s talents is putting a typical teenager into a fantastic setting and making readers believe in it.

Prose/Style: The novel very well-written, with interesting complex sentences, suitable for an older YA or an adult audience. Much of the background and description of time and place are embedded in the dialogue, which is distinctive to each of the main characters. The story is told from Grace’s point of view, and her thoughts provide more of the context for the tale.

Originality: Much of the tension – and interest – in the first part of the book is related to Grace’s learning about and adapting to her new situation. In this regard, J. Mercer has created a rich environment full of unexpected observations. About halfway through, Grace learns that she is not here temporarily—she can never return home. When Shady Woods starts burning down, Grace has an external, pressing challenge to meet with the help of her friends.

Character Development/Execution: Grace is portrayed as a strong, self-confident and sympathetic young woman from the start; it’s hard to remember that she is not actually human. She is obstinate and not easily influenced by anyone, starting with her parents, with whom she has the normal scope of disagreements. Mercer describes how Grace gradually adapts to her new circumstances with a real understanding of the psychological challenges a teen would have to cope with in those situations. 

Plot: These middle schoolers’ favorite teacher has been kidnapped by GRIMM and they must solve a series of mysteries (beginning with an anagram) to save Professor E.B. from being turned into a cyborg. The premise is that the reader becomes, along with the students, an S.D. (spy detective) Agent who can help solve the puzzles. The author has developed a somewhat detailed backstory, which she present in segments throughout the book, to help the reader engage with the characters and the tasks at hand.

Prose/Style: The book is set in a font that resembles manual printing and the text is therefore not easy to read. On the other hand, colorful sketches abound, and it would not be helpful to be able to read the text setting out the puzzles quickly. Definitions and explanations are often set off from the rest of the text in illustrations, breaking up the density of material. However, there are punctuation errors and spelling errors that are distracting. All in all, this is an extremely clever and interesting project for kids, but the vocabulary would be challenging for 8- to 9-year-olds, who might need adult assistance.

Originality: Griffin does an excellent job of breaking the material down into understandable segments and of giving not only definitions and facts that will help kids solve the mysteries, but also detailed problem-solving strategies, perhaps the most valuable element of the book. Griffin take kids through the steps of applying the appropriate strategies to the puzzles they encounter, which become more complex as the story advances.

Character Development/Execution: The characters in the story are charmingly described both in words and with illustrations, but the tone is a bit didactic. The author has focused on diversity within the cast as well.

Blurb: Entertaining and instructive, this book will appeal to middle schoolers and may even intrigue adults.