Plot: This YA novel about teen prodigy and violinist Scarlet Williams has a strong, explicit emphasis on family and the sacrifices members must make for each other, with a Christian undercurrent. Kimble has done an excellent job of portraying Scarlet’s ambivalence toward her sister and her struggle to be a generous and supportive sister, a goal she achieves at times and at times misses, giving the story a verisimilitude in keeping with Kimble being the mother of three girls.

Prose/Style: Kimble is careful with her language, both in her choice of words suitable to the reading level of 8- to 14-year-olds and in creating family dialogue that is respectful while at the same time expressing characters’ thoughts and feelings with precision.

Originality: Kimble has written a life lesson for middle schoolers from a Christian point of view. A mother of three herself, she has a great ear for informal, functional family interactions and a deep empathy for the social and psychological challenges young girls must negotiate.

Character Development/Execution: Scarlet is challenged when she must give up her summer of music performances to accommodate Sadie’s filming schedule, but that’s nothing compared to coming to terms with her sister actually winning the cooking competition and being “The Prodigy”. Scarlet’s struggle through these unexpected events as “Sadie Williams’ sister” is the focus of the novel.

Plot: George Wells lives with his dad and younger brother Kenny, who is on the autism spectrum, as their mother died unexpectedly when George was 10. George is obsessed with 1960s version of The Time Machine and fascinated by the idea of time travel. More even than he wants to see his mother again, he wants to find a friend like Filby, the steadfast companion the time traveler in the move. The story follows George and his friends though their senior year—pranks, rites of passage, growing pains, and loss including the deaths of classmates, that characterize that year.

Prose/Style: George’s is an authentic voice and Wakely has an ear clearly attuned to teenage speech. The story flows from page to page describing ordinary, and some not-so-ordinary events, in a low-key style that carries the reader along effortlessly.

Originality: The straightforward way in which Wakely describes George’s life gives a sense of verisimilitude to the struggles he faces. He understands that he will eventually be responsible for his brother, who will surely need his protection, and he is trying to make sense of the past, including the death of his mother, and to construct a viable future.

Character Development/Execution: Well-delineated individualistic characters whose interactions are described in realistic, believable detail. The reader is enveloped in their world without quite knowing how that happened.

 Blurb: A compelling, down-to-earth exploration of the challenges and fun of being a senior in high school, of being a son, a brother, and a friend.

Plot: McCauley puts forth a fascinating premise that will captivate readers. There's a perfect balance of the unknown and familiar throughout that educates and intrigues, while the mystery behind it all keeps the reader guessing.

Prose/Style: This author is a talented writer and a natural storyteller. The prose is perfect for the book's intended audience but isn't watered down in any way. In the author's capable hands, the story flows effortlessly.

Originality: This is a creative and highly original new work, with a distinctive story line and relatable characters.

Character Development/Execution: The author does a terrific job with characterization and growth. Alex, in particular, is a livable, breathable pre-teen that many readers will relate to despite the unfamiliar mystical world he inhabits.

Plot: Anyone whose butt can talk is bound to have some awkward moments, and ten-year-old George Smith is no exception. In this fun romp of a rumpy tale, George’s unexciting life changes radically when one day his butt asks him to change the TV channel. Unfortunately, his talking butt seems to everyone else just to be farting, with the normal odiferous accompaniment.

Prose/Style: The sentence structure and vocabulary make this a fun read for the middle school crowd, people about the same age as George, but they are perhaps not as interested in butts as four- to six-year-olds, so this story, with its simply line illustrations, would probably work well as a book adults would read to preschool or early elementary school kids.

Originality: The concept of the story is unusual, and it is exploited to its full range of possibilities, putting George and his talking butt in myriad ridiculous – and sometimes irritating, such as when George, out in the woods with no nearby bathroom, wipes his butt with poison ivy leaves – situations.

Character Development/Execution: George has a little brother, younger twin sisters and parents who are way more patient with their son’s errant butt than seems normal. But everyone, including Butt, stays true to character.

Blurb: J.L. Frankel has taken young children’s fascination with butts on a joyride that the four- to eight-year-old cohort will undoubtedly find endlessly hilarious.

Plot: Twelve-year-old Charlie Marley and his friend, school newspaper reporter Emma Mayfield, hop through time and space on “an adventure that would change their lives…and the history of the world.” Sent to a possibly haunted janitor’s closet to collect dirty erasers, Charlie and Emma encounter Midnight McLean, a washed-up pro baseball player turned inventor whose time machine, aka Flogtrac, is going to take him back to the 1994 World Series for a redo. Intergalactic time travel, however, is not an exact science, at least not Midnight’s version of it, and they end up at Wrigley Field during the 1932 World Series instead. Along the way, the time travelers are instrumental in making sure major events in sports history involving John Elway, Jackie Robinson, and Michael Jordan, to name just a few, turned out the way they should. As readers might imagine in a science fiction/fantasy story, oddities and tricks of fate and time abound.

Prose/Style: Middle-school-age-appropriate structure and vocabulary and fast-paced action make this a easy read for fourth to sixth graders, who will enjoy the descriptions of completely unempathetic adults. Kids will appreciate the depictions of Mrs. Cooper the Pooper Scooper, Coach Stinkysox, Mr. Tubby, and Dr. Dilbert Dinglehop.

Originality: This book showcases a unique premise with an unexpected plot twist near the end.

Character Development/Execution: Myriad unlikely characters inhabit this universe, but Charlie and Emma remain our consistent touchstones.

 Blurb: Andrew Luria, a real-life news and sports anchor, takes Charlie and Emma on a lively jaunt through space and time, and sports milestones, in this wonderfully-illustrated page-turner.

Plot: Simple, childlike crayon illustrations grace this charming story about a big fluffy cat who comes to visit and ends up staying, but only on its own terms.

Prose/Style: Easy-to-understand prose makes this the perfect read-aloud for the preschool age group.

Originality: The clever ending to this story brings us full circle and offers an opportunity for children to add more “chapters” to the story.

Character Development/Execution: A loving, welcoming family and an independent-thinking cat are the main characters in this repetitive story that makes a point.

Blurb: This circular story about a big fluffy cat who is "just visiting" and a welcoming family is a wonderful read-aloud for preschoolers.

Plot: Charming illustrations by Jennifer Keen grace this tale told in well-crafted rhyming couplets about an enormous Jiger and his wife, the Tiraffe. They are looking forward to having a baby and wondering who it will resemble, Jiger with his long neck and stripes, or Tiraffe, with her hooves and spots. The surprise ending will delight the preschool age set.

Prose/Style: This story rolls off the tongue and will be one that youngsters will want to have read to them over and over.

Originality: The story is wonderful, though the ending couplets are perhaps a little heavy-handed.

Character Development/Execution: Jiger and Tiraffe prove to be loving, accepting parents, whoever their babies turn out to be.

Blurb: Bright, well-executed illustrations help tell this story of love and acceptance. The tale is told in rhyming couplets that make it an excellent read-aloud for preschoolers.

Plot: In this absolutely charming and beautifully illustrated children’s story written in verse, toddler Zachary falls asleep and encounters a slew of “scary” jungle animals, including a pythoctopus and a rhinoceboar, until finally he triumphs by becoming a dinosaur himself…just before he wakes up. The story itself is followed by eight pages for coloring and creativity.

Prose/Style: A long verse with an ABCB rhyming scheme, this story flows off the tongue and will be delightful to read aloud.

Originality: This is an excellent children’s story in the tradition of Maurice Sendak, with equally scary monsters.

Character Development/Execution: Zachary evolves from a little boy into a dinosaur and back again, so character development is creative in the extreme.

Blurb: Jungle Dream is an absolutely charming and beautifully illustrated children’s story in verse a la Maurice Sendak.

Plot: The author offers a delightfully captivating tale that will engage young readers as Hannah and her brothers do whatever is necessary to stay together. The action unfolds at a steady, even pace, which allows the reader to get to know and identify with all the major characters.

Prose/Style: The author does an effective job creating an age-appropriate story using language ideally suited for the book's intended audience.

Originality: This is a creative and original story, with distinct and memorable characters.

Character Development/Execution: The author does a fine job with characterization, particularly with Hannah and Aunt Olga, who will make readers with loving, kind aunts particularly grateful.

Plot: This novel, which starts with a vivid description of Gaia ripping out her own bloody internal organs in an effort to stop her soul’s pain, is in its sometimes unrelenting horror akin to The Divine Comedy. Into this chaos, the shi-kai Amiria has come to find herself a husband and the boy Teverock, a human who has been adopted by a dragon-human father with the Sight, will complement her adventures well.

Prose/Style: The writing is stellar—not a superfluous word to be found, even though fairly sophisticated concepts are integrated into the story. The action moves at breakneck speed though the reader is never left trying to figure what happened—or why.

Originality: This work seems to be intended as a religious allegory and it is in some ways similar to the Chronicles of Narnia in the anthropomorphism of animals and the ongoing battle between good and evil. But it is far, far darker and not in a way that will be easily explained or put aside, because of the skill with which MacDaniel activates elements of the collective unconscious.

Character Development/Execution: There are many types of strange characters here—wizards, dragon and humans with paranormal powers, and completely mythic beings who represent concepts more than living entities. The characters that resemble humans are absolutely consistent in their actions and their voices, part of what makes reading this novel such an entertaining endeavor. A world and a sequence of events that might have been hopelessly confusing are clear and engaging.

Blurb: A superbly written allegory that taps into the collective unconscious to create a compelling story that adult readers will not be able to put down or soon forget.

Plot: The conclusion of this two-book fantasy epic adventure series takes David Bishop and his friends in search of the mysterious Crystal Caverns in their quest to save the world from total annihilation by a demon army led by General Krauss. T.C. Crawford continues the device he created in the first book of having the fantasy action appear to occur when David is dreaming, but his incredibly detailed descriptions of this fantastic world make it easy for the reader to believe it is as real as David’s waking life.

Prose/Style: The prose flows well and is written at a level easy for middle schoolers to comprehend without seeming stilted or condescending, keeping the narrative moving forward at breakneck speed.

Originality: Crawford’s description of the land of Hurea is a Tolkienesque imaginative tour de force and is full of wonderfully envisioned elves, demons, undead, anthropomorphic wolves, dwarves and other supernatural figures, as well as humans.

Character Development/Execution: David Bishop is portrayed as a very relatable, realistic character, and his feelings of inadequacy as he enacts his prophesied fate make him all the more believable and sympathetic. Other characters are distinctive and consistent, helping the reader to follow the story and stay engaged until the end, when the fate of the world will hang on the result of one thrilling battle.

Plot: Jake Graham, a twelve-year-old deaf student at Winthrop Junior High School in New Hampshire, is grieving his beloved Grampie. After a school year full of bullying, Jake’s parents send him to Camp Pawtuckaway where he is befriended by Paddy, a youngster who has suffered his own tragic loss. When an accident occurs and Jake gets lost in the Maine woods with a nonfunctioning hearing aid, he tries to put his sparse outdoor skills to use and discovers that Grampie’s memory lives on in unexpected ways.

Prose/Style: The prose is easily to read and flows well, though the dialogue between Jake and Paddy is more tuned to explaining to others how they are interacting that to reflecting how kids might speak to each other.

Originality:  This YA novel is a deep dive into the emotions of a twelve-year-old, more focused on describing Jake’s feelings as his life goes on without his grandfather than it is on action. The rather slow pace of the book makes it possible for young readers to absorb and understand Jake’s situation and perhaps to find parallels with their own.

Character Development/Execution: In this coming-of-age-story, Jake, unable to hear, discovers the depths of his own strength and abilities as he survives seven days alone, or alone with a wolf companion, in the wilderness where he has only his newly-acquired outdoor skills, his courage, and a couple of guardian animals to rely on.

Plot: Duffy's story tells the exciting tale of two boys who are searching to find their paths in life and end up on an epic adventure of self-discovery and saving the world. 

Prose/Style: The language here is easy to understand and age-appropriate. It is easy to follow the story and the pace moves quickly. 

Originality: This story is very original, and features a creative spin on magic. A further explanation of some of the worldbuilding elements would be helpful. 

Character Development/Execution: Par and Enio demonstrate great growth throughout this coming-of-age tale. By the end, readers can see their maturity while still holding on to a small bit of childlike joy.

Blurb: An incredible coming-of-age tale about friendship and making your own way. 

Plot: Izzy is in torment as she keeps vigil beside her boyfriend’s hospital bed. Josh and his brother Ryan are badly injured, and no one knows if they will ever wake up. What follows is an Insightful depiction of teens finding their way through and past the difficult emotions sparked by physical and emotional trauma and of the impulse of victims of domestic abuse to blame themselves.

Prose:  This fast-paced page turner is told from two points of view, Izzy’s and Josh’s. Both perspectives are equally convincing and gracefully crafted.

Originality: Angela Mack takes a difficult subject that could easily become mawkish and treats it, and her characters, with respect and sensitivity. Her device of telling the story from two points of view is very effective in showing how teenagers might respond to extreme circumstances and to each other under those circumstances.

Character/Execution: Sixteen-year-olds Izzy and Josh are both shocked out of their typically self-centered worlds and forced to contend with horrible abuse, death, and the needs of a Josh’s nine-year-old brother. Both characters mature, but in a two steps forward, one step backwards trajectory that seems eminently true-to-life.

Plot: Citrus, the debut novel of young Malawian author Tabitha Kumwembe, is a futuristic scifi romance that has 29-year-old Captain Alexis Creed, a warrior for truth and justice in the Dipleon Galaxy, coping with the trauma of her past and forging the path to her future as she finds the son of the oppressor who killed her parents and destroyed her country under her command. A series of flashbacks to the near and distant past make this a thorough exploration of why people behave the way they do and the action-packed plot serves to make the characters and the changes they undergo as they mature believable. The complex plot gets more of Kumwembe’s attention than the romance, though there is enough of that to make the story interesting, as the author states she intends.

Prose/Style: The text is written at a junior high school level, but the lack of paragraph indents makes it a more difficult read than the vocabulary and syntax would suggest. The dialogue is somewhat stilted and the action overdescribed in some places. But these devices are in keeping with Kumwembe’s interest in action comics and gaming where detailed visuals serve the same function as her minutely-detailed descriptions.

Originality: A strong female lead, along with a diverse cast of interesting characters and an action-packed story, make this a worthy inheritor of the movie Black Panther.

Character Development/Execution: At the beginning of the novel, Alexis feels she can never be Bronté’s friend because she cannot trust him, but she learns to see beyond her own traumatic past to the person who is actually in front of her. Bronté also finds himself reevaluating his prior beliefs and upbringing to become a discerning adult who makes his own choices.

Plot: Rabin has crafted a moving, delicate novel about grief, community, and coming to terms with the horrors of history while finding solace within family, music, art, and food. Her lyrical words and excellent command of the language paint a masterpiece that not only exemplifies Jewish culture, but also the weariness and recovery of the human spirit.

Prose: Rabin's prose is beautiful, and the book reads like a painting. She especially expertly presents the feelings and sensations of producing music, as well as those of loss, grief, and love. It is a delight to read.

Originality: Although post-WWII books are plentiful, one that encompasses the unique culture and social etiquette of Jewish life in a rural Canadian prairie is not as common. The authentic relationship between an emotionally worn teacher and an enthusiastic, curious student makes for a new experience for the reader.

Character/Execution: Rabin's characters brilliantly come to life. The reader will feel their pain, their sorrow, their joy, and their excitement.