Plot/Idea: Two young friends learn to cope with the pain that comes with growing up, all while working together to save a pair of sea otters in this expressive middle grade fiction. The plot turns smoothly, and readers will find the perfect number of twists to keep them engaged, but the highlight is Zerndt’s insight into building intricate, believable characters.

Prose: Zerndt writes smoothly, with nearly flawless prose that rolls across the pages, mimicking the main characters’ tones while delivering powerful scenes through crisp, effective writing. 

Originality: AFK breathes originality in its unique ability to interlace several very distinct stories into one cohesive, heartwarming narrative of love, loss, and the power of friendship to heal pain.

Character/Execution: Zerndt’s characters are deliciously complex, as relatable as they are intriguing. Each is struggling with their own internal battles, and as the story progresses, those conflicts come to light organically—and form the basis for the plot’s forward movement.

Plot/Idea: The story of a princess on the run and the ragtag strangers who help her is expertly woven and delivered in this well-crafted fantasy that appears poised to launch a series.

Prose: Harvey’s dialogue is natural, reading like silk as the worldbuilding engrosses readers in the tale. Romantic descriptions are genre appropriate and on point.

Originality: Heir to the Ice Flame borrows from classic fairy tale lore, adding a touch of the familiar to a fresh adventure.

Character/Execution: Harvey’s characters spring from the page. Readers will root for Princess Nina and her band of misfit heroes.

Plot/Idea: Joyce’s plot takes off from the start, centered on a pair of foreign journalists who are caught up in a brutal revolution in Prague. The action is suspenseful and dramatic, but well-balanced by character development.

Prose: Joyce crafts a nuanced, multilayered setting that brings history to life and vibrates with authenticity. The prose calls forth the freedom dreams of the late 1960s, when political machinations and pop culture often collided in a cacophony of mistrust and passion for change. 

Originality: Joyce heightens the action in this thriller through the novel’s vivid setting, richly drawn characters, and a forceful historical context.

Character/Execution: Nineteen-year-old Josie, a Canadian citizen living in Prague and desperate to make it as a journalist, is a solid, intriguing lead, and French journalist Laurent holds his own, as the two work together to break a story that has increasingly dangerous repercussions for both of them—and the country as a whole.

Plot/Idea: Ann, Not Annie grapples with heavy themes, from alcoholism and grief to anxiety and sexual assault, all through the narrative conventions of teenage romance. Through short, engaging chapters, Ann’s struggle with her father's death, mother's alcoholism, older brother's absence, and her discovery of self, are weaved together smoothly.

Prose: Ann, Not Annie features an authentic young adult voice that is strongest when leaning into Ann’s bizarre, often off-the-wall humor. However, this humor and prose style feels at odds with the narration–one that offers a distant, adult retrospective point of view.

Originality: While Ann, Not Annie contains many of the elements of a typical YA problem novel, its main character’s bold sense of humor and rough edges set her apart, while the outside narrator presents a unique perspective, even if that perspective can be confusing. Ann’s dark and comical eccentricity shines the most through her comics, which are incorporated at the end of most chapters, and provide additional insight into her character.

Character/Execution: Ann Grey is a complicated, aggressive, and edgy but lovable heroine who readers root for despite (or maybe even because of!) her flaws. She experiences significant growth as she learns to stand up for herself and open her heart to love. Side characters can come across as stereotypical throughout most of the book, while some of Ann's relationships outside her family and main love interest, Danny Feller, are thinly drawn.