The shortlists and the judges for the INSPY Awards have been announced, and I am honored and pleased to be one of the judges for the category of Literature for Young People.

Here are the shortlists. The links are to my reviews of three of the books on the shortlists. I have a lot of reading to do if I want to read all of the shortlisted books —and I do (except for romance, which doesn’t interest me a a genre).

General Fiction

• Into the Free by Julie Cantrell
• Promise Me This by Cathy Gohlke
• The First Gardener by Denise Hildreth Jones
• The Messenger by Siri Mitchell
• Stardust by Carla Stewart

Romance

• To Whisper Her Name by Tamera Alexander
• Against the Tide by Elizabeth Camden
• Love’s Reckoning by Laura Frantz
• Breath of Dawn by Kristen Heitzmann
• My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade

Mystery/Thriller

• Gone to Ground by Brandilyn Collins
• A Plain Death by Amanda Flower
• Placebo by Steven James
• Trinity: Military War Dog by Ronie Kendig
• Proof by Jordyn Redwood

Literature for Young People

• Wreath by Judy Christie
• With a Name like Love by Tess Hilmo
• Dead Man’s Hand by Eddie Jones
• There You’ll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones
• Cake: Love, Chickens, and a Taste of Peculiar by Joyce Magnin

Speculative Fiction

• Caught by Margaret Patterson Haddix
• The 13th Tribe by Robert Liparulo
• Freeheads by Kerry Nietz
• Soul’s Gate by James L. Rubart
• Daystar by Kathy Tyers

Because I am a judge I feel I must say that the reviews I linked to are my own opinions and should not be taken as any indication of what books will win the INSPY Awards.