The 2014 North Carolina Young Adult Book Award winner...

...has been announced.

The prize went to The Madman's Daughter, by Megan Shepherd.

Which I LOOOOOOVED:

I really, really enjoyed this one: it works as historical fiction, as science fiction, as a horror story, a romance, a coming of age, and as a retelling of H.G. Wells' original. The changes that Shepherd makes, the twists she introduces, they all feel organic and they play off the original and change it, but in ways that complement the Wells, if that makes sense. It changes it without trying to replace it or diminish it, maybe? Whatever it is I'm trying to say (YEESH), it's TOTALLY engrossing, and I TOTALLY DUG IT.

Click on through for the middle grade winner, both full lists of nominees, AND a list of the 2014-15 contenders (<--you'll have to scroll down at that last link).

See also: Madness, Tortured Romance, and a Heck of a Lot of Castles: Megan Shepherd's Love Affair with Gothic Literature; Or, Megan Shepherd's Eight Favorite Gothics.