Local writer Naomi Kritzer has won many awards for her CatNet stories, including a Hugo several years ago for the short story ‘Cat Pictures, Please.’ Catfishing on CatNet won a hefty list of awards in 2019, including an Edgar Award, a Minnesota Book Award, and a Lodestar Award. It is not necessary to read the first book in order to follow the second, but I’d recommend it anyway, because it also is pretty wonderful.

Chaos on CatNet is another solid story, with a cast of engaging, confident, diverse adolescents. It also, surprising for a young adult book, has several reliable adults, including a loving polyamorous family. The story explores the power of the internet both to bring people together and, for better or worse, to influence those people’s actions. It takes place in a Minneapolis that, ten years from now, has made some recognizable, optimistic changes following the riots of 2020. We probably should apologize in advance for what happens to the James J. Hill House, though.