Nodoka, a high school girl who lost her mother to "gem disease," a mysterious illness that transforms the entire body into diamond, could not shed tears to mourn her mother. She has grown estranged from her younger brother Eto, her only remaining family, and struggles to fit in at school. One day, her beautiful classmate Mari asks her to become friends — but Mari, too, is afflicted with gem disease. A coming-of-age human drama written in an epistolary style using dialect, exploring questions of life, money, and the nature of beauty.

A story of a girl who lost her mother to gem disease, finding the courage to face grief through her encounter with a beautiful classmate who shares the same illness.

Four young people captivated by chess take on battles on the board while carrying their own lives on their backs. A high-energy entertainment novel published as the winner of the 12th Poplar Novel Newcomer Award.

A board-game battle fought with one’s whole life on the line.

A special-prize work from the 12th Poplar Novel Newcomer Award in which a boy who has lost his mother faces a new life in a seaside town where his mother’s family lives. It is recorded here as a work that depicts human and natural connections with depth.

A boy who lost his mother struggles to adapt to life in a seaside town.

After being bullied, Anzu meets a “zombie” man who lives in the same apartment building and slowly begins to see the world anew from within her loneliness. A heartwarming zombie novel and Encouragement Prize winner at the 12th Poplar Novel Newcomer Award.

The one who saved me after God abandoned me was the zombie man living in the same apartment building.

A girl who has experienced loss sets out on a summer pilgrimage and rediscovers her relationship to dreams. A coming-of-age novel of renewal published as an Encouragement Prize winner at the 12th Poplar Novel Newcomer Award.

A summer pilgrimage that traces a girl’s renewal after loss.

Toraya, burdened by the trauma of a serious injury, meets Rii, a woman with the strange illness of having only one hundred meals left to live, and is gradually moved by food and travel. A gourmet novel that won the Pure Full division prize at the 12th Poplar Novel Newcomer Award.

A journey with a woman who suffers from an illness that will kill her after 100 more meals.

A story of Hilo, Seita, and Ao, who live together like a family while running a deli-and-coffee shop called Triangle. When Ao says he wants to leave home, the story slowly unravels each person's circumstances and the shape of the bond between the three.

Even if it is imperfect, it is enough to stay connected.

A coming-of-age novel in which the encounter between a boy and a girl confronting illness and hurt slowly changes the way they see the world.

Tell me more about the dirty parts of the world.

A coming-of-age novel about high school students who join the circle dancing at a harbor-town summer festival and head toward the performance while overcoming old wounds and misunderstandings.

The greatest and strongest summer.

A buddy mystery with a strong supernatural flavor, set in the Heian capital, where a sharp-tongued sorcerer and a kindhearted captain investigate the truth behind a case.

A cool sorcerer and a kindhearted captain.

A coming-of-age novel told from the perspectives of three girls at the same school, capturing the suffocating feeling and lack of belonging of adolescence.

Even if the days are the same, the world each girl sees is slightly different.

A gourmet mystery in which a poor live-in housekeeper and a wealthy boy detective solve cases with the help of simple ingredient-add-on cooking tips.

The secret to solving the case is a little extra ingredient.

A story of Satsuki, who works at a garden shop after losing her parent and begins to confront her own life when she takes in her sister's daughter.

Looking again at a solitary life while tending to plants.

A historical novel in which Chigusa, who believes in her husband's innocence, opens a bento shop in Edo with her brother-in-law and makes lunch boxes that reflect the feelings of her customers.

Lighting up people's feelings with bento.

A coming-of-age mystery in which Tainaka, a high school boy who is constantly mocked by others, approaches the popular teacher Niki and proposes a dangerous deal.

How can I look normal?

A coming-of-age novel about Yusaku, who hides a facial birthmark with makeup, and Mashino, who also carries a secret, as the two slowly grow closer.

Their secrets bring them closer together.

A heartfelt historical novel centered on Sanjuyaku, a hidden courier service that delivers items with a story behind them.

What gets delivered is more than a package.

A story of a freeter who enters the world of special clean-up work and begins to find meaning in life while confronting death at work sites.

Cleaning rooms left behind by difficult deaths.

A coming-of-age novel in which a puddle found on an old school building's rooftop changes the way a boy and girl see the world.

A puddle that can change the world.

A youth ensemble story set in 1980s Kowloon Walled City, where boys' lives intersect around a fortress threatened with demolition.

An ensemble story so vivid you can almost smell Kowloon City.

Set in a shop that sells beautiful "coffins" for storing things with nowhere to go, this story follows a timid woman as she slowly begins to walk on her own feet.

What would you put into your "coffin"?

A historical novel in which the young heroine Hinode tries to restore a struggling wagashi shop by taking on a challenge to earn one hundred ryō in one hundred days.

One hundred days, one hundred ryō, and a wager made with sweets.

A coming-of-age novel about a mathematical prodigy and a girl who struggles with math as they solve problems using mathematics.

Can math save the world?

A story told through three linked short pieces that depicts strange and cruel events around a witch said to appear at a girls' school.

A witch is said to live at this school.

Set around a near-future robot contest, this work explores what people seek from one another through episodes about the robots' owners.

Beyond the robots lies what people feel.

A story of a female magazine editor who has never found her place in life and begins to recover through an encounter with a painter.

There is a light of renewal beyond the darkness.

A coming-of-age novel in which a young man tossed around by campus relationships changes his behavior after meeting an eccentric person.

Dragged along by an eccentric, everyday life starts running.