The judges said, "An eyewitness account of a tragic event made even more powerful and unnerving by the writer's extremely skillful writing style with its meticulous attention to riveting detail and its engrossing portrait of the writer herself. This is no impersonal report or a dull recitation of hideous facts, but a living, involving and deeply moving account of personal experience.

"In her story, Ms. Lurie pulls the reader into a forever-frightening event in New York City through the personal experience of one of the 'girls' who had faced the horror of a similar experience eight years before. Now she was caught, almost trapped, in a new horror of an extreme degree. Language, carefully chosen and forcefully expressive, highlights this ghastly event. At the end, a touch of human kindness and assistance provides a powerful contrast to the terrifying catastrophe. In this essay, the strength of one survivor suggests recognition of both that terrible time when the Twin Towers fell and the indomitable spirit of New Yorkers that remained courageous and stable."

The judges said, "This memoir by Ms. Keith brings forward life in its special development through the experiences of a young woman and her father. Each step clearly delineates the passage of time until the father's death. The inclusion of the father's 'Funeral File' acknowledges, in a special way, the importance of a human life. The writer's last sentence, 'I wish he could have been there to see just how remarkable a life he had led,' enhances the values of both the individual and the memory. Maturity and understanding are not only engagingly revealed in the unfolding of this remembrance, but the language Ms. Keith employs always remains admirably clear and natural."

The judges said, "Ms. Bregin does not conform to the usual Science-Fiction format: The horror of the story's central situation seems more insidious because it is never fully revealed but strikingly cloaked by incidents that are themselves terrifying. The conflict of science and humane rationality is effectively deepened by beautifully chosen, almost poetic, language. These three features move the reader inexorably forward with power and precision. Tension thus created builds to a tangible height that is further augmented by strange and chilling developments such as the inclusion of a girl who disappears and a wolf who becomes an important figure in the compelling plot. This story attains an extremely high level of intensity that is unusual to experience, leaving the reader with a serious realization of the control and possible misdirection of science."