There are two frustrating scenarios that all book lovers are likely to recognize: 1) picking up a buzzy book and wondering what all the fuss is about, and 2) getting stuck in a reading slump, where nothing seems appealing. In her TEDx talk, “Reading With Purpose,” library legend Nancy Pearl argues that we often misunderstand “what goes on in our reading lives.” To prevent disappointment—and avoid mismatching kids and books—she suggests we “start thinking about what it is about the book that draws us in, rather than what the book is about.”

Pearl identifies four “doorways” to reading: story, character, setting, and language. Of course, all books blend these elements to varying degrees, but matching your reading type with a book’s primary doorway (which can be gleaned from what people emphasize when they talk about it) is a radical and helpful shift. Four teens might all love high fantasy, for example, but one might be drawn to nonstop action, another to relatable protagonists, the third to robust worldbuilding, and the last to especially well-crafted prose. Any given fantasy novel likely won’t appeal equally to all of them.

STORY: Pearl says that “a book with story as its biggest doorway…is one that readers describe as being page-turning” and one where “they desperately wanted to discover what happened next.” A good example is Lily Anderson’s clever, darkly funny Demonology for Overachievers (Henry Holt, Sept. 22), in which Merritt Morland Maldonado, determined to get the full-ride college scholarship sponsored by a local corporation, makes a deal with a demon. But then her chief academic rival makes his own demonic bargain—and the other finalists start dying.

CHARACTER: According to Pearl, “readers describe a book in which character is the biggest doorway as one where the people…seem utterly real,” and “when the book [is] over, they feel they’ve lost someone dear to them.” That’s how readers will feel saying goodbye to the hilariously self-deprecating eponymous protagonist of Huda F Would Love You? by Huda Fahmy (Dial Books, Oct. 20), the final volume in a delightful series. Here, Huda studies Jane Austen, learns to recognize relationship red flags, gets support from her Muslim sisterhood, and develops a healthy sense of self-love.

SETTING: Pearl observes that “readers of novels in which the setting doorway is the largest one say things like, ‘I felt that I was there. I knew every street and shop of that town.’” Susan Metallo’s Hearts on the Table (Candlewick, Sept. 22) immerses readers in a place of both great peril and tremendous natural beauty: the Dalmatian coast during World War I. This inclusive story, playing on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, features lush sensory descriptions that bring the seaside village setting to life.

LANGUAGE: “People who have read and loved a book in which language is the biggest doorway will say things like…‘I kept reading slower…because I wanted to savor the language,’” says Pearl. The tender, lyrical verse of Margarita Engle’s Evamar (Atheneum, Sept. 8) introduces readers to young lovers Río and Evamar. They meet when Evamar visits Cuba from New Jersey—the dying wish of her beloved abuela. The poignant, evocative poems capture both political and personal struggles.

Laura Simeon is a young readers’ editor.