Monday Meme Spotlight: Printz Award

     What is a Printz Award, you ask? The Michael Printz award honors the best YA books each year based solely on their literary merit. If they're good enough to win an award, they must have something going for them! Here are just a few past winners or nominees.

1. Jellicoe Road- Melina Marchetta, 2009: I have no trouble seeing why this book was chosen as an award winner. It's a mystery of times past, with unforgettable characters and a plot that is driven by the need to find out how everything comes together. Boarding school territory wars coupled with a puzzling disappearance makes for a bright, quick read that doesn't lack substance. You can find it here.

2. Looking for Alaska- John Green, 2006: Another excellent book from a favorite author, John Green, Looking for Alaska touches every emotion and leaves you breathless. A comedy, a tragedy, a painful understanding of how it feels to lose someone, this novel is one that everyone should take a little time to check out. Here you can put it on hold at the library.

3. Airborn- Kenneth Oppel, Honor Book 2005: While this wasn't a winner in its year, I thought it was worth mentioning. The sheer imagination in this book makes it a must-read for me, and I would recommend it to anyone, no matter what age, guy or girl. Matt is working on an airship- a blimp of sorts- and when it crashes, he and a passenger named Kate go exploring on an island of mystery, making wild discoveries along the way. You can have it held for you here.

    This is just a few of the many winners or nominees, and the books featured are for all teens, not just one group or subset. For a complete list of the Printz award winners and honor books, you can click here for their official website.

And the Winner is.... 2011 Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature

Every year YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Division), a division of ALA (The American Library Association) announces its choices for the Michael L. Printz Award.  According to YALSA, this award is given to "a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature" (Printz Award Page).

Over the years there have been a number of wonderful choices.  Here are this year's winners:

Michael L. Printz Award Winner:

Shipbreaker by Paolo Bacigalupi


Michael L. Printz Honor Books:

Stolen by Lucy Christopher


Please Ignore Vera Dietz  by A.S. King


Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick
Revolver

Nothing by Janne Teller

Novel Notes and Teen News: Your Source for Teen Book Information and Other Teen News 01/22/2010

Special Awards Edition


American Library Association Book Award Winners Announced

Every year in January the American Library Association (ALA) announces its list of award winning books for the previous year. These book awards include the Newbury for the “most distinguished contribution to American literature for children” (http://www.ala.org/), and the Caldecott, the Siebert, the Geisel, and the Laura Ingles Wilder awards all awarded for various different reasons. For a complete list of Children’s book awards and winners visit: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/index.cfm

Although less well known than some of the awards listed above because of their relative newness to the field, the awards that I look forward to seeing each year are the ones that honor Young Adult literature. Most notably, the first list I always check is that of the Michael L. Printz Award for “excellence in young adult literature” (http://www.ala.org/). We (librarians) spend much time debating which books should make this important list, we spend months speculating and guessing (usually to find out we are wrong in the end). We don’t always agree with the book that is chosen (admittedly we all have our favorites), but I don’t believe we have ever been able to say that the chosen book isn’t worthy of the prestigious title. Last year’s book, Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta was one of my favorite books that I read last year.* This year’s winner, Going Bovine by Libba Bray, looks like a dynamite read. Admittedly I haven’t had the opportunity to read it yet, but it just jumped to the top of my list. It features a young man who discovers that he has Mad Cow disease and his unusual quest for a cure. (I promise I will review it as soon as I read it.)

2010 Michael L. Printz Award Winner and Honorees:

Winner:

Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Honor Books:

Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

Punkzilla by Adam Rapp

Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance, 1973 by John Barnes

I love the excitement these awards stir up and I hope you are as excited by the winners as I am. This link will provide you with a list of Awards. By clicking on the Award you can see both the Winners and the Honorees for the ALA Young Adult Book Awards including the brand new award for nonfiction the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults.
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/booklistsbook.cfm
Check them out online, and then reserve your copy at the library.

*For a complete list of books that I read and reviewed last year you can go to www.goodreads.com and search for me by my email address mwheelock@khcpl.org. While you are there join Goodreads and share your reading with your friends. You can also become a friend of KHCPL Teen Scene on Goodreads by searching for the email mwheelock@kokomo.lib.in.us.

Book Byte: Going Bovine by Libba Bray

I know it has been a long time since we have posted a Book Byte, so I thought today would be a great opportunity. On Monday the winner of the 2010 Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature was announced. Congratulations are in order for Libba Bray and her book Going Bovine. Libba Bray is the author of the popular Gemma Doyle Trilogy which consists of the books A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and A Sweet Far Thing.

And now the Book Byte for Going Bovine...



Cameron Smith, a disaffected sixteen year-old who, after being diagnosed with Creutzfeld Jakob's (aka mad cow) disease, sets off on a road trip with a death-obsessed video gaming dwarf he meets in the hospital in an attempt to find a cure.

Book Review: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

This is probably the best Printz Award winner yet. I really enjoyed this book. Check it out!

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I will freely admit that I didn’t really get hooked on this book until I was over a hundred pages in. In fact, this is a book I have picked up and started several times before and ended up putting it down. I think the only way I got through it this time is because I made a commitment to read it, and I am so glad I did. Jellicoe Road is a story about tragedy and triumph, family and friends, hope and loss. It tells the story of two families, the Markham’s and the Schroeder’s, and their lives on the Jellicoe Road.

Our primary narrator for the novel is Taylor Markham, who was abandoned by her mother at a 7-eleven on Jellicoe Road when she was 11 years old. As Taylor reluctantly accepts a leadership role at her school and leads the war against the townies and cadets, she also starts down a path of self discovery, where she discovers her own history and who she really is.

Nothing in this novel is as it seems and it takes quite a while for the pieces of the puzzle to begin to fall into place. Once you get to that part, though, it becomes nearly impossible to put the book down. Highly recommended.

Cautions for sensitive readers: There is some profanity in the book and some sexual situations. There is also a violent car accident that is referred to with some graphic depictions.




View all my reviews.

Looking for a Good Book? Check out this Award Winner!

Looking for a good book? Then you might want to check out "Jellicoe Road" by Melina Marchetta, the winner of the 2009 Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. Join Taylor Markham now 17, a girl abandoned by her mother on Jellicoe Road at the age of eleven, as she confronts her past and seeks her identity.