The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. The Printz, along with its more famous counterparts the Newbery and the Caldecott, will be announced on Monday, January17th at the ALA Midwinter Conference.
Last year’s Printz award went to the book Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta. I tried to read it both before and after the award was announced, and I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. My thoughts at the time.
The honor books last year were:
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II, The Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson. Definitely deserving and astonishing.
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart. I liked this one, too.
Nation by Terry Pratchett. I’ve never read any Terry Pratchett, not sure I’d like it.
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan. I’m sort of afraid to read this re-telling of the fairy tale Snow White and Rose Red because I get the idea that she turns the story into something nasty. But I don’t really know.
So, I didn’t enjoy or finish the Newbery winner last year nor the Printz winner either, so why am I predicting the winners this year? I don’t know; it’s an irresistible game, I suppose.
The book I hope, predict and expect will win the Printz: Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork. Semicolon review here. If there is any justice . . .
The books I think might win instead:
Going Bovine by Libba Bray. (Blech)
The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams. OK, Semicolon review here.
Fire by Kristin Cashore. Pretty darn good, but not as good as Marcelo.
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. If it wins it will be because Ms. Anderson has such a great body of work. I don’t think WIntergirls is her best. Semicolon review here.
North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley. Semicolon review here.
And no one I’ve seen has mentioned it as a contender, but my second choice for the Printz award would be Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins. (Semicolon review here.) In fact, that book is so profoundly respectful of the choices people make and the cultures that shape them; it would make a wonderful award-winning book. So it probably won’t win.
Yes, I’m hedging my bets by giving you a whole list of possibilities. It’s the only I might possibly get one correct prediction and thereby earn bragging rights.
While we happen to disagree on Jellicoe Road, I know it’s not a book for everyone! I do understand what you’re saying though. I often feel that way with the Printz (and the Newbery now that I think of it!). Some years I just don’t like what wins. I would love for Marcelo in the Real World to win because it was just a book that really wowed me, and perhaps more importantly one that stuck with me long after I read it.
I just wish I could read books in the year that they are published so that I could HAVE an opinion. 🙂
Oh, you really should give Pratchett a try. He’s a sort of hopeful agnostic, with a great gift for satire underlined with human sympathy. Always funny and thought-provoking. I enjoyed Nation, once I forgave it for not being a Discworld book. You might also try starting with his Discworld YA series about Tiffany Aching: The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith.
Interesting predictions! I’m excited to see if you are right.
I really like Marcelo and think it has a very good chance. Everyone likes it, unlike most YA books that get a variety of opinions, I haven’t seen a negative or even meh reaction to this book.
Interesting predictions. And as a side note, Sherry, I think you’d like Nation. It’s Terry Pratchett, but it’s not inaccessible. And if I remember right, I loved it.
I am very fond of Pratchett as a whole, but Nation is different from typical Pratchett, and it can easily be read as a typical survival story.
I definitely think Marcelo will win, but I think Liar has a chance.