Michael Printz Award
The Michael L Printz Award is awarded each year for a book written and published for young adult readership. The award requires that the winning book exemplifies literary merit and written solely for persons ages 12 – 18. This award does not consider popularity as a criterion, nor does it consider titles that are written for adults that appeal to teens. Also not considered as a criterion is the message delivered in the book. In order to be eligible, the book must have been published in the United States during the preceding year. This does not mean it is ineligible if it was published in another country first. Also eligible to receive the awards works of joint authorship and editorship. Titles will not be considered eligible until the first year the book is available in print.
All forms of writing are considered for this award. It is not limited to a particular genre. Also broad are the criteria for literary merit. …show more content…
These criteria are guidelines and are subject to change. One or more of the criteria should be met depending on the form of writing.
• Story
• Voice
• Style
• Setting
• Accuracy
• Characters
• Theme
• Illustrations
• Design (including format, organization, etc.)
When the award winning book is announced, ALA stipulates why the book was chosen for literary excellence.
One award winner is chosen along with four honor books. If a book does not meet the criteria for a given year, no award will be presented.
The award, sponsored by Booklist, was developed in 1999 and named for a school librarian at Topeka West (KS) High School for many years.
Michael Printz retired from teaching in 1994 and died in 1996. Prior to his death, he was active in YALSA and served on the Best Books and award committees. The first book recognized as a Michael L Printz winner in 2000 was Monster, by Walter Dean Myers. A reason for creating this award was to encourage the publication of quality literary merit written expressively for young adults. Another purpose is to promote the readership of books that fall in the young adult genre. It is also important to focus attention of the importance of young adult genre and award those that produce materials that are best for young adults.
Bone Gape was chosen as the 2016 winner because of the way Laura Ruby tells the story from alternating viewpoints. Interwoven in the story are elements of fairy tales, myths, gothic romance and magic realism. The characters are diverse and their stories weave a tale full of vivid
details.
The book narrates the story of Finn. Finn who lives with his brother Sean after his dad died and his mother left them to go live with an orthodontist in Oregon. Finn and Sean in a small Midwestern town. A town that is filled with farms, gardens and rows and rows of corn. Corn, that if you listen close enough will come alive and whisper. Rows of corn dotted with scarecrows and a town with gaps. Gaps that lead to supernatural places, not for everyone, just some that slip out and return and gaps where you can disappear forever. Not everyone knows about these gaps, so many speculate on why the town was named Bone Gap. One person knows though, Charlie. Charlie Valentine has been there since the town was founded and knows everyone in Bone Gap and everything about Bone Gap. How is that since the town was founded in the 1800s and the only thing that Charlie talks about is his chickens? There are no strangers in Bone Gap and no secrets either. That is until beautiful Roza finds her way into Finn and Sean’s barn. Roza’s appearance in Bone gap is a mystery and remains one to the people of Bone Gap and to Finn and Sean. Despite the town’s skepticism of strangers, Roza was taken in quickly and became a piece of everyone’s life in Bone Gap. Her mysterious disappearance did not prompt a surprise in the people of Bone Gap since it is not unusual for people to suddenly leave, but it did weigh on Finn and Sean. Finn witnesses the disappearance and constantly looks for the man who took her, the man without a face. The man who only appears to Finn, but for some reason cannot remember his face. Sean blames Finn and Sean nor the town believe what Finn witnesses except for Priscilla Willis. Priscilla, who Finn loves and the town feels sorry for. Why do they feel sorry for Priscilla? What happened to Roza? Why did she appear suddenly and who took her away? Will Roza ever come back?
All forms of writing are considered for this award. It is not limited to a particular genre. Also broad are the criteria for literary merit. …show more content…
These criteria are guidelines and are subject to change. One or more of the criteria should be met depending on the form of writing.
• Story
• Voice
• Style
• Setting
• Accuracy
• Characters
• Theme
• Illustrations
• Design (including format, organization, etc.)
When the award winning book is announced, ALA stipulates why the book was chosen for literary excellence.
One award winner is chosen along with four honor books. If a book does not meet the criteria for a given year, no award will be presented.
The award, sponsored by Booklist, was developed in 1999 and named for a school librarian at Topeka West (KS) High School for many years.
Michael Printz retired from teaching in 1994 and died in 1996. Prior to his death, he was active in YALSA and served on the Best Books and award committees. The first book recognized as a Michael L Printz winner in 2000 was Monster, by Walter Dean Myers. A reason for creating this award was to encourage the publication of quality literary merit written expressively for young adults. Another purpose is to promote the readership of books that fall in the young adult genre. It is also important to focus attention of the importance of young adult genre and award those that produce materials that are best for young adults.
Bone Gape was chosen as the 2016 winner because of the way Laura Ruby tells the story from alternating viewpoints. Interwoven in the story are elements of fairy tales, myths, gothic romance and magic realism. The characters are diverse and their stories weave a tale full of vivid
details.
The book narrates the story of Finn. Finn who lives with his brother Sean after his dad died and his mother left them to go live with an orthodontist in Oregon. Finn and Sean in a small Midwestern town. A town that is filled with farms, gardens and rows and rows of corn. Corn, that if you listen close enough will come alive and whisper. Rows of corn dotted with scarecrows and a town with gaps. Gaps that lead to supernatural places, not for everyone, just some that slip out and return and gaps where you can disappear forever. Not everyone knows about these gaps, so many speculate on why the town was named Bone Gap. One person knows though, Charlie. Charlie Valentine has been there since the town was founded and knows everyone in Bone Gap and everything about Bone Gap. How is that since the town was founded in the 1800s and the only thing that Charlie talks about is his chickens? There are no strangers in Bone Gap and no secrets either. That is until beautiful Roza finds her way into Finn and Sean’s barn. Roza’s appearance in Bone gap is a mystery and remains one to the people of Bone Gap and to Finn and Sean. Despite the town’s skepticism of strangers, Roza was taken in quickly and became a piece of everyone’s life in Bone Gap. Her mysterious disappearance did not prompt a surprise in the people of Bone Gap since it is not unusual for people to suddenly leave, but it did weigh on Finn and Sean. Finn witnesses the disappearance and constantly looks for the man who took her, the man without a face. The man who only appears to Finn, but for some reason cannot remember his face. Sean blames Finn and Sean nor the town believe what Finn witnesses except for Priscilla Willis. Priscilla, who Finn loves and the town feels sorry for. Why do they feel sorry for Priscilla? What happened to Roza? Why did she appear suddenly and who took her away? Will Roza ever come back?