The Week of the Printz

The Michael L. Printz Award is awarded once a year for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. The winning book gets a gold seal and the honor books receive a silver seal.


The ALA web site has this to say about the award - "The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. It is named for a Topeka, Kansas school librarian who was a long-time active member of the Young Adult Library Services Association. The award is sponsored by Booklist, a publication of the American Library Association."

The Printz award has only been around since the year 2000, not nearly as long as the Newbery award, which is awarded annually to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. But it's safe to say it is growing in recognition and the list of authors who have received the award is quite an extraordinary list indeed.

This week, we're talking to four special Printz award winners and honor winners. They're busy folks, but we managed to get a few minutes of their time to tell us what it was like the day they got the call from the committee, and answer a few other fun questions for us.

First up tomorrow - Ellen Wittlinger, who received the Printz honor award for her book, HARD LOVE, in 2000.

It promises to be a fun week, and we do hope you'll join us. As you read along, imagining what it must be like to get that call, you might consider the fact that one of our very own members of the Class of 2k8 could very well be a recipient of this prestigious award next January, when it's handed out for the year 2008. If it happens, and with 14 amazing young adult books in our class, the odds are pretty darn good, remember, you heard it here first!