Printz Award Winners

The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.

2014 Honor

Rowell, R. (2013). Eleanor & Park. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.

Two 16-year-olds meet on a school bus, not by choice, but by shortage of seats and their low social statuses.  He is small and half-Korean, but has grown up among the other students.  She is new, overweight, red-haired, and dresses strangely.  Even though they are at first repelled by each other, they are destined to fall in love.  Through Eleanor and Park’s alternating voices, readers get a glimpse of first love, as well as the contrast between Eleanor’s abusive life of poverty and Park’s imperfect but loving family life.

Follow-up:

Reading Group Questions to use with this book.

http://us.macmillan.com/static/eleanorandpark/pdfs/Eleanor%20&%20Park%20Reading%20Group%20Questions.pdf

2010 Winner

Bray, L. (2009). Going bovine. New York, NY: Delacorte Press.

Cameron Smith only wants to get through high school with a minimum of effort.  He suffers from constant comparisons to his perky, preppy twin sister.  He successfully slides under the radar; that is, until he begins to have bouts of uncontrollable behavior and terrifying visions that are revealed to be caused by Creutzfeldt-Jakob’s (mad cow disease), not by drugs as his parents had suspected.    Cameron finds himself with a terminal diagnosis and the realization that he might be about to die without ever having lived.  He sets off on a road trip to find a cure, guided only by cryptic clues from a mysterious punk rock angel and a death-obsessed dwarf. They are joined by an indestructible talking yard gnome in what is a truly bizarre spring break trip.   The reader must guess what is real and what is hallucinatory. 


Follow-up:
Here is a book trailer created by an ELA teacher to use as a teaser before reading the book.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=segA4JzQnKs



Visit the official Website of Libba Bray to find a reading guide with discussion questions:
http://libbabray.com/resources/going-bovine-reading-guide

2010 Honor

Heiligman, D. (2009). Charles and Emma. Harrisonburg, VA: R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company.

Through letters, diaries, notebooks, and pictures, Heiligman documents the story of Charles Darwin and his cousin, wife, and love of his life, Emma Wedgewood Darwin.  Emma is very religious, and her faith gives Charles a lot to think about as he works on his theory of evolution. The story illuminates the couple’s love, respect, and friendship.  Readers are allowed to understand Darwin’s ideas and how Emma’s responses temper them.  Darwin’s love for Emma is an important factor in his development of a major scientific theory.  The well researched novel is part history, part biography, and part love story.
Note:  This book was also the 2010 winner of the YALSA Exxcellence in Nonfiction.

Follow-up:  PreReading Activity and Discussion Questions: http://media.us.macmillan.com/teachersguides/9780805087215TG.pdf

2006 Winner

Green, J. (2005). Looking for Alaska. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

Sixteen-year-old Miles “Pudge” Halter dreams of starting fresh at Culver Creek boarding school.  He becomes friends and falls in love with Alaska Young, a gorgeous, funny, self-destructive, messed-up girl.  She pulls Miles into her reckless world as he looks for the “Great Perhaps.”  Alaska and Miles’ roommate, Chip, teach him to drink, smoke, and plan elaborate pranks.  After a fatal car crash, Miles is left looking for answers about life and death.

Follow-up: 

Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources may be found here: http://www.webenglishteacher.com/looking-for-alaska-lesson-plans.html.  You can click on the links for each lesson plan.  Below is only a partial screenshot.

Looking for Alaska by John Green
Lesson plans and teaching resources

Looking for Alaska
Summary, prereading vocabulary, discussion questions and activities based on the 2 divisions of the novel, extension activities. 12 pages, Adobe Reader required

Looking for Alaska
A series of lesson plans posted to a preservice teacher blog:

• Lesson Plan 1
  In this pre-reading activity, students explore media portrayal of teens. They select one aspect of that portrayal and make a video that responds to it.
• Lesson Plan 2
  Students discuss the novel's organization and begin to write an argumentative essay.
• Lesson Plan 3
  Students discuss their reading and write an essay predicting the event the novel is leading up to.
• Lesson Plan 4
  Students share videos from Lesson 1. They compare and contrast stereotypes of teens from TV shows.
• Lesson Plan 5
  Students establish blogs.
• Lesson Plan 6
  Students make text-to-world connections by discussing the characters in the novel and by discussing issues as a class with a school counselor.
• Lesson Plan 7
  Students consider negative stereotypes of teens.
• Lesson Plan 8
  Students consider the impact of negative stereotypes on teens.
• Lesson Plan 9
  Students review for the final test.
• Lesson Plan 10
  Final test.

- See more at: http://www.webenglishteacher.com/looking-for-alaska-lesson-plans.html#sthash.YeG5ctCM.dpuf

Another follow-up:  Read an interview with author John Green and find questions for discussion at:

https://www.teachervision.com/tv/printables/penguin/tl-guide-looking-for-alaska.pdf