The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.
2023
All My Rage
Call Number: YA
Set in a small town, teens Salahudin and Noor come to terms with their personal lives, despite having a huge fight that could end their friendship. At the heart of the novel are a boy whose family sought out the American Dream, a girl who is trying to escape the town she grew up in, and a young woman whose hopes for the future lead to life-changing choices. It's a hard-hitting, beautifully told novel of family, rage, and forgiveness.
2018
We Are Okay
Call Number: YA
Marin hasn’t spoken to anyone from her old life since the day she left everything behind. No one knows the truth about those final weeks. Not even her best friend, Mabel. But even thousands of miles away from the California coast, at college in New York, Marin still feels the pull of the life and tragedy she’s tried to outrun. The book details Marin’s exploration of her sexuality and her complicated relationship with her best friend.
2017
March: Book Three
Call Number: 323.4092 L674-2 v.3
Winner of the 2017 Michael Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. U.S. Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis continues his story in the concluding volume of this graphic novel trilogy, which opens with the bombing of the Birmingham Baptist Church, Freedom Summer and ends with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 being signed into law.
2016
Bone Gap
Call Number: YA
Set in the rural farm town of Bone Gap, Illinois from where the mysterious Polish Roza disappears just as curiously as she arrived leaving 16-year-old Finn feeling responsible for letting her go with a strange man. While the people of Bone Gap, including his older brother Sean, don't believe him and feel certain she ran away, Finn must cope with his feelings of guilt over the knowledge that he allowed her to be kidnapped and becomes determined to find her.
2015
I'll Give You the Sun
Call Number: YA
Jude and Noah are twins who are opposites in personality - beautiful Jude is popular and a daredevil; Noah is a quiet and sensitive artist. Yet, at the age of thirteen, the two are close, sharing even their own secret language. Three years later, the twins are no longer speaking to each other. The gap that has grown between them seems unbridgeable. Can they come to terms with the tragedy that has struck their family or will they be forever torn apart by their loss? If you love John Green and Rainbow Rowell, you’ll be sure to love this heart-wrenchingly beautiful novel by Jandy Nelson.
2012
Where Things Come Back: A Novel
Call Number: YA
Set in rural Arkansas against the backdrop of a potential rare bird sighting that prompts a flurry of attention to his small town, 17-year-old Cullen just wants to get out of this place until a series of events, including the mysterious disappearance of his younger brother, compels him to rethink everything he thought he knew to be true.
2011
Ship Breaker
Call Number: YA
In a toxic wasteland that was once the Gulf Coast, Nailer scavenges wrecked ships and tries to avoid his murderous father. But when he finds a rich girl trapped in one of the wrecks, his world is turned upside down. Set in a dystopian future that makes The Hunger Games look cheerful, this 2011 Michael L. Printz Award winner is not for the faint of heart.
2010
Going Bovine
Call Number:
Cameron has been diagnosed with Mad Cow Disease, an ultimately fatal condition. Hospitalized and possibly hallucinating, he's visited by Dulcie, a pink-haired angel in combat boots, who gives him hope. Cameron, who normally strives to fly under the radar, must go on an epic road trip to find his cure. On this wacky road trip he encounters a seriously hypochondriac dwarf, a Norse god trapped inside of a garden gnome, giants made of fire, a crazy cult, an underground New Orleans jazz club, and the mysterious Dr. X. A fun, satirical novel that also entertains deep philosophical discussions about reality, self-discovery, and the meaning of life.
2007
American Born Chinese
Call Number: 740.9999 Y22
This book explores different facets of Chinese American identity with pop culture and alternating points of view and style.
2006
Looking for Alaska
Call Number:
When Miles enters Culver Creek Boarding School and encounters the gorgeous and enigmatic Alaska nothing will ever the same. She invites Miles into her world but never close enough into her life, creating an even bigger enigma in her wake.
2000
Monster
Call Number: YA
While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a screenplay as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken. Winner of the 2000 Printz Award.