Most people have heard of the Newbery Award for Best Children's Book, and the Caldecott Medal awarded to illustrators of picture books, but there is also the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature.
The Printz Award, established in 2000, is relatively new. It is awarded annually for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. Three books are given Honor Awards as well. The award is named for a Topeka, Kansas school librarian who was a long-time active member of the Young Adult Library Services Association and a tireless advocate of quality literature for teenagers.
This year's Printz Award Winner is Postcards from No Man's Land by Aidan Chambers. Postcards from No Man's Land tells the story of seventeen-year-old backpacker, Jacob Todd, who has come to Amsterdam as part of a trip to honor his grandfather, a soldier who died in a nearby town in World War II. He meets Geertrui, a Dutch woman who had cared for his wounded grandfather. Her teenage World War II story is interwoven with Jacob's own unfolding coming of age story. The alternating narratives of their two stories intertwine, merging into a memorable voyage of discovery.
The three Honor Award books named for 2003 are Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos, My Heartbeat by Garret Freymann-Weyr, and The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. All four of the titles mentioned are available in the Young Adult section of the library.
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