The Michael L. Printz Award is an American Library Association literary award that annually recognizes the "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit ". It is sponsored by Booklist magazine; administered by the ALA's young-adult division, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA); and named for the Topeka, Kansas , school librarian Mike Printz, a long-time active member of YALSA. Up to four worthy runners-up may be designated Honor Books and three or four have been named every year.
25-696: The Printz Award was founded in 2000 for 1999 young adult publications. The award "was created as a counterpoint to the Newbery " in order to highlight the best and most literary works of excellence written for a young adult audience. Jonathon Hunt, a Horn Book reviewer, hopes that the Printz Award can create a "canon as revered as that of the Newbery." Michael L. Printz was a librarian at Topeka West High School in Topeka, Kansas, until he retired in 1994. He
50-488: A subset of the runners-up on the final ballot, either the leading runners-up on that ballot or the leaders on one further ballot that excludes the winner. The results of the committee vote are kept secret, and winners are notified by phone shortly before the award is announced. In 2015, K. T. Horning of the University of Wisconsin–Madison's Cooperative Children's Book Center proposed to ALSC that old discussions of
75-788: A year for closed discussions. Any book that qualifies is eligible; it does not have to have been nominated. The Newbery is given to the "author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children published by an American publisher in the United States in English during the preceding year." Newbery winners are announced at the Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association, held in January or February. The Honor Books must be
100-641: Is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children". The Newbery and the Caldecott Medal are considered the two most prestigious awards for children's literature in the United States. Books selected are widely carried by bookstores and libraries,
125-719: Is sponsored by Booklist, a publication of the American Library Association (ALA). The Printz Medal has been awarded for one work annually without exception. Only A. S. King has received the award twice, one for a single-authored book in 2020 and another as editor and contributor to an anthology in 2024. As of 2024, only A. S. King has won the Printz twice; she also received an Honor. Marcus Sedgwick and M. T. Anderson have written one Award winner and two Honor Books. David Almond , John Green , Geraldine McCaughrean , and Gene Luen Yang have written one Award winner and one Honor Book. Seven people have two Honor Books but have never won
150-512: The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is responsible for the award. As Barbara Elleman explained in The Newbery and Caldecott Awards , the original Newbery was based on votes by a selected jury of Children's Librarian Section officers. Books were first nominated by any librarian, then the jury voted for one favorite. Hendrik van Loon's non-fiction history book The Story of Mankind won with 163 votes out of 212. In 1924
175-495: The Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University's Teachers College , agreed with Silvey: "I can't help but believe that thousands, even millions, more children would grow up reading if the Newbery committee aimed to spotlight books that are deep and beautiful and irresistible to kids". Then-ALSC President Pat Scales responded, "the criterion has never been popularity. It is about literary quality. How many adults have read all
200-411: The 1970s and 1980s. Significantly in 1971, the term Newbery Honor was introduced. Runners-up had been identified annually from the start, with a few exceptions only during the 1920s; all those runners-up were named Newbery Honor Books retroactively. The physical medal was designed by Rene Paul Chambellan and depicts an author giving his work (a book) to a boy and a girl to read on one side and on
225-597: The American Library Association added the Caldecott Award , for "the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published in the United States". That year an award committee selected the Medal and Honor books for both awards. In 1978 the rules were changed and two committees were formed of fifteen people each, one for each award. A new committee is formed every year, with "eight elected, six appointed, and one appointed Chair". The Newbery Medal
250-530: The Award: Margo Lanagan , Terry Pratchett , Markus Zusak , Deborah Heiligman , Mariko Tamaki , Candice Iloh , and Angie Thomas . Six writers have won both the Printz Award and the annual Carnegie Medal from the British librarians: David Almond , Aidan Chambers , Geraldine McCaughrean , Meg Rosoff , Elizabeth Acevedo , and Jason Reynolds . Only Chambers and Acevedo have won both for
275-529: The Medal. The Newbery Medal was established on June 22, 1921, at the annual conference of the American Library Association (ALA). Proposed by Publishers Weekly editor Frederic G. Melcher , the proposal was well received by the children's librarians present and then approved by the ALA Executive Board. The award was administered by the ALA from the start, but Melcher provided funds that paid for
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#1732779672434300-491: The Newbery and Caldecott be made public in the service of researchers and historians. This proposal was met with both support and criticism by former committee members and recognized authors. In October 2008, Anita Silvey , a children's literary expert, published an article in the School Library Journal criticizing the committee for choosing books that are too difficult for children. Lucy Calkins , of
325-547: The Notable Children's Books list ( American Library Association ). He has also stated that "the Newbery has probably done far more to turn kids off to reading than any other book award in children's publishing." Listed below are all authors who have won at least two Newbery Medals or who have three or more Medals and/or Honors. Won a Newbery Medal and Honor Rene Paul Chambellan Too Many Requests If you report this error to
350-601: The Pulitzer Prize-winning books and... liked every one?" John Beach, associate professor of literacy education at St. John's University in New York , compared the books that adults choose for children with the books that children choose for themselves and found that in the 30 years before 2008 there was only a five percent overlap between the Children's Choice Awards ( International Reading Association ) and
375-437: The authors are interviewed on television, and master's theses and doctoral dissertations are written on them. Named for John Newbery , an 18th-century English publisher of juvenile books, the winner of the Newbery is selected at the ALA's Midwinter Conference by a fifteen-person committee. The Newbery was proposed by Frederic G. Melcher in 1921, making it the first children's book award in the world. The physical bronze medal
400-429: The committee felt it was important to encourage new writers in the field, so a rule was made that an author would win a second Newbery only if the vote was unanimous. The rule was in place until 1958. Joseph Krumgold became the first winner of a second Newbery in 1960. Another change, in 1963, made it clear that joint authors of a book were eligible for the award. Several more revisions and clarifications were added in
425-501: The design and production of the medal. The Newbery Medal was inaugurated in 1922, considering books published in 1921. According to The Newbery and Caldecott Awards Melcher and the ALA Board agreed to establish the award for several reasons that related to children's librarians. They wanted to encourage quality, creative children's books and to demonstrate to the public that children's books deserve recognition and praise. In 1932
450-458: The number of Honors or runners-up has been one to five. To be eligible, a book must be written by a United States citizen or resident and must be published first or simultaneously in the United States in English during the preceding year. Six authors have won two Newbery Medals each, several have won both a Medal and Honor, while a larger number of authors have won multiple Honors, with Laura Ingalls Wilder having won five Honors without ever winning
475-451: The other side the inscription, "For the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children". The bronze medal retains the name "Children's Librarians' Section", the original group responsible for awarding the medal, despite the sponsoring committee having changed names four times and now including both school and public librarians. Each winning author gets their own copy of the medal with their name engraved on it. Currently
500-463: The process was changed, and instead of using popular vote it was decided that a special award committee would be formed to select the winner. The award committee was made up of the Children's Librarian Section executive board, their book evaluation committee and three members at large. In 1929 it was changed again to the four officers, the chairs of the standing committees and the ex-president. Nominations were still taken from members at large. In 1937
525-587: The same book; Chambers won the 1999 Carnegie and 2003 Printz for Postcards from No Man's Land , and Acevedo won the 2019 Carnegie and Printz for The Poet X . In its scope, books for children or young adults (published in the UK), the British Carnegie corresponds to the American Newbery and Printz awards. Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal , frequently shortened to the Newbery ,
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#1732779672434550-415: Was Chris Crutcher . Printz died at the age of 59 in 1996. Source: "The Michael L. Printz Award Policies and Procedures" The selection committee comprises nine YALSA members appointed by the president-elect for a one-year term. They award one winner and honor up to four additional titles. The term 'young adult' refers to readers from ages 12 through 18 for purposes of this award. The Michael L. Printz Award
575-539: Was also an active member of YALSA, serving on the Best Books for Young Adults Committee and the Margaret A. Edwards Award Committee. He dedicated his life to ensuring that his students had access to good literature. To that end he encouraged writers to focus on the young adult audience. He created an author-in-residence program at the high school to promote new talent and encourage his students. His most noteworthy find
600-579: Was designed by Rene Paul Chambellan and is given to the winning author at the next ALA annual conference. Since its founding there have been several changes to the composition of the selection committee, while the physical medal remains the same. Besides the Newbery Medal, the committee awards a variable number of citations to leading contenders, called Newbery Honors or Newbery Honor Books; until 1971, these books were called runners-up. As few as zero and as many as eight have been named, but from 1938
625-495: Was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. Committee members are chosen to represent a wide variety of libraries, teachers and book reviewers. They read the books on their own time, then meet twice
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