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The Michael L. Printz Award
2000 marked the debut of the Michael L. Printz Award, which was established to recognize a book that "exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature," according to the Young Adult Library Services Association division of the American Library Association. The Award is named for Michael L. Printz, a former school librarian at Topeka West High School in Kansas. Throughout his career he was a respected colleague and teacher, and an active and dedicated member of YALSA. He passed away in 1996.
The Printz winner and up to four honor books (or runners up) are chosen annually by a committee of nine YALSA members.
This year's winners are:
2005 Michael L. Printz Winner
 HOW I LIVE NOW
by Meg Rosoff
Wendy Lamb Books/Random House
ISBN: 0385746776
Ages 12-up
208 pages
August 2004
Fifteen-year-old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she's never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy.
As power fails, and systems fail, the farm becomes more isolated. Despite the war, it's a kind of Eden, with no adults in charge and no rules, a place where Daisy's uncanny bond with her cousins grows into something rare and extraordinary. But the war is everywhere, and Daisy and her cousins must lead each other into an unknown world.
2005 Michael L. Printz Honors
 AIRBORN
by Kenneth Oppel
Eos/HarperCollins
ISBN: 0060531800
Ages 12-up
368 pages
May 2004
Matt Cruse is a cabin boy on the Aurora, a huge airship that sails hundreds of feet above the ocean, ferrying wealthy passengers from city to city. It is the life Matt has always wanted; convinced he's lighter than air, he imagines himself as buoyant as the hydrium gas that powers his ship. One night he meets a dying balloonist who speaks of beautiful creatures drifting through the skies. It is only after Matt meets the balloonist's granddaughter that he realizes that the man's ravings may in fact have been true, and that the creatures are completely real and utterly mysterious.
 CHANDA'S SECRETS
by Allan Stratton
Annick Press
ISBN: 155037835X
Ages 14-up
193 pages
March 2004
"As soon as I get back from the shabeen, I go next door to see Mrs. Tafa. I have to ask to use her phone to let our relatives know about Sara. I'm nervous. Mrs. Tafa would like to run the world. Since she can't run the world she's decided to run our neighborhood."
So speaks sixteen-year-old Chanda, an astonishingly perceptive girl living in the small city of Bonang, a fictional city in Southern Africa. While Mrs. Tafa's hijinks are often amusing, the fact is that Chanda's world is profoundly difficult. When her youngest sister dies, the first hint of HIV/AIDS emerges.
 LIZZIE BRIGHT AND THE BUCKMINSTER BOY
by Gary D. Schmidt
Clarion Books
ISBN: 0618439293
Ages 10-up
224 pages
May 2004
It only takes a few hours for Turner Buckminster to start hating Phippsburg, Maine. No one in town will let him forget that he's a minister's son, even if he doesn't act like one. But then he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, a smart and sassy girl from a poor nearby island community founded by former slaves. Despite his father's --- and the town's --- disapproval of their friendship, Turner spends time with Lizzie, and it opens up a whole new world to him, filled with the mystery and wonder of Maine's rocky coast.
The two soon discover that the town elders, along with Turner's father, want to force the people to leave Lizzie's island so that Phippsburg can start a lucrative tourist trade there. Turner gets caught up in a spiral of disasters that alter his life --- but also lead him to new levels of acceptance and maturity.
--- Written by Tom Donadio
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2002 Winners:
2001 Printz Winner:
KIT'S WILDERNESS by David Almond
2001 Printz Honor Book:
MANY STONES by Carolyn Coman
2001 Printz Honor Book:
ANGUS, THONGS AND FULL-FRONTAL SNOGGING by Louise Rennison
2001 Printz Honor Book:
THE BODY OF CHRISTOPHER CREED by Carol Plum-Ucci
2001 Printz Honor Book:
STUCK IN NEUTRAL by Terry Trueman
The first-ever recipients are:
2000 Printz Winner:
MONSTER by Walter Dean Myers
2000 Printz Honor Book:
SKELLIG by David Almond
2000 Printz Honor Book:
SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson
2000 Printz Honor Book:
HARD LOVE by Ellen Wittlinger
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