Michael L. Printz Award

The Michael L. Printz Award annually honors the best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit, each year. In addition, the Printz Committee names up to four honor books, which also represent the best writing in young adult literature.

Updated November 16, 2024
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All my rage
Tahir, Sabaa
Paper Book
National Book Award WINNER Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature WINNER An INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! An INSTANT INDIE BESTSELLER! "All My Rage is a love story, a tragedy and an infectious teenage fever dream about what home...
Everything sad is untrue : (a true story)
Nayeri, Daniel
Paper Book
Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award Christopher Award Winner Middle East Book Award Winner National Indie Bestseller NPR Best Book of the Year New York Times Best of the Year Amazon Best of the Year Booklist Editors' Choice ...
Dig
King, A. S. (Amy Sarig) 1970-
Paper Book
Winner of the Michael L. Printz Medal ★"King's narrative concerns are racism, patriarchy, colonialism, white privilege, and the ingrained systems that perpetuate them. . . . [Dig] will speak profoundly to a generation of young people who are waking up to...
The Poet X
Acevedo, Elizabeth
Paper Book
Winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, the Michael L. Printz Award, and the Pura Belpré Award! Fans of Jacqueline Woodson, Meg Medina, and Jason Reynolds will fall hard for this astonishing New York Times-bestselling novel-in-verse by an award...
We are okay : a novel
LaCour, Nina
Paper Book
Winner of the 2018 Michael L. Printz Award * An achingly beautiful novel about grief and the enduring power of friendship. "Short, poetic and gorgeously written." --The New York Times Book Review "A beautiful, devastating piece of art."<...
Firekeeper's daughter
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
A PRINTZ MEDAL WINNER! A MORRIS AWARD WINNER! AN AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH LITERATURE AWARD YA HONOR BOOK! A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller Soon to be adapted at Netflix...
March 3
Lewis, John 1940 February 21-
Paper Book
Welcome to the stunning conclusion of the award-winning and best-selling MARCH trilogy. Congressman John Lewis, an American icon and one of the key figures of the civil rights movement, joins co-writer Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell to bring the lessons of history to vivid life for a new...
Bone Gap
Ruby, Laura.
Paper Book
National Book Award Finalist * Printz Award Winner for Best Young Adult Book of the Year "Ruby's novel deserves to be read and reread. It is powerful, beautiful, extraordinary."--School Library Journal Everyone knows Bone Gap is full of gaps. So when young, beautiful Roza...
I'll give you the sun
Nelson, Jandy.
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller * One of Time Magazine's 100 Best YA Books of All Time * Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award * A Stonewall Honor Book The radiant, award-winning story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal for fans of John Green,...
Midwinterblood
Sedgwick, Marcus.
Paper Book
Seven stories of passion and love separated by centuries but mysteriously intertwined--this is a tale of horror and beauty, tenderness and sacrifice by a three-time Printz Award Honoree. "Reminiscent of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas . . . stark, suspenseful writing.<...
In Darkness
Lake, Nick.
Ebook
WINNER of the 2013 Printz Award. In darkness I count my blessings like Manman taught me. One: I am alive.Two: there is no two.In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake a boy is trapped beneath the rubble of a ruined hospital: thirsty, terrified and alone.'Shorty' is a...
Where things come back
Whaley, John Corey.
Paper Book
Winner of the 2012 Michael L. Printz and William C. Morris Awards, this poignant and hilarious story of loss and redemption "explores the process of grief, second chances, and even the meaning of life" (Kirkus Reviews). In the remarkable, bizarre, and heart-wrenching...
Ship breaker
Bacigalupi, Paolo.
Paper Book
This thrilling bestseller and National Book Award Finalist is a gritty, high-stakes adventure of a teenage boy faced with conflicting loyalties, set in a dark future America devastated by the forces of climate change. In America's flooded Gulf Coast region, oil is scarce, but...
Going bovine
Bray, Libba.
Paper Book
Can Cameron find what he’s looking for? All 16-year-old Cameron wants is to get through high school—and life in general—with a minimum of effort. It’s not a lot to ask. But that’s before he’s given some bad news: he’s sick and he’s...
On the Jellicoe Road
Marchetta, Melina
Paper Book
Taylor Markham is not a popular choice. She is erratic, has no people skills and never turns up to meetings. Not to mention the incident when she ran off in search of her mother and only got halfway there. But she's lived at Jellicoe School most of her life and as leader of the boarders that's her...
American born Chinese
Yang, Gene Luen.
Paper Book
Original Series Now Available on Disney+ A tour-de-force by New York Times bestselling graphic novelist Gene Yang, American Born Chinese tells the story of three apparently unrelated characters: Jin Wang, who moves to a new neighborhood with his family only to...
Looking for Alaska
Green, John 1977-
Paper Book
The award-winning, genre-defining debut from John Green, the #1 bestselling author of The Anthropocene Reviewed and The Fault in Our StarsWinner of the Michael L. Printz Award * A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist * A New York Times...
How I live now
Rosoff, Meg 1956-
Paper Book
“Every war has turning points and every person too.” 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...
Postcards from no man's land : a novel
Chambers, Aidan.
Paper Book
A step from heaven
An, Na
Paper Book
A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) From master storyteller An Na comes the Printz Award-winning novel about a Korean girl who tells her firsthand account of trying to find her place and identity in America from the day she leaves Korea as a child to her rocky...
Kit's wilderness
Almond, David
Paper Book
Kit's Wilderness is a powerful, intensely-moving story about handling emotions, being strong in relationships, and learning to handle death, seen through the eyes of an ordinary boy.
Monster
Myers, Walter Dean 1937-2014
Paper Book
This New York Times bestselling novel from acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers tells the story of Steve Harmon, a teenage boy in juvenile detention and on trial. Presented as a screenplay of Steve's own imagination, and peppered with journal entries, the book shows how one...

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