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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The collectors : stories
King, A. S.
Paper Book
Winner of the 2024 Michael L. Printz Award A National Bestseller From Michael L. Printz Award winner A.S. King and an all-star team of contributors including Anna-Marie McLemoreand Jason Reynolds, an anthology of stories about remarkable people and their strange and...
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, MICHAEL L. PRINTZ AWARD WINNER, CHRISTOPHER AWARD WINNER, MIDDLE EAST BOOK AWARD WALTER AWARD HONOR   National Bestseller NPR Best of the Year New York Times Best of the Year ...
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 : a novel
Acevedo, Elizabeth
Paper Book
Winner of the National Book AwardWinner of the Michael L. Printz AwardWinner of the the Pura Belpré AwardXiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.But Xiomara...
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.
Paper Book
Winner of the 2013 Michael L. Printz Award Bloomsbury is proud to be the global publisher of In Darkness, a stunning tour-de-force set in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake. "Shorty" is a Haitian boy trapped in the ruins of a hospital when the earth explodes around him....
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 going to die. Which totally sucks. Hope arrives...
Jellicoe Road
Marchetta, Melina 1965-
Paper Book
Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award * ALA Best Book for Young Adults * Kirkus Best Book Jellicoe Road is a dazzling tale that is part love story, part family drama, and part coming-of-age novel. Described by Kirkus as "a beautifully rendered mystery" and by VOYA as "a great choice for...
The white darkness
McCaughrean, Geraldine.
Paper Book
I have been in love with Titus Oates for quite a while now--which is ridiculous, since he's been dead for ninety years. But look at it this way. In ninety years I'll be dead, too, and the age difference won't matter. Sym is not your average teenage girl. She is obsessed with the Antarctic and...
American born Chinese
Yang, Gene Luen
Paper Book
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 discover that he's the only Chinese-American student at his new...
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. The next day...
The first part last
Johnson, Angela 1961-
Paper Book
This little thing with the perfect face and hands doing nothing but counting on me. And me wanting nothing else but to run crying into my own mom's room and have her do the whole thing. It's not going to happen.... Bobby is your classic urban teenaged boy -- impulsive, eager,...
Postcards from no man's land
Chambers, Aidan.
Paper Book
The ALA Printz Award Winner 2003 ALA Best Book for Young Adults 2003 Booklist Editors' Choice Winner The Horn Book Fanfare Book Carnegie Medal Winner 2000
A step from heaven
An, Na 1972-
Paper Book
In this first novel, a young girl describes her family's bittersweet experience in the United States after their emigration from Korea. While going up and up into the sky on the flight from Korea to California, four-year-old Young Ju concludes that they are on their way to heaven - America is...
Kit's wilderness
Almond, David 1951-
Paper Book
The Printz Award-winning classic gets a new look. Written in haunting, lyrical prose, Kit's Wilderness examines the bonds of family from one generation to the next, and explores how meaning and beauty can be revealed from the depths of darkness. The Watson...
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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