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.
Neal Shusterman is an American writer of young adult fiction. He won the 2015 National Book Award for Young People's Literature for his book Challenger Deep and his novel, Scythe, was a 2017 Michael L. Printz Honor book.
Jennifer Donnelly is an American writer best known for the young adult historical novel A Northern Light.
Marcus Sedgwick was a British writer and illustrator. He authored several young adult and children's books and picture books, a work of nonfiction and several novels for adults, and illustrated a collection of myths and a book of folk tales for adults. According to School Library Journal his "most acclaimed titles" were those for young adults.
Dara Horn is an American novelist, essayist, and professor of literature. She has written five novels and in 2021, released a nonfiction essay collection titled People Love Dead Jews, which was a finalist for the 2021 Kirkus Prize in nonfiction. She won the Edward Lewis Wallant Award in 2002, the National Jewish Book Award in 2003, 2006, and 2021, and the Harold U. Ribalow Prize in 2007.
Amy Sarig King is an American writer of short fiction and young adult fiction. She is the recipient of the 2022 Margaret Edwards Award for her "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature". She is also the only two-time recipient of the Michael L. Printz Award for Young Adult Literature for Dig (2019) and as editor and contributor to The Collectors: Stories (2023).
Elizabeth Partridge is an American writer, the author of more than a dozen books from young-adult nonfiction to picture books to photography books. Her books include Marching for Freedom, as well the biographies John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth, This Land Was Made for You and Me: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie, and Restless Spirit: The Life and Work of Dorothea Lange.
Julie Ellyn Strauss-Gabel is an American publisher and editor of books for young adults who is notable for getting numerous titles on The New York Times Best Seller list.
An Ember in the Ashes is a young adult fantasy romance novel written by American author Sabaa Tahir. It was published on April 28, 2015 by Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Random House. It is the first book in the An Ember in the Ashes series, followed by A Torch Against the Night. In a fantasy world inspired by Ancient Rome, the story follows a girl named Laia spying for rebels against the reigning empire in exchange for their help in rescuing her captive brother; and a boy named Elias struggling to free himself from being an enforcer of a tyrannical regime. The novel is narrated in the first-person, alternating between the points of view of Laia and Elias.
Sabaa Tahir is an American young adult novelist best known for her New York Times-bestsellingAn Ember in the Ashes, its sequels, and the novel All My Rage.
Angie Thomas is an American young adult author, best known for writing The Hate U Give (2017). Her second young adult novel, On the Come Up, was released on February 25, 2019.
A Torch Against the Night is a fantasy novel written by Pakistani-American author Sabaa Tahir. It was published on August 30, 2016, by Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Random House. It is the second book in the An Ember in the Ashes series, preceded by An Ember in the Ashes and followed by A Reaper at the Gates. The story follows former slave Laia and former soldier Elias on a mission to save Laia's brother; and Helene, the unfortunate blood shrike. The novel is narrated in the first-person, alternating between the points of view of Laia, Elias and Helene.
Jason Reynolds is an American author of novels and poetry for young adult and middle grade audiences. Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in neighboring Oxon Hill, Maryland, Reynolds found inspiration in rap and had an early focus on poetry, publishing several poetry collections before his first novel in 2014, When I Was the Greatest, which won the John Steptoe Award for New Talent.
Spinning is a graphic novel memoir by cartoonist Tillie Walden that was first published by First Second Books on September 12, 2017. The memoir chronicles Walden's years coming-of-age as a competitive figure skater, as she navigates romance, bullying and various traumas. It won the 2018 Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work.
Tillie Walden is an American cartoonist who has published five graphic novels and a webcomic. Walden won the 2018 Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work for her graphic novel Spinning, making her one of the youngest Eisner Award winners ever. She was named Vermont's Cartoonist Laureate for the years 2023 - 2026, making her the state's youngest-ever Cartoonist Laureate.
Julie Berry is an American author of children's and young adults books and winner of several national book awards.
A Reaper at the Gates is a fantasy novel written by Pakistani-American author Sabaa Tahir. It was published on Jun 12, 2018 by Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Random House. It is the third book in the An Ember in the Ashes series, preceded by A Torch Against the Night and followed by A Sky Beyond the Storm. The story follows Laia, a scholar girl, on a mission to defeat the night bringer; Elias, the current soul catcher, tries to learn the ways of soul catcher and Helene, the blood shrike; tries to defeat the enemies of the empire. The novel is narrated in the first-person, alternating between the points of view of Laia, Elias and Helene.
Elizabeth Acevedo is an American poet and author. In September 2022, the Poetry Foundation named her the year's Young People's Poet Laureate.
Long Way Down is a young adult novel in verse by Jason Reynolds, published October 24, 2017, by Atheneum Books. The book was longlisted for the National Book Award and was named a Printz Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Honor Book, and Newbery Medal Honor Book, alongside other awards and positive reviews.
We Are Okay is a young adult novel by Nina LaCour, published February 14, 2017 by Dutton Books for Young Readers.
