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.
Todd Strasser is an American writer of more than 140 young-adult and middle grade novels and many short stories and works of non-fiction, some written under the pen names Morton Rhue and T.S. Rue.
Cut is a 2000 novel by Patricia McCormick, targeted at young adults. In 2002 it was named one of the ALA's "Best Books for Young Adults" for that year.
My Friend Dahmer is a 2012 graphic novel and memoir by artist John "Derf" Backderf about his teenage friendship with Jeffrey Dahmer, who later became a serial killer. The book evolved from a 24-page, self-published version by Backderf in 2002.
Adele Griffin is the author of over thirty highly acclaimed books across a variety of genres, including Sons of Liberty and Where I Want to Be, both National Book Award finalists. Her debut adult novel The Favor explores themes of friendship, surrogacy, and nontraditional family building.
Chris Lynch is an American writer of books for young people. His works include Inexcusable, a finalist for the U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature, and Iceman,"The Right Fight", Shadow Boxer, Gold Dust, and Slot Machine, all ALA Best Books for Young Adults; Freewill was also a runner-up for the Michael L. Printz Award. Some of his works are intended for a high school level audience; some for children and younger teenagers.
Living Dead Girl is a young adult novel written by Elizabeth Scott. The story follows a girl called "Alice" who has been kidnapped by a pedophile named Ray.
Keesha's House is a 2003 award winning debut young adult verse novel by American author Helen Frost. The book's story is told through multiple poems and concerns a group of teenagers that are all drawn to the house of the title character Keesha due to serious issues in their personal lives.
Bill Konigsberg is an American author, best known for his LGBT novels. He wrote Out of the Pocket, Openly Straight, The Porcupine of Truth, Honestly Ben, The Music of What Happens, and The Bridge. He lives with his husband outside of Phoenix, Arizona.
Such A Pretty Girl is a 2007 young adult novel by American author Laura Wiess. The book was first published on January 2, 2007 through MTV Books and deals with the subject matter of a teenage girl that must deal with the reality that the father that molested and sexually abused her and several others is getting an early release from jail.
Wonder Show is the 2012 young adult debut novel of American writer Hannah Barnaby. The book was first published on 20 March 2012 in hardback and e-book formats, and was subsequently released in paperback on 8 October 2013. The work was a finalist for the 2013 William C. Morris Award. The book is set in the late 1930s and is told from multiple points of view, but primarily follows a young teen that decides to join a circus in hopes of finding her long missing father.
Love Letters to the Dead (2014) is the first novel by American author Ava Dellaira, published in 2014. This is a teen novel told through a series of letters written by a girl named Laurel who is grieving the recent mysterious death of her sister May. The novel is set in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Bahni Turpin is an American audiobook narrator and stage and screen actor based out of Los Angeles. Her audiobook career includes some of the most popular and critically-acclaimed books in recent years, including The Help and The Hate U Give. She has won 9 Audie Awards, including Audiobook of the Year for Children of Blood and Bone; 14 Earphone Awards; and 2 Odyssey Awards. Turpin has also earned a place on AudioFile magazine's list of Golden Voice Narrators, and in 2016, she was named Audible's Narrator of the Year. In 2018, Audible inducted her into the Narrator Hall of Fame.
Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction is a graphic memoir by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, published October 9, 2018 by Graphix. The book tells the story of Krosoczka's childhood living with his grandparents while his mother lived with a substance use disorder.
Sadie is a novel written by Courtney Summers. The book was released on September 4, 2018, and is told from two perspectives: some chapters offering Sadie's point of view and some chapters being styled as transcripts from a podcast called "The Girls" hosted by a man named West McCray. The release of the book was accompanied by the release of a mock true-crime podcast titled The Girls: Find Sadie which is available on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher.
Nina LaCour is an American author, primarily known for writing young adult literature with queer, romantic story lines. Her novel We Are Okay won the Printz Award in 2017.
Ghost is a young adult novel by Jason Reynolds, published August 30, 2016 by Atheneum Books. It is the first book of Reynold's Track series, followed by Patina (2017), Sunny (2018), and Lu (2018).
Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks is a young adult novel written by Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Alexander Nabaum, and published October 8, 2019 by Atheneum Books. The book is a New York Times best seller, National Book Award for Young People's Literature finalist (2019), Coretta Scott King Award honor book (2020), and Carnegie Medal recipient (2021).
We Are the Ants is a young adult science fiction novel by Shaun David Hutchinson, published January 19, 2016 by Simon Pulse with a 24-page companion story, "What We Pretend to Be", published on the publisher's website, Riveted, later that year.
Shaun David Hutchinson is an American author of young adult texts. His novels often "combine speculative elements with LGBT characters and themes."
