2015 Michael Printz winners

printz award printz award

 

2015 Winner

I’ll Give You the Sun  By Jandy Nelson

I’ll Give You the Sun

By Jandy Nelson

Published by Dial Books, an imprint of Penguin Group, (USA) LLC, a Penguin Random House Company

Once inseparable, twins Noah and Jude are torn apart by a family tragedy that transforms their intense love for each other into intense anger. Timelines twist and turn around each other in beautifully orchestrated stories of love and longing.

2015 Honor Books

And We Stay  By Jenny Hubbard

And We Stay

By Jenny Hubbard

Published by Delacorte, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., a Penguin Random House Company.

Reeling from her boyfriend’s dramatic suicide, Emily hides her anguish at a new boarding school, where she finds healing through poetry. Hubbard’s gem-like prose beautifully balances Emily’s poetry.

The Carnival at Bray  By Jessie Ann Foley

The Carnival at Bray

By Jessie Ann Foley

Published by Elephant Rock Books.

In 1993, Maggie is dismayed to leave Chicago and her beloved Uncle Kevin behind when she moves to a small Irish town. Yet it is within this evocative setting that Foley unwinds Maggie’s exceptional coming-of-age tale, where Maggie discovers music and forgiveness as antidotes for grief. 

Grasshopper Jungle  By Andrew Smith

Grasshopper Jungle

By Andrew Smith

Published by Dutton Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), LLC, a Penguin Random House Company.

Historian Austin Szerba is in love with his best girl friend, Shann. He is also in love with his best boy friend, Robby. Mastermind Smith takes these tender facts and swirls them into a whirlwind tale of carnivorous praying mantises, the history of the world, the role of the individual, and the end of all we know.

This One Summer  By Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki

This One Summer

By Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki

Published by First Second

Adolescence in its precarious first bloom is the subject of this sensitive graphic novel. The team of Mariko and Jillian Tamaki show and tell us of one special summer in Rose’s life, in a brilliant flow of pictures and text.

Members of the 2015 Printz Award Committee are: Chair Diane Colson, Nashville  (Tenn.) Public Library; Hayden Bass, Seattle Public Library; Robin Brenner, Brookline Public Library, Arlington, Mass.; Adrienne Butler,  Oklahoma City; Naphtali Faris, Kansas City (Mo.) Public Library; Angela Frederick, Metro Nashville (Tenn.) Public Schools; Shelly McNerney, Olathe East High School, Overland Park, Kan.; Matthew Moffett, Fairfax County (Va.) Public Libraries; Terri Snethen, Blue Valley North High School, Overland Park, Kan.; Award Administrative Assistant John Sexton, Greenburgh Public Library, Elmsford, N.Y.; and Booklist Consultant Daniel Kraus, Chicago.


Previous Winners

View a complete list of Michael L. Printz winners and honor book authors.

More information on previous winners.