Comments on: Defining the terms, part 1

By: Caroline

Caroline — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:01:14 +0000

Thanks for this! Some students and I are starting to narrow down our top twelve for our Mock Printz challenge so we can order everything and get started in the next two weeks. It would be great to hear what you guys think will be some of the hot contenders for the prize. Several of the kids huddled around my computer last year as we watched the awards live…it was a blast and we can’t wait to do it again

By: anne

anne — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:18:38 +0000

I always think though that popularity is bad word in Printz circles. As in the more obscure the book the better? Why can’t a book be popular and amazing? Librarians on these committees often talk of books not getting on the list because they already have an audience and therefore don’t need to get an award. is this true?

By: Karyn Silverman

Karyn Silverman — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 12:06:54 +0000

I know! Because what do you do with directives like that? But writing through my discomfort with the criteria actually helped me recognize how important the flexibility is, even if I still quibble with some of the language of it.

By: Benjamin

Benjamin — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:47:40 +0000

Great start ladies! I have been waiting for a blog like this on SLJ. My group has always loved/hated that first line of the criteria; “What is quality? We know what it is not.”