It hasn’t been an outstanding year for graphic format works with Printz potential — but a handful of books either have some buzz or have some potential, even if none of them are likely to be serious contenders. So read on for an alphabetical listing of graphic novels that might maybe could (but probably won’t) have Printzly aspirations.
Not Divergent divergent, but diverse, unexpected, small press books diverging from the post-apocalyptic formula of yesteryear: that’s what we’ve got for you today. The Marrow Thieves won both the Kirkus Prize and the Canadian Governor General’s Literary Award, and has shown up on the year-end lists for Kirkus and School Library Journal — not bad for a Canadian publication almost entirely under the radar stateside. All the Wind in the World is Samantha Mabry’s sophomore effort after last year’s enticing A Fierce and Subtle Poison. It’s a quiet book in terms of buzz, although it had a strong showing out of the gate with 3 stars and a place on the NBA longlist; it also made Booklist‘s Editor’s Choice.
Adapted from photo by James St. John, CC BY 2.0
Yes, you read that right: It’s Pyrite time!
In case this is your first rodeo: The Pyrite is Someday’s Mock Printz. Instead of gold, we award fool’s gold — because mock/fool, right? (Puns may be the lowest form of humor to some, but I never met one I didn’t like.) We have no affiliation with the actual Printz, and no insider trading knowledge, but on the best years, our Pyrite slate overlaps with the RealCommittee slate, and then we get to pat ourselves on the backs and feel wicked smart.
This isn’t necessarily a big book in Printz speculation terms, but it’s a big book in the kidlit field; lots of excited librarians, lots of buzzing adults, lots of stars, lots of sales. Which means it’s the kind of book the RealCommittee is likely to look at, and it’s also the kind of book that we all wanted to read, so it was a solid candidate for a round-table review.
But then Joy decided to be a fan and not read this for critique purposes (and really, do you blame her? Sometimes it’s so nice not to worry about what you’ll say about a book). Karyn and Sarah, on the other hand, decided to use the critique to work through our conflicting feelings, so this is only a two-person discussion — but we’re hoping it will become a more-person discussion in the comments. We know some of you will strongly disagree with what we have to say.
The Walter Award has been announced, along with two honor books, and all three are books we’ve already talked about in terms of Printz contention — although we only support one of them strongly. Of course, the Walter is a different award, with a different purpose, but the committee is looking for “outstanding books” so it’s fascinating to look at which books they recognized from a year that is relatively rich in diverse titles.
(Yes, we still need more diverse books and more #ownvoices books and yes the numbers are still woefully low — but relative to previous years, it’s more than what we’ve had.)
Does WNDB/Walter recognition for Disappeared and You Bring the Distant Near push them higher on anyone’s Printz speculation? Does the win for A Long Way Down change your bets for its Printzly potential? Speculate away!
Sisters. Parents. Family. Children of immigrants. Starred reviews. National Book Award recognition. These books have quite a bit in common, not least in terms of love and buzz and people talk-talk-talking. Both novels examine generational expectations, both examine daughters who long to be artists, and both novels illustrate how daughters and their parents move around each other in complicated patterns, trying to understand each other. They’re not entirely similar — while Perkins uses different perspectives and voices to tell the story of one family’s experiences, Sánchez focuses on Julia’s voice to give an understanding of her family. Perkins’ You Bring the Distant Near got four stars, and Sánchez’s I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter received two stars. With intense focus from the NBA (YBDN made the longlist; IAMYPMD was a finalist), what will RealCommittee have to say about these two titles?
Two books today, both fantasy. All the Crooked Saints technically belonged in last week’s previous winners cluster, as Stiefvater received an honor for 2012’s The Scorpio Races, but it ran over the word count. And That Inevitable Victorian Thing seemed like a good book to pair with it; Johnston, like Stiefvater, loves to play with old stories in new forms, and has a Morris, making her a previous winner — albeit not a Printz winner. Also, both fall into the problematic books from beloved authors category. So with no further introduction, here goes:
Lightning image by Flickr user Jan-Joost Verhoef; CC BY 2.0
And here is part two of our previous winners posts!
Again, we’re looking at past winners, honorees, and generally lauded authors who have a new book out this year, and again we’re wondering if lighting can strike twice (or, if you’re Marcus Sedgwick, four times).
Sleepers
Via giphy, and here because they say images are good. And who doesn’t love a sleeping panda?
2017 is done and there’s nothing else to be reviewed by the review outlets and everyone who isn’t on the artificial ALA timeline is looking at 2018 instead (ok, including me: I’m currently engrossed in the dark and mesmerizing The Hazel Wood, which name-checks like every book that made me, so you can imagine how much I am loving it, but really I have no business turning to 2018 yet). In other words, it’s that awful time of year when I’ve read everything on my to-read list that I wanted to read, and I’m left with a handful I should read (but really don’t want to)… and a sense that there must be more out there to entice me.
(And while I’m talking a lot about myself, I am assured that Sarah and Joy are in the same place, and probably all the wonderful librarians serving on actual committees are feeling the same, except with more pressure and hopefully less self-pity.)
So let’s do one of those delightful short posts where really all we do is ask for your feedback. We want to hear what you’ve been loving. What are the under the radar reads, the sleepers, the books of your heart that aren’t already getting all the buzz and attention? Feel free to contextualize in terms of Printz likeliness — but also feel free to just wax rhapsodic about books you’ve loved this year that you want everyone else to love too, except you think maybe no one else even knows about them.