Voting Time!

The time has come (as the Walrus said) to make some hard decisions.

We have 10 titles we’ve voted for already. These are the cream of the crop, the best of the best, the (drumroll) Pyrite* Shortlist!

But only one can wear the (fool’s) gold, and it’s time to decide which one.

A note on process: RealPrintz votes are weighted, so we’ll do just like the RealCommittee and vote (using the comments) for three books each.

(Number them 1, 2, 3 for clarity, and consider carefully the order in which you list your picks. Each first place vote is worth 5 points, second place three and first place 1; the to win a title must have 5 of the 9 first place votes — we’ll adjust to 50% + 1 — and at least 5 points more than the second place vote. Honor books are voted separately, so this vote is just for the winner.)

The RealCommittee vote is blind (paper votes handed in to the Chair), and does not include commentary, but here we can relax a bit. If you want to add a sentence or two to each title about why you’re voting for it, go ahead. And we recommend you vote before you look at anyone else’s responses, to maintain that blind vote as much as possible and avoid the temptation to do math and strategize. That’s what second votes are for, and we will go to a second vote if we don’t get a decisive winner.

Since many are off to Seattle this week (not Sarah or Karyn, sadly, but Sophie is scheduled to be there) and the YMAs are almost here, we’ll close voting Thursday morning, and do an second vote and/or honor vote on Thursday and Friday. (We’ve also got a few more books that we either promised to cover or think are so delicious we want to get a review out, plus a top 5, so we’ll be squeezing all that in this week as well. Those of you who aren’t off to Seattle, we’ll keep you busy until Monday morning comes!)

So go! Vote! And may the best book win.

The Pyrite Shortlist, for those who didn’t memorize it already:

The Drowned Cities, Paolo Bacigalupi
The Diviners, Libba Bray
The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
Seraphina, Rachel Hartman
Ask the Passengers, A.S. King
The Brides of Rollrock Island, Margo Lanagan
Every Day, David Levithan
Bomb, Steve Sheinkin
The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater
Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein

*The Pyrite Printz, or Pyrite, is the Someday My Printz Will Come mock Printz deliberation, and should not in any way be confused with YALSA’s Michael L. Printz Award, often referred to here as the RealPrintz or Printz. Our predictions, conversations, and speculation about potential RealPrintz contenders and winners reflect only our own best guesses and are not affiliated with YALSA or the RealPrintz committee. You probably figured that out on your own, but we like to make it clear!

Filed under: Process, Pyrite