Sno-Isle Mock Printz discussion

Anybody read anything great so far this year? It's feeling a bit sparse out there to me, but I'm waiting for a couple promising titles.

Post your suggestions here.

Thanks for the reminder Anne! I've been meaning to send out an email this week to get things rolling :D

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith is fantastic--my best teen read of the year so far. Slacker boy humor, giant bugs, possible/probable end of the human race--really, what's not to love?

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson is excellent. Bring tissues, and maybe some Xanax. The Impossible Knife of Memory

We Were Liars is the only Printz worthy book I've read this year and it's not out until mid-May

I recently finished Panic, by Lauren Oliver. It's contemporary realism, part thriller, part mystery, and part romance. Not many YA books can keep me up late reading anymore, because they seem too predictable, or I just don't care what happens to the characters. This one did keep me up, and although there were some clues that helped predict things, it wasn't a turn off. It's my favorite by that author so far.

I may have jumped the gun, but I put these all down as nominations ;)

Feel free to withdraw a nomination that you suggested at any time before voting.

Kathleen wrote: "Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith is fantastic--my best teen read of the year so far. Slacker boy humor, giant bugs, possible/probable end of the human race--really, what's not to love?"

Ooooh, I'm loving this one. About half finished, and if I wasn't falling asleep on my chair I'd keep reading! Can't wait to see what happens.

I LOVED We Were Liars and Grasshopper Jungle. With both of them, I was drawn in and then blown away all the way to the end.

Panic didn't do anything for me though.

Noggin was interesting and worth reading, and not at all the story I expected, although the main character kind of annoyed me a LOT.

What about WHEN I WAS THE GREATEST by Jason Reynolds? It's Walter Dean Myers territory but has a teen with Tourettes. It is a beautiful debut that I think has been under the radar.

Adding!

Ooops...I had already added it in May.

I know we're always looking for non-fiction titles to add to our discussion. I'm going to recommend "Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek" by Maya Van Wagenen. The young author lives for a school year following the advice of a 1950's popularity manual. More comments to follow on the book post.

In terms of nonfiction, what about Beyond Magenta? I'm only 1/4 of the way through, but it is pretty fascinating. Not sure if the literary quality is Printz-worthy.

I'll add it to the nomination list. I liked it, but don't remember being particularly wowed by it.

I just finished "The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim" by E.K. Johnston, and I thought it was great. Original, clever, and well-written.

Adding to our nomination list :D

I think we should consider Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang. It's a hybrid of Before I Fall, If I Stay, and 13 Reasons Why, but exceptionally written. It's my bed for a Morris finalist, too.

Oh man...I just gave Falling Into Place away on the blog! Wish I had read it first. ;)

What We Hide by Marthe Jocelyn might be worth consideration. It's incredibly well written.

It's the story of teens' who are attending an English boarding school during the Vietnam War or know teens attending the boarding school. It's told in eight? ten? multiple points of view and each character is hiding or lying about something.

The big flaw it has for me is I don't know if it will hold teens' attention at the midpoint. I struggled in the middle because there were some many points of view and some of characters who I didn't care about.

I was most invested in Jenny the American girl and Robbie and Luke who have to hide they are gay. (One of them was beaten up so badly he ends up hospitalized.) So it was hard for me to care about some of the characters.

I thought Jocelyn did a fabulous job of giving me reasons to care for some of the characters who were not very likeable. Overall I enjoyed it but not as much as other books.

For what it's worth, these are the selections Fort Vancouver Libraries picked for their Mock Printz:

1. The Family Romanov, by Candace Fleming
2. Complicit, by Stephanie Kuehn
3. I'll Give You the Sun, by Jandy Nelson
4. Grasshopper Jungle, by Andrew Smith
5. This One Summer, by Jillian & Mariko Tamaki
6. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, by Leslye Walton

I've only read 4 and 5 of these.

A few more books to throw out there before the nomination deadline, in case anyone has read them.

Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer got 3 starred reviews
100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith got 4 starred reviews
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson got 6 starred reviews

Has anyone read any of these, or know enough about them to throw them in the ring?

Melleny wrote: "A few more books to throw out there before the nomination deadline, in case anyone has read them.

Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer got 3 starred reviews
100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith got 4 starred rev..."

I read Belzhar. It's very well written, high interest and well paced. Ultimately, I was a little let down by the main character - the supporting characters had so much more depth in comparison.

I just picked up Scott Westerfeld's Afterworlds from the hold shelf and while I haven't started it, I'm wondering if anyone has read it. It's one of those meta-fiction books that seems like it could be in the running for a big prize.

Has anyone read Hunt for the Bamboo Rat by Graham Salisbury yet?

No, I'm reading "The Doubt Factory" by Paolo Bacigalupi.

What about Bacigalupi's Zombie Baseball Beatdown? It deals with so many social justice issues.

Published last year... not eligible. It was a great book though!

We don't have any graphic novels yet... two that are getting buzz (I've read both) are "Through the Woods" by Emily Carroll, and "This One Summer" by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki.

Jackie also mentioned This One Summer. I'll add it to the list, but now we have to narrow it down...no more additions! ;)