My thoughts on the Printz this year:
1. Nothing for Marcelo in the Real World? This makes me utterly disappointed.
2. Didn't see Going Bovine coming at all. I don't know that I would have agreed, but good for Libba Bray!
3. I didn't see The Monstrumologist coming either (even though I think I read some blog speculation about this), but I'm happy for Rick Yancey. As I've mentioned before, I thought the marketing on this (trailer, cover, etc.) was very good. My students who read it have all given it a "so-so" verdict, though.
4. I haven't yet bought a copy of Punkzilla for my library because I've been hoping the paperback version will have a better cover, one that will actually appeal to any teenager. This is one of, if not the worst, covers of the year imo.
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6 comments:
I completely agree with points #1, 2, 4, and the first half of #3 (haven't heard anything from my teens about The Monstrumologist, but then, with it's like pulling teeth to get an opinion beyond "It was good" from most of my teens.)
Despite only reading Charles and Emma and half of Going Bovine and The Monstrumologist, I'm also disappointed that Marcelo wasn't on the Printz list. Though I didn't think Marcelo was going to win, because it seemed like it received the most buzz for the longest time and the past couple of years, the winner has come from under (or off) the radar, I did think it was going to get an honor.
What!?!?! Going Bovine? Really? After working through the first half of that book, I was actually wishing that I could die from Mad Cow so that the suffering would end! I hope the second half made it worth the award...I'll never know though.
Did I mention that I saw Rick Yancey and Libba Bray on a panel together at the Austin Teen Book Festival this year? Little did I know then...
I kind of wonder in these award decisions made by committee if sometimes they end up with books that no one (or hardly anyone) wanted as their top pick. Like, everyone had different favorites but this was one everyone kind of liked and could finally compromise on. I have no idea--I'm just saying this is a phenomenon of group decision-making. For example, when I had my classes pick topics for debates, we almost invariably ended up with a topic that no one really wanted to do in the first place but it was the only topic everyone would go along with without any major objections. It was no one's top choice, but it was everyone's third or fourth choice.
I was quite surprised with Going Bovine's win, as well. I personally really enjoyed it, but I'm wondering how much appeal it has for a lot of teens. I haven't heard anything from my teens about it; I'll have to ask them if they've read it and what they thought.
Not much to add of substance, except I had to say that Cody - you cracked me UP!
I was kind of bummed with the Printz list this year... not because of the relative merits of any of the titles, but because I haven't read any of them AND I didn't order any of them for my library. PrintzEpic!Fail. From the reviews I've read, most of the list doesn't seem super-appropriate for a middle school collection anyway, although I'm going to try to read the list to decide for myself. (Tales of the Madman etc. etc. isn't even listed in either Brooklyn or New York Public Library's catalogs as of this week!)
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