Mock Printz 2010 - pt. 1

On January 9th, Jennifer Studebaker, the fabulous Coordinator for Fort Vancouver Regional Library’s Youth Adult Services, and I hosted our Second Annual Mock Printz Workshop. Clark County-area librarians, teachers and teens spent the afternoon discussing and, ultimately, recognizing a book that they felt was the best young adult title for the previous year.

The following YA novels were the titles selected for discussion at our workshop:

Wintergirls - Laurie Halse Anderson
if I stay - Gayle Forman
Liar - Justine Larbalestier
Andromeda Klein - Frank Portman
Punkzilla - Adam Rapp
When You Reach Me - Rebecca Stead
Marcelo in the Real World - Francisco X. Stork
Tales from Outer Suburbia - Shaun Tan
Distant Waves: a Novel of the Titanic - Suzanne Weyn
The Monstrumologist - Rick Yancey

This year's workshop saw a dramatic 400% increase in the number of teens that participated! My math skills aren't the greatest (click here to see my favorite t-shirt slogan regarding my attitude toward all things mathematical); but with ten more teens added to last year's three returning participants, I am pretty sure that percentage is correct. I have to give partial credit for this happy upsurge to my Union High School colleague who designed an entire thematic unit for her Honors English students that provided them with the opportunity to select Mock Printz participation as an end-of-semester final assignment.

So, what were the conclusions that the librarians, teachers and teens came to regarding some of the most outstanding YA literature published in 2009?

And the award goes to . . .



I was quite shocked that this title won. So much buzz had been humming around Marcelo in the Real World that I was sure that would win. On reflection, though, I could see the appeal of this gothic historical fiction title. Paper-ephemera geek that I am, I was initially drawn to this book for the 19th century scientific engravings that cover the endpapers and are sprinkled throughout the opening pages of the novel. Also, I am always a sucker for novels that title each chapter as I feel this sets a tone for the reading that will follow. Finally, I find the device of an author claiming to be merely the editor of a found manuscript quite charming. Taking all these things into consideration, I am pleased that a fellow Floridian was chosen as our winner (even if he does plan for the book to be the first in a series when I would have loved to just have the story end with the monstrumologist laughing at the possibilities the arawakus Infestation might bring).

Honor Books:



The Honor Book winners seemed predictable as these were the titles whose characters stayed with me throughout most of last year and who I kept returning to when thinking of my "Top 10". Both informative in their own ways of enlightening the reader to the reality of functioning with an "excessive attempt at cognitive order," in Marcelo's case; and battling an eating disorder in Lia's, these novels should be required high school reading.

My personal top 3 for the workshop were 1) Marcelo in the Real World 2) Tales from Outer Suburbia and 3) Andromeda Klein (which left a few participants calling for my blood as I was the one who chose this title for the short list of 10 - I will save my proselytizing on Portman's prose for a post on a different day, though.)

Plans are already afoot for Mock Printz 2011. Happy reading!