Mock Printz 2026 discussion

No stranger to YALSA awards with her debut as a finalist for the 2015 Morris, does E.K. Johnston's latest, Exit, Pursued by a Bear, have a shot at Printz?

I loved this book! It's not exactly what it seems, at first, but I definitely think it has a shot at the Printz Award. I'm interested to hear what other people think!

This was super fantastic! Review coming soon, but wow, I really, really loved this book.

I thought it was quite good.

I liked how the cheerleaders weren't stereotypical dolts like the way they're often depicted in fiction -- they had intelligence, compassion and strength. Strength - whether it be morally or constitutionally - is something that just about every citizen of Palmerston had. The slut-shaming in the book was kept to a minimum and the people who did it had either a fleshed-out, yet erroneous and unacceptable reason, or they did it unintentionally.

There were no one-dimensional characters in the book. Johnston made every line and action earned and right for the characters to say, even if I didn't agree with it (Leo, I'm looking at you).

I really liked Johnston's ability to depict teenagers accurately. At no point did I think a line of dialogue didn't sound right. And it flowed so smoothly!

I liked the ending and thought it carried an intelligent, original, and true message. There have been so many YA books on rape, and it's really hard to find something new to say, but Johnston nails it.

My only complaint is that while I was attached to all of the primary character, it didn't quite have the emotional impact that I wanted.

Nevertheless, this is the smartest YA book on rape that I've read. I don't think it's worthy of the Printz Award, but definitely a Printz Honor!

I had this strange moment today when I was telling some of my friends about this book and I said, "It's the best book about sexual assault that I've read." It seems like an odd sentiment, but with this book, it's true. I appreciate the author's take on what I'm sure is an extremely complex situation; Hermione is the epitome of a survivor. She of course experiences moments of extreme emotional distress, but the way that she is depicted as a young woman who has ways of working through that distress and finding courage within herself to go on is inspiring. I appreciate the fact that she also has a wide supports system--friends, her team, her family, her therapist, the officer. This is not a book where the victim has to figure this situation out alone. Is it Printz-worthy? I'm not sure. When I compare it to a book like "We Are the Ants," which is so original and so deep, I have a hard time saying that this book deserves to win. However, I do agree with another poster here that it would be a great candidate for the Printz Honor Book designation.

I love everything EK Johnston writes, and this was no exception. I think a colleague's review about this sums it up best: https://lezbrarian.wordpress.com/2016...

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was home with a sick kid and read this in one day. I'm not sure it will be a Printz contender, but I can see it being a YALSA top ten. Still thinking about this and how best to evaluate it. I did appreciate the dialogue between the teens, and it did seem to ring true. As a parent, seeing how the adults around Hermione responded and what she expected from them, it did make me think about what *I* might do if my daughter (or one of her friends) experienced something like this. I hope it speaks as much to teen readers, and provides as much food for thought.

Well done. Never have I read another YA book about rape where the survivor maintains such grace while dealing with the terrible consequences of an already terrible situation.

Jenni wrote: "I love everything EK Johnston writes, and this was no exception. I think a colleague's review about this sums it up best: https://lezbrarian.wordpress.com/2016......"

I love your colleague's review! It brought me to tears reading it and thinking about the book all over again.

I thought this was excellent and definitely worthy of discussion for the Printz committee.

It's been 10-15 years since I read The Winter's Tale - I'm wondering if anyone has it fresher in their mind and can talk about thematic connections? The names are definitely riffs on the Shakespeare characters, and there's the "lost" baby - although lost in a very different sense here. The idea of a woman's honor/virtue being falsely called into question. But I'm wondering what else I'm missing.

This reminds me of Bone Gap in that the story is still excellent without the connections to an older story, but that element of retelling adds some extra richness.

I really liked the book, but I was bothered how other than the one horrible event, which we, like Hermione, were not privy to the details, everything else was as picture perfect as it could have been. How nearly everyone, from the police with very sympathetic actions, to medical professionals who all said and did the right things, to even clergy who supported the choice of abortion were basically a picture perfect support system. I doubt that very few, if any, rape survivors experience such acknowledgment, acceptance and support from all sides. The only character with any lack of immediate understanding was Leo, who had already been established as an a-hole before the attack. I guess it just seemed unrealistic in that way. But it was a great book in all the other aspects listed by you all above!

Cathy wrote: "I really liked the book, but I was bothered how other than the one horrible event, which we, like Hermione, were not privy to the details, everything else was as picture perfect as it could have be..."

I can completely appreciate what you're saying about everything being too perfect; however, I'm wondering if this is Johnston's point--to provide a vision of what SHOULD happen in these situations, rather than blaming and shaming the victim.

It is DEFINITELY what SHOULD happen, I guess I'm used to YA typically being brutally honest and this felt too easy.

Cathy wrote: "I really liked the book, but I was bothered how other than the one horrible event, which we, like Hermione, were not privy to the details, everything else was as picture perfect as it could have be..."

I agree with Cathy. As a survivor myself, this is a very unrealistic picture of what happens. But it is an ideal one, and I don't think the Disney-esque nature of this book lessens its impact.

While I agree that this is a good book, and an important topic, I felt that the book was too issue-driven to merit the Printz. The characters were, as Cathy has noted, too perfect to be considered well-rounded and realistic. This is a book that I'll be happy to promote and put into as many teen hands as possible, but not one I would champion for the Printz.

I want to add that the "coming out" of her best friend was handled matter of factly and gracefully...points to her for that as well. Not a perfect book, but one I would recommend and hope that teens would read.

Wow, I really, really, really loved this book.
http://revingsblog.blogspot.com/2016/...

This book improves over time. At first I was pretty impatient with all the cheerleading. And I thought my bookish kids wouldn't be able to relate, then as I told someone about the book I heard myself talking about the themes: friendship, sexual assault and recovery, and high school issues. I especially liked the way that Hermione 1. got help instead of stuffing her feelings. 2. Her friendship with Polly was so supportive (good role models for friends) 3. Her parents, coach, and therapist were all reliable adults. I think it should be considered by the committee when they meet in January.

Nicole wrote: "Cathy wrote: "I really liked the book, but I was bothered how other than the one horrible event, which we, like Hermione, were not privy to the details, everything else was as picture perfect as it..."

The tension between realism and idealism was a matter of consequence for me as well. It did not detract from my enjoyment of the book, and I think was actually there to be thought-provoking, as Nicole wrote. It was certainly thought-provoking for me: What does it mean to be a friend through terrible ordeals? How should adults react to kids who are hurting? How should we find the balance between ignoring something that happened vs. letting it consume us?

I actually felt like it was Hermione who was too perfect, but maybe that's because rarely is a rape survivor portrayed with such strength. Many other characters, though they supported her, didn't know how to deal with Hermione at first: Jenny, her parents, some teammates. Even though perhaps the support wasn't realistic in the sense that this very rarely happens in the real world, I appreciated that it was realistic in the sense that it is achievable in the real world. It's not like Johnston was asking us to sprout wings and fly or anything. She was merely pointing out what humanity is actually capable of, and for that I do hope this is a least considered for the Printz.

As a rape survivor, I felt incredibly offended by this book. I was fuming by the time I turned the last few pages.

I agree with Cathy who notes that everything that happens is "picture perfect." As I said in my review, the fact that 99% of reviewers don't acknowledge how unrealistic this is just goes to show you how entrenched we are in rape culture. This book basically says, "Come on victims, put smiles on your faces, pull up those bootstraps and move on!" This book is 100% idealistic.

I don't think it was very well written either. I found the beginning to be fairly boring, and Hermione was one of the flattest, most generic characters ever. She never really got upset about anything!

I like Emma's take that maybe the story could be used as a lesson for how others SHOULD react, but I do think that many survivors will have Lyra's reaction, and it could feed into "hey it's not so bad" thoughts for those who do not have first hand knowledge of victimization.

I read E. K. Johnston's first book, THE STORY OF OWEN, which I enjoyed until almost the end, when the author took the female protagonist, an extraordinary musician who could play every kind of instrument, and ruined her hands in support of the borderline oblivious male protagonist. It was a nasty and cruel resolution to the plot, and ruined the book for me. I did buy the sequel for my library, but didn't read it.

So I read this new book under some duress and with a negative bias. Unfairly or not, I found the writing in this novel stiff and chilly in tone, and the characters quite wooden. It did seem more of a message novel than anything else. Since I knew I wasn't going to read this objectively, I should have just skipped it.

I enjoyed the book, but I think I may have had too high of expectations. Yes, like others have mentioned, it shows how people SHOULD react, but I was actually offended a bit by it too, and I am not a rape survivor. I thought Hermione should have a bit more . . . something. . . outrage, anger, frustration, etc. Just because you don't remember an event; I think it would still be horrifying. I also think that having an abortion would have emotional baggage as well, regardless of your stance on it. As far as the character who came out, while I liked how it was handled, I felt that it was almost thrown in there in effort to check something off a list. So, in short, I enjoyed the book, but I don't think it should be a Printz winner. Hopefully, for all its strengths and weaknesses, the book brings about discussion of rape, roofies, etc.

It's interesting to note that this book sparked more discussion than many.

I thought it was a page-turning and useful book, but I don't see it as Printz material. I'm with the folks who found the characters underdeveloped. In particular I was frustrated by the central best-friendship. Best friendship can be such a rich teen relationship to depict, but here, although we could see that Polly was fierce, and loyal to Hermione, other than being told that they'd been friends forever, I felt like I didn't get to see the inner workings of their friendship in action. I wanted in on the nitty-gritty of that bond, not just to observe the results of it.

I was torn about the idealization (the nearly-perfect support system etc) but in the end found it unsatisfying. Remember when Levithan's Boy Meets Boy came out? It totally worked for me that we were looking at how life *could* be rather than realism. But I think the characters helped carry that story (plus it was a giddier kind of fairy tale); whereas here, despite my rooting for all the strong girls, I still felt like I was reading an outline with an agenda, not a fully alive story.

Oh yeah, and the title is interesting. Did it work for y'all? Plusses for being memorable, but I'm still not quite sure how to read it. I take it as having two main meanings: 1) Her experience of being chased out of her expected life trajectory, and of being attacked. 2) His turn to exit, pursued by a powerful young woman (who cheers as a Golden Bear).
Or?
I anticipate challenges to explaining the title when hand-selling the book at the library. "It's about a kickass cheerleader dealing with a rape she can't remember. Um, no, there's not actually a bear in it..."

Mary HD wrote: "I read E. K. Johnston's first book, THE STORY OF OWEN, which I enjoyed until almost the end, when the author took the female protagonist, an extraordinary musician who could play every kind of inst..."

Totally agree about The Story of Owen's ending. (Although I didn't notice who the author was for Exit, so didn't come into it scowling.)

Debrarian wrote: "I still felt like I was reading an outline with an agenda, not a fully alive story. "
THIS