Mock Printz 2026 discussion

Hello everyone! We are about to kick-off the 2023 session. I did have a question that I wanted to throw out there. Traditionally, we have focused on books that are almost exclusively published in the young adult category. However, in the last two years, two juvenile books have been selected for the Printz list (Starfish and Everything Sad is Untrue: A True Story).

Should we continue to maintain YA categories (I base selection off subject headings) or start to consider juvenile books that overlap into YA territory?

This is the stated Printz criteria:
To be eligible, a title must have been designated by its publisher as being either a young adult book or one published for the age range that YALSA defines as "young adult," i.e., 12 through 18.

I think including MG books would be okay

My opinion is that Everything Sad...was a special case of a teen book with a MG-aged protagonist. So I wasn't as surprised that it received a Printz nod last year.
As for Starfish, I feel like 12-13 is the ceiling for that one, and it was more stunning to me that it received an honor. Not that it wasn't deserved, just surprising that the committee allowed it under the criteria described above (published as YA/12-18).

Regarding this group, I think there is enough to read in YA over the course of a year that including MG in the process here could become cumbersome. My two cents.

Since the percentage of MG books is pretty low, I think I’d just stick with YA. However, that being said, throwing in an occasional MG would be just fine with me!

I am with Todd (and Chris).

I look forward to the ALA separating the ages for these two awards anyway. Why should we spend any time trying to figure out which book fits best in which slot? Our time is better spent trying to evaluate the literary character of the books we find time to read! The "appropriate" ages given for all of these books reflect business decisions after all....

I'll add my vote for sticking with YA, for the reasons stated above. But maybe if anyone reads a MG book which they feel could be a contender they could comment about it to alert us? Although TBH, I would not have called out Starfish as a contender and our library has Everything Sad is Untrue as a YA book.

same. Middle grade is huge, and I think Everything Sad is Untrue is a special case because it has a young MC, but the content is unusually mature for MG. I don't think we can tackle all the MG. It was an especially fuzzy year for boundaries, with Watercress picking up both the Caldecott and a Newbery honor.

Fantastic! I appreciate everyone's feedback. I had the same reservations about including MG. I was a bit surprised that Starfish received a nod from Printz but not Newbery. Going forward I will continue selecting YA books. If there is a strong MG that overlaps into the YA arena, I will include it. But for now, we will remain YA territory.

I’m voting to stick to just YA. Adding MG might be too overwhelming.

I think you've made the right choice, and I like Brittin's suggestion that people recommend strong borderline books.

I also participate in the Mock Newbery group, and that award has issues from both sides of the age range. There was an especially frustrating year (2018) when there was only one middle-grade novel chosen (Hello, Universe), and all three honors were a picture book (Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut) and two YA books (Long Way Down and Piecing Me Together). This year, that group voted for Starfish (intended for ages 10-13) as our top pick to win the Newbery, and it did not get any recognition for that award, only the Printz Honor (I highly recommend reading it if you get the chance - it is a wonderful, free verse novel on a very important topic - fat shaming and its effect on self-esteem). Likewise, one of this group's Printz readings - A Snake Falls to Earth (intended for ages 12-18) - did win a Newbery Honor.

I do wish, like others have said, that the ages did not overlap, but, as it stands, we may have to deal with those aforementioned "fuzzy borders" since both the award organization and the publishers would have to agree on new age distinctions to make it work, and I don't see that happening anytime soon (sorry to be pessimistic). At least, we can commend ourselves for choosing 3 of the 5 Printz books as monthly reads and for our final poll selection as the actual winner. That's a great result!

I just listened to an interesting webinar organized by School Library Journal, explaining how they went about reviewing. As it happened, the librarians spent a lot of time discussing how they distinguished between middle grade and young adult books.

One thing they mentioned is that they essentially ignore the age range indicated by the publisher of the books they are evaluating, and make up their own minds as to the appropriate audience. Perhaps other review journals do as well....

I guess we should therefore not be surprised that the award committees are just as "confused" as the rest of us as to where we should be shelving a particular title!

As a 7th-8th grade teacher, I have to point out that the borders overlap because the children themselves overlap. SO many 12 year olds are VERY ready for even pretty mature YA books (even as "YA" themes have creeped older in some ways). But there are still so many 13-14 year olds who need and want middle grade books- due to reading or comprehension level, sophistication/interest level, or parent preference. 12-18 is a ridiculously large range, when you think about it.