Every year, we like to take our shot at guessing the most likely contenders for the Printz award. We’ve got a little over a month until the announcement, so we thought it about time to revisit our mid-year guesses and add any new titles we thought might have a shot at the list. We’d love any of your thoughts — where do you agree or disagree?

Kelly Says…

Most of the guesses I had in June still hold true for me. Here’s my list of best predictions:

Imaginary Girls Nova Ren Suma: I’ve had this one since my initial list, and I’ve reviewed it with Kim here. I had the chance to read this book a second time since and I think I loved it more the second read — I picked up on a lot of things I missed the first time that made me appreciate how well-written and intricately-woven the threads of this story are. It’s not an easy read but a challenging one, but the reward is worth it.

Chime by Franny Billingsley: This is one I haven’t read but Kim has. This one I’ve put on my list because it has earned six starred reviews and has been praised for its world development and language, which are two things I know the committee looks at closely. I still stand by my original assessment of this one — the cover is atrocious.

Blink and Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones: This one’s been a “best of” list favorite, as well as one that garnered three starred reviews. I read this one and felt pretty neutral toward the story as a whole, but I found the writing distracting. One of the characters is written in second person, and as a reader, I found that tactic pulled me out of the story. Since literary merit is the big factor in the Printz, though, I wouldn’t be surprise if that technique is actually a strength for this particular book.

Everybody Sees the Ants by AS King: I’m hoping that King’s book doesn’t get overlooked because she took home an honor last year for Please Ignore Vera Dietz. This one got six stars, like the Billingsley title, but this one hasn’t made a single “best of” list. I’m not sure how that works. I’ve read this one, and while I wasn’t as in love with it as I was with Vera Dietz, it stands on its own and the writing is top notch. It’s another blend of reality and the fantastic, a style I love. You can read Kim’s review here.

LIE by Caroline Bock: I’ve reviewed this one, and it has earned four starred reviews. It’s a dark horse, I think, but the writing is tight, and the storyline compelling. The message is a bit heavy-handed, but I don’t think that is an issue for the committee, who’ll look at the literary merits, and this one scores high on that scale.

The Watch that Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic by Allan Wolfe: Another dark horse, but one that cannot be discounted because the writing and the storyline are so compelling. I’ve reviewed this one, and I thought of all the young adult verse novels I read this year (which I think might be all of them), this one made strongest use of the form. Also, it features 24 distinct voices and handles them all very well.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness: I tried reading this one but couldn’t for a number of reasons. It’s exceedingly well written — even from the bit I made it through there was no question on literary quality — and it has garnered some strong reaction from those who have made it through. Kim’s reviewed it, and it earned 4 starred reviews.

Life: An Exploded Diagram Mal Peet: Add this to the pile of I tried to read it but couldn’t do it. It’s a challenging text, and from what I’ve read in the reviews, the payoff is worth it. It’s highly literary and plays with human life against the backdrop of major historical events.

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey: This mystery from Australia has garnered four starred reviews. I’ve reviewed it briefly, too. I have to say, I wasn’t as impressed with this one as others have been — it was sort of a dead story because I figured out the end in the first couple of chapters, and I didn’t quite find the way it played out to be all that fascinating. I realize I’m in the minority here, though, and I do think it meets the writing qualities the Printz committee looks for.

The Daughter of Smoke and Bone Laini Taylor: I think this might be the top contender this year. It’s gorgeously written and has some of the most beautiful prose I’ve read in a long time. I’m not a paranormal/supernatural reader, but Taylor made me love the journey anyway. Kim wrote a really great review of this one — and bonus, it’s earned four stars.

Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol: I was sort of surprised this one didn’t make the Morris short list, but I’m hoping that’s because it’s a real contender for the Printz. I adored this graphic novel, both from the illustration aspect and from the story and writing aspect. This one has garnered 5 starred reviews, and Kim’s reviewed it. It’s rare a book makes me want to go back and reread, but Brosgol’s graphic novel has been begging me to reread.

In addition to these, I’d love to see Blake Nelson’s Recovery Road on the list, though I think it’s a bit of a long shot. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Melina Marchetta’s The Piper’s Son make the cut, though I have a hard time wrapping my head around a story featuring no teen characters making the cut. I did read this one and quite liked it, but I don’t know how much of a serious chance it has. I wouldn’t be entirely surprised to see Libba Bray’s Beauty Queens make the cut, despite all the hangups I had with it (it was too over the top, even for satire, and I found myself not engaged in the story or the writing because of that) nor would I be surprised to see Lauren Myracle’s Shine, either. I would be really excited to see Sara Zarr’s How to Save a Life among the Printz finalists this year, as well.

What I cut:

So on my original list, I had Judy Blundell’s Strings Attached but after reading it, I found a lot of little things throughout the story that simply didn’t work enough to make it as tight a story as the ones I’ve listed above. The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow had a lot of passage of time issues I couldn’t forgive as a reader and I think would be called out by the committee. Even though it’s entirely possible to have a book wind up both on the Morris shortlist and on the Printz list, I don’t think Ruta Sepetys’s Between Shades of Gray will do that. There were some writing issues in the book for me, which I talked about here. As for my wish list item of CK Kelly Martin’s My Beating Teenage Heart? I keep it on my wish list.

Kim Says…

My top pick is, unsurprisingly, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. With last year’s pick, the Printz committee showed they weren’t afraid to hand the highest honor to a full-fledged genre title, so I’m hoping they’ll agree with me that Daughter is deserving of the prize this year. In terms of writing, it knocks all the competition out of the water, and by a long shot. You can read more of my rambling about the book and its merits here.

My two runners up are The Shattering by Karen Healey and Everybody Sees the Ants by A. S. King. In The Shattering, Healey writes three different points of view and keeps each of them distinct and three dimensional (no easy feat for a writer). It also includes a few big issues that award committees tend to love – LGBT, suicide, diversity – but it’s not a book entirely about those things. It’s definitely a fantasy, but set in our world with meaning beyond the fantastic. Everybody Sees the Ants is more of an issue novel, but King does it so well that it never feels preachy. The use of the ants and Lucky’s dreams add an interesting and literary flair, and Lucky’s voice is one of the best I’ve read.

Kelly has already discussed Imaginary Girls and Chime, which I still believe are contenders, although I didn’t like either of them as much as the three previous titles I’ve mentioned here. The writing in Imaginary Girls is stellar and the story is creepy good, but it didn’t speak to me like the others. Chime I didn’t care for at all – you can read all about why at my review here.

I still favor Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan for an honor nod. It made School Library Journal’s best books of the year, the writing is crisp, the plotting is fantastic, and the themes (religion, power, loyalty) are all award-worthy. It’s also got some faint historical/literary allusions that serve it well in the award arena.

I haven’t read You Against Me by Jenny Downham, but Abby has a rave review here, and it’s got all the elements of a winner: good writing, high-stakes issues (rape, loyalty, family), excellent characterization. It’s just recently hit my radar and it might be one of the few non-genre books I pick up.

Jen Says…

Since Jen’s been busy preparing for the arrival of her baby (a good excuse, we think!), she wanted to say she still thinks some of the books she originally cast as potential Printz picks still stand, namely Imaginary Girls and Chime.

Added by Jen at the last minute:
I would like to subtract one of my original picks, Beauty Queens, after reading the book and being less than impressed, despite my immense Libba Bray love. This novel felt like way too much of an in-your-face satire to me, with key plot points and character traits being shoved to the forefront, with no subtlety at all.

I’ll also throw into the mix Everybody Loves the Ants by A.S. King and Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. While I didn’t love Ants as much as I did Vera Dietz, King delivered a truly original, well-crafted book. And Daughter of Smoke and Bone was just plain beautiful, combining elements of traditional mythology with Taylor’s own twist. Daughter wasn’t 100% my usual preferred genre, but I really enjoyed this novel, and loved both its originality and its surprising twist.