The recent ALA Media Awards have been announced. Not only do wehave a new Newbery Award for outstanding contribution to children’s literature but we also have a young adult title which has won the Michael W. Printz Award (I call it the Newbery for teens).
The Newbery Winner is: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
The story of Ivan, a silverback gorilla told from Ivan's point of view, is a charming, soul searching, and inspirational book about a real gorilla that once lived in a circus themed mall in Washington State.
It is written in short sentences and paragraphs because, as Ivan puts it, "Humans waste words. They toss them like banana peels and leave them to rot. Everyone knows that the peels are the best part."
This book will appeal to children and animal lovers alike.
The Michael W. Printz Award is: In Darkness by Nick Lake
15-year old gangster Shorty finds himself trapped in a collapsed hospital after the 2010 Haitian earthquake. To maintain his somewhat tenuous sanity, he speaks his life story to the darkness surrounding him. As he weakens and faces the truth that his rescue may never come, hallucinations parallel with visions of Haitian rebel leader Toussaint L'Ouverture who led a slave revolt and helped force Napoleon and the French out of Haiti two hundred years ago.
Shorty describes his life coming of age in the poorest of slums in a world where daily violence sometimes leads to unexpected humanity.
Both of these books are available for checkout at Marshall Public Library. Many other books have won awards and you can find a complete list at www.yalsa.ala.org.
Kath Ann Hendricks, Young Adult Librarian
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