In the months before the January 27 announcement of the Michael L. Printz Award, the highest honor for young adult books, SLJ’s Pondering Printz column analyzed titles, predicted winners, and stoked conversation about the best YA books of the year—and which will take the 2020 award. Our expert columnists, all former committee members, discussed the authors who have been celebrated by the Printz in the past, genre fiction that deserves consideration, and the underrepresented voices among this year’s contenders that may now enter the canon. They also pulled back the curtain on the selection process, explaining how committee members must read hundreds of books and look beyond the ones they personally love.

Read the whole conversation here, and stay tuned for the winners, which will be revealed as part of the American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards announcement on Monday.

New Year, Past Winners | Pondering Printz

Transforming the Canon | Pondering Printz

Read 300 Books, Vote for Three | Pondering Printz

Monsters, Magic, and Mech Suits: Genre Picks for the Printz | Pondering Printz

Love Has No Place at the Table | Pondering Printz