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Mind-Blowing Books

 

This year there is no shortage of exquisitely written books vying for the Printz award.  These 
five books have brought joy, clarity, and will just "blow your mind"! 

     by Christina Vortia  SLJ October 2020


The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta
    This novel in verse is the 2020 Stonewall Award winner, so it's not a leap that it's a strong Printz contender now that it's being published in the U.S.  With stunning prose, Atta tackles the intersections of sexuality, gender identity, race, homophobia, internalized racism, and colorism with bravery, ferocity, and love. Michael is a biracial Brit of jamaican and Greek descent growing up with a single mom. He learns at the age of six that wanting a Barbie doll doesn't fit within a so-called norm. This realization sets Michael on the path of unraveling other expectations and stitching together an authentic, experience in the drag ballroom scene.  Beautiful, tinely, and necessary, this book is a top candidate for the award.

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam
    This is a compulsory novel in verse coauthored by Salaam, an exonerated member of the Central Park Five. Amal is a poet and an artist. When he encounters people with the ability to affect the course of his life, he's seen as a thug, a criminal.  Themes of mass incarceration and the disenchantment and disenfranchisement of young Black men put this book right on the pulse of the Black Lives Matter Movement. This striking composition tugs at hears and engages minds.

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
    This is the quintessential immigrant story told in a lush and loving way with ethereal, mesmerizing artwork.  A son trying to tell his parents he's gay.  A mom trying to tell her son she supports him. As Tien bonds with his mother through library books, we realize Nguyen has given readers something really special. 

We Are Not Free by Traci Chee
     This is the powerful and timely story of 14 teens surviving the Japanese internment camps during World War II.  Alternating voices and styles while including newspaper clippings, photographs, and notices from the era, Chee has created a riveting and heartbreaking novel that forces readers to examine this very dark chapter in American history and how ti echoes in our present.

Dancing at the Pity Party: A Dead Mom Graphic Memoir by Tyler Feder
    Within the first few pages, Feder makes her mom a person you want to know.  She immortalizes her sense of humor and cool quirks, and by the time we arrive at her cancer diagnosis, the reader is in shambles. You will be moved to tears throughout this book. If it doesn't win the Printz, don't be surprised if it picked up a few other awards on the youth media awards circuit.

   



     

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