From Booklist
Reviewed with Susan Zannos' Joseph Pulitzer and the Story behind the Pulitzer Prize.Gr. 4-8. It's a pleasure to have a biography of a librarian, especially because so many in the field either knew Mike Printz or knew of him. Printz's dedicated and book-filled life, his enormous influence on students, writers, and other librarians, is chronicled a bit breathlessly, with the genesis and development of the award for young adult literature named for Printz neatly tied in. Pulitzer was a different sort of person, a disagreeable and bedeviled newspaperman who terrorized reporters in two cities (St. Louis and New York) but whose fortune led to the establishment of the Pulitzer Prizes in journalism. Both these volumes bear the awkward writing style of authors hammering out prose from whatever sources they can muster, and pictures tend toward what's available. Bibliographies and glossaries are very short. Each volume in the Great Achievements Awards series contains a chronology of the subject's life, and both books also list the recipients of the prizes named for their subjects. GraceAnne DeCandido
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Card catalog description
Profiles high school librarian Michael L. Printz, whose efforts in championing authors and their books led to the creation of the Michael L. Printz Award to honor excellence in Young Adult literature.
Michael L. Printz and the Story of the Michael L. Printz Award ANNOTATION
Profiles high school librarian Michael L. Printz, whose efforts in championing authors and their books led to the creation of the Michael L. Printz Award to honor excellence in Young Adult literature.
FROM THE CRITICS
School Library Journal
Gr 5-8-The simple fact that these book awards exist is the extent of the "stories." Fundamental biographical data for each individual is included but the details of their achievements are a bit sketchy. As such, readers may not be able to explain exactly what these people did to have these awards named after them. While most readers will have heard of Coretta Scott King, they are unlikely to be familiar with Michael Printz, an outstanding high school librarian in Kansas before his untimely death. The award given in his name was established in 2000. It honors a book "that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature." The CSK Award recognizes the achievements of African-American authors and illustrators. Both texts are written in a chatty, informal style and end matter includes current award winners, personal chronologies and a listing of world events that occurred in the subject's lifetime, and a short list of books for further reading. Although the Coretta Scott King Award was first given in 1970, only books from 1999 to 2003 are listed. Full-color, captioned photographs are scattered throughout. To date, there are no other biographies about Printz. Fortunately, most collections have better books about King.-Kathleen Simonetta, Indian Trails Public Library District, Wheeling, IL Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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