Aidan Chambers is the winner of the 2003 Michael L. Printz Award
for excellence in young adult literature. The award was announced
in January at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in
Philadelphia.
Aidan Chambers is the winner of the 2003 Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature. The award was announced in January at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia.
Chambers’ novel “Postcards from No Man’s Land” is a passionate narrative about 17-year-old Jacob, who comes to Amsterdam to find the grave of his grandfather, who died there during World War II. He meets Geertrui, the Dutch woman who cared for his wounded grandfather. Her teenage World War II diary is interwoven with Jacob’s own discoveries about love, sex, family secrets and his own identity. As Jacob discovers early on, “nothing in Amsterdam is what it appears to be.”
Three Printz Honor books were named as well.
“The House of the Scorpion,” by Nancy Farmer, which also was a Newbery Honor book, tackles the provocative topics of cloning, the value of life, illegal immigration and the drug trade in a coming-of-age novel set in a desolate futuristic desert.
“A Hole in My Life,” by Jack Gantos, is an autobiographical tale by the author of the “Joey Pigza” books. Gantos tells the story of a youthful mistake that landed him in jail, where he became a writer and turned his life around.
In “My Heartbeat,” by Garret Freymann-Weyr, Ellen’s question about her brother’s relationship with his best friend James changes everything in this tight three-way friendship.
The Robert F. Sibert Award for the most distinguished informational book for young people went to James Cross Giblin for “The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler.” This engrossing and accessible biography demonstrates that Hitler was a complex person, and answers some important questions: What sort of man could plan and carry out such horrendous schemes? How did he win support for his deadly ventures? And why did no one stop him until it was almost too late?
Sibert Honor books were also named: “Six Days in October: The Stock Market Crash of 1929,” by Karen Blumenthal; “A Hole in My Life,” by Jack Gantos; “Action Jackson,” (about Jackson Pollock), by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan; and “When Marion Sang,” (about singer Marion Anderson), by Pam Munoz Ryan.
All of these books are available at the Morgan Hill Library. Stop by the library at the corner of Peak and Main, or place a hold online by going to www.santaclaracountylib.org
Questions and suggested topics for At The Library, which appears in Tuesday editions, should be directed to Community Librarian Sarah Flowers at sf******@**********************ca.us or by calling 779-3196.
