Cornwall Central High School

Lists! Lists! Lists!

The Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence 

in Young Adult Literature 

The Michael L. Printz Award annually honors the best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit, each year. In addition, the Printz Committee names up to four honor books, which also represent the best writing in young adult literature. The awards are announced at the ALA Midwinter Meeting as part of the Youth Media Awards and are celebrated with a program and reception each year at the ALA Annual Conference. The award's namesake was a school librarian in Topeka, Kansas. He had a passion for books and reading. He also appreciated the authors who wrote books for young adults and demonstrated this by initiating an author-in-residence program at his high school. The award is sponsored by Booklist, a publication of the American Library Association. 

2022 Award Winner

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley  

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley is about Daunis, who is part Ojibwe.  Daunis defers attending the University of Michigan to care for her mother and reluctantly becomes involved in the investigation of a series of drug-related deaths. Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, either in her hometown or on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of college, but when her family is struck by tragedy, she puts her future on hold to care for her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, a new recruit on her brother Levi's hockey team. When Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, she reluctantly agrees to go undercover, drawing on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to track down the source of a new drug. How far will she go to protect her community, if it threatens to tear apart the only world she's ever known?

The Coretta Scott King Book Award

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values.  The award commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and honors his wife, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood.  

2022 Award Winner

Unspeakable by Carole Boston Weatherford

Unspeakable was written by Carol Boston Weatherford. On May 31 and June 1, 1921, an armed mob looted homes and businesses as Black families fled. The police did nothing to protect Greenwood, and as many as three hundred African Americans were killed, most buried in unmarked graves. Thousands were left homeless. No official investigation occurred until seventy-five years later. Unspeakable helps young readers understand the events of the Tulsa, Oklahoma race massacre, one of the worst incidents of racial violence in our nation's history.

The John Newbery Medal

The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

2022 Medal Winner

The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera  

The Last Cuentista was written by Donna Barba Higuera.  A girl named Petra Pena, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita. But Petra's world is ending. Earth has been destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children - among them Petra and her family - have been chosen to journey to a new planet. They are the ones who must carry on the human race. Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet - and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey, bent on erasing the sins of humanity's past. They have systematically purged the memories of all aboard - or purged them altogether. Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. Can she make them live again?

Stonewall Children's Literature Award winner

The Stonewall Book Children’s Literature Awards are presented to English language books that have exceptional merit relating to the LGBTQIA+ experience.

2022 Award winners

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

Last Night at the Telegraph Club was written by Malinda Lo.  It is historical fiction set in 1950's San Francisco, focusing on lesbian culture and the coming of age of a Chinese American? In an era brimming with disruption and upheaval, the neon lights of a lesbian bar known as the Telegraph Club offer sanctuary to those in need of it. To a young girl questioning her identity, the dark nights and lively shows beckon her, bringing with them perhaps the very answers she’s been looking for. To do so, she’ll enlist the help of an unlikely friend and together they will go forth, unlocking the very secrets that the club has to offer them.

Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff

Too Bright to See was written by Kyle Lukoff.  It's the summer before middle school and eleven-year-old Bug's best friend Moira has decided the two of them need to use the next few months to prepare. For Moira, this means figuring out the right clothes to wear, learning how to put on makeup, and deciding which boys are cuter in their yearbook photos than in real life. But none of this is all that appealing to Bug, who doesn't particularly want to spend more time trying to understand how to be a girl. Besides, there's something more important to worry about: A ghost is haunting Bug's eerie old house in rural Vermont...and maybe haunting Bug in particular. As Bug begins to untangle the mystery of who this ghost is and what they're trying to say, an altogether different truth comes to light--Bug is transgender.