Lerner Publishing Group Wins Michael L. Printz Honor and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor
Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez Receives a Michael
L. Printz Honor
The Book Itch by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and Illustrated
by R. Gregory Christie Receives a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor
MINNEAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Lerner Publishing Group has received two 2016 American Library
Association (ALA) Youth Media Awards. The ALA announced at the Midwinter
Meeting in Boston today that Out
of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez is the recipient of a Michael
L. Printz Honor, and The
Book Itch: Freedom, Truth & Harlem’s Greatest Bookstore
written by Vaunda
Micheaux Nelson and illustrated by R.
Gregory Christie is the recipient of a Coretta Scott King
Illustrator Honor.
Out
of Darkness, written by Ashley Hope Pérez and published
in 2015 by Carolrhoda
Lab™—a line of distinctive fiction for young adults from Carolrhoda
Books—is the recipient of a Michael L. Printz Honor, which awards books
that exemplify literary excellence in young adult literature. Named one
of School Library Journal’s Best Books of 2015 and one of Kirkus
Reviews’ Best Teen Books of 2015, Out of Darkness takes the
facts of the 1937 New London school explosion—the worst school disaster
in American history—as the backdrop for a riveting novel about
segregation, love, family, and the forces that destroy people.
The
Book Itch: Freedom, Truth & Harlem’s Greatest Bookstore,
written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie,
and published in 2015 by Carolrhoda
Books, is the recipient of a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor,
which is given annually to an African American illustrator for
outstanding inspirational and educational contributions. This picture
book from the author and illustrator of the Coretta Scott King Author
Honor Book No
Crystal Stair follows Lewis Michaux Jr. as he watches his father
run the National African Bookstore. R. Gregory Christie’s rich,
atmospheric artwork was honored with starred reviews in Booklist
and Kirkus, and The Book Itch was also named one of Kirkus
Reviews’ Best Children’s Books of 2015.
“We are thrilled to receive a Michael L. Printz Honor and Coretta Scott
King Illustrator Honor in the same year,” said Adam Lerner, Lerner
Publishing Group president and publisher. “The quality and diverse
stories that Out of Darkness and The Book Itch share are a
treasure for readers of all ages. Congratulations to Ashley Hope Pérez
and R. Gregory Christie on these well-deserved awards, and thank you to
the Printz and Coretta Scott King committee members who fell in love
with these books as much as we did.”
More information about Out
of Darkness and The
Book Itch, including downloadable discussion guides and
bookmarks, can be found at www.lernerbooks.com,
or by contacting Lindsay Matvick, publicity manager, Lerner Publishing
Group.
About Ashley Hope Pérez
Ashley
Hope Pérez is the author of The Knife and the Butterfly and What
Can’t Wait, which Kirkus Reviews called “Un
magnífico debut” and which was included on the American
Librarian Association’s Best Fiction for Young Adults list in 2012.
Visit her online at ashleyperez.com.
About R. Gregory Christie
R.
Gregory Christie’s illustrations have earned him three Coretta
Scott King Honors and two spots on the New York Times‘
annual Best Illustrated Children’s Books lists. Greg has also
illustrated numerous jazz album covers and is a regular contributor to
the New Yorker magazine.
About Carolrhoda Lab™
Carolrhoda
Lab™ is dedicated to distinctive, provocative,
boundary-pushing fiction for teens and their sympathizers. Carolrhoda
Lab probes and examines the young-adult condition one novel at a time,
affording YA authors and readers an opportunity to explore and
experiment with thoughts, ideas, and paradigms in the human
condition. Adolescence is an experience we share and a condition from
which some of us never quite recover. All of us at Carolrhoda Lab are
proud to proclaim our lifelong adolescence and our commitment to
publishing exceptional fiction about the teenage experience.
About Carolrhoda Books
Carolrhoda
Books, a division of Lerner
Publishing Group, creates high-quality fiction and nonfiction for
children and young adults. Founded in 1959, Lerner Publishing Group is
one of the nation’s largest independent children’s book publishers and
currently has thirteen imprints and divisions. For more information,
visit www.lernerbooks.com
or call 800-328-4929.
Follow Lerner Publishing Group and Carolrhoda Books online:
Blog:
www.lernerbooks.blogspot.com
Twitter:
@LernerBooks
and @CarolrhodaLab
Facebook:
Lerner
Publishing Group and Carolrhoda
Lab
To purchase Out
of Darkness or The
Book Itch please visit your local bookstore, order by
phone at 800-328-4929, or visit us online at www.lernerbooks.com.
Contacts
Lerner Publishing Group
Lindsay Matvick, 800-328-4929, ext. 385
lmatvick@lernerbooks.com
