Paideia High School Summer Reading 2023: Award Winning Books for Teens

The Michael L. Printz Award

An annual award and honors for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature (for readers aged 12-18). The entire 2000-2023 list is at http://www.ala.org/yalsa/printz-award

• All titles are available for Paideians to borrow from our Sora digital library. 

2023 Printz Award Winner

2022 Honor Books

The Alex Award

An annual list of the top 10 adult fiction and non-fiction books with strong potential for long-term appeal and interest to High School readers. The entire 1998-2022 list is at http://www.ala.org/yalsa/alex-awards. 

2022 Alex Award Winners

The 100 Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin, published by Harper Perennial, an imprint of HarperCollins (9780063017504). A beautiful intergenerational story about an unlikely friendship that develops through an art class intended for patients under end-of-life care.

Crossing the Line: A Fearless Team of Brothers and the Sport That Changed Their Lives Forever by Kareem Rosser, published by St. Martin’s Press, a division of Macmillan (9781250270863). Growing up in an economically disadvantaged part of Philadelphia, the Rosser brothers discover a horse stable. Their relationships to the horses, riding and polo change all their lives.

How Lucky by Will Leitch, published by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins (‎978-0063073098). Daniel has a good friend, a routine that involves football game day in the South, and a debilitating disease that has robbed him of body control and speech. He copes with help from his friend, and several rotating workers. When he is the only witness to a kidnapping, it causes several issues that might risk his life.

The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu, published by Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, a division of Macmillan (9781250767769). Set in Dystopic Scotland, Ghost talker Roya, uses her Zimbabwean magic to investigate the mysterious disappearances of missing children.

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki, published by Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, a division of Macmillan  (9781250789068). The lives of a young transgender runaway, a violin teacher who’s sold her soul to the devil, and a refugee alien starship commander twine together in a story full of music, found family, and donuts, that is both joyful and amusing, as well as tender and heart-rending.

Lore Olympus, Vol. 1 by Rachel Smythe, published by Del Rey, an imprint of Penguin Random House (ISBN 9780593160299). A contemporary graphic novel depicting the love story of Hades, the god of the Underworld, and Persephone, the daughter of Demeter and goddess of spring. This modern-day retelling of the Greek myth, with colorful illustrations, focuses on Hades and Persephone meeting and the various machinations of the gods.

Malice by Heather Walter, published by Del Rey, an imprint of Penguin Random House (ISBN 9781984818652). This Sleeping Beauty retelling is a dark fantasy novel where Alyce, known as The Dark Grace for her ability to create curses with her blood through elixirs, meets Princess Aurora, who was born to a curse where she will die if she does not find true love by her twenty-first birthday. Their friendship and love grow as they increasingly struggle to find a way to break Aurora’s curse before her time runs out.

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn, published by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins (9780062943477). Three young women from very different pasts work for the war effort at Bletchley Park, where their involvement with code breaking saves lives and alters theirs. Their efforts help to out a mole in the super-secret agency.

Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell, published by Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, a division of Macmillan (9781250758835). This sci-fi novel combines the intrigue of a thriller and the passion of a romance. An arranged marriage between a prince and a diplomat is meant to strengthen alliances, but suspicions of conspiracy and murder force the new husbands to lay aside their own secrets and work together.

The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec, published by ACE, an imprint of Berkley, a division of Penguin Random House (9780593099940). A Norse Mythology retelling from the feminine perspective of a three-times burned Witch. She sets out to change the course of the lives she loves.

The 2023-2024 Georgia Peach nominees are read and voted for by teens all over Georgia.  The winner will be announced in February 2024.

Links go to the book's description in Goodreads, and all titles are available for Paideians to borrow from our Sora digital library.  Click here for instructions on accessing Sora ebooks with your Paideia Library account information.