The SLJ reviews editors rounded up our reviews of the books lauded at the 2025 Youth Media Awards. Here, the reviews of the Michael L. Printz Award and Honors winners.

Michael L. Printz Award 

 Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories by Cynthia Leitich Smith, ed. HarperCollins/Heartdrum. Aug. 2025. 352p. Tr $19.99. ISBN 9780063314269.  
Gr 8 Up–Each short story in this anthology follows an Indigenous teen who is in need of something—belonging, help with a task, safety. That something is always found at Sandy June’s Legendary Frybread Drive-In, a place where people come together from all corners, all times, and all tribes. This amazing place connects the teens in each of the stories, all of which are written by Indigenous authors and have their own unique perspective and style. For example, Darcie Little Badger’s “Game Night” is written in text messages within a D & D gaming platform where the players are talking about the Drive-In and how to find it. “Braving the Storm” by Kaua Mahoe Adams is written in beautiful verse and is about a girl who gets one last chance to visit with her Papa. As readers take in the stories, they will be transported time and time again to Sandy June’s, where the protagonists get more than just frybread. Each teen gets exactly what they need—and readers do too. VERDICT Hand this collection to any reader who is looking for a place made for them; they will find it between these pages.–Heather Lassley

Michael L. Printz Honors

Cope Field by T. L. Simpson. North Star/Flux. Apr. 2025. 272p. pap. $14.99. ISBN 9781635831054.
 

 The House No One Sees by Adina King. Feiwel & Friends. Mar. 2025. 304p. Tr $19.99. ISBN 9781250337191. 
Gr 8 Up–No one ever saw Penny’s old house, the one on the corner that’s blue outside and red inside and so tired of keeping its secrets. No one seems to see Penny either, which is convenient when late on the night of her 16th birthday, an urgent message from her estranged mother pulls Penny away from her crush and her friends and back to the house. Knowing but not wanting to acknowledge what she might find, Penny must reckon with the house’s tendency to distort time and reality in a surrealistic labyrinth of memory and perspective. As the prose present twines with the past in verse, Penny retraces her childhood and examines her mother’s addiction and the havoc it has wrought in Penny’s own life. As she begins to come to terms with the reality of her mother’s decisions and the consequences for both of them, she must walk through her own memories to arrive in the present, beginning to realize along the way that she is more than the empty vessel of her invisible house on the corner. Shifting narrative styles highlight the ways that Penny’s mother’s addiction defined her whole childhood; verse sections from the past are sweetly (painfully) naive, while prose present-tense Penny is more world-weary and aware. VERDICT A gut-wrenching and powerful kaleidoscope of a story; for fans of A.S. King, Ellen Hopkins, and Kathleen Glasgow.–Allie Stevens

 Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley. Holt. Sept. 2025. 384p. Tr $19.99. ISBN 9781250328533. 
Gr 9 Up–An explosion at work shortly after a stranger drops off a note—“Lucy, come home where you are loved”—divides her life into pre-blast and post-blast. Lucy is an only child raised by her dad who lied about her Native American heritage and about her mother. Lucy ends up in foster care after his death. In her first placement, she meets Devery, who gives her advice on surviving the system. Lucy is eventually placed in a group home where she feels safe. Gradually, she realizes something is off. Her suspicions lead her to snoop, and she finds documents revealing human trafficking. Lucy flees with the evidence, fearing for her life, and tries to disappear. After the blast, Lucy is cared for by John Jameson and Daunis Fontaine as she recovers from her injuries. They try to persuade her to meet her mother’s family. She is leery of them but also terrified her secrets will harm them. Lucy is lured back to the group home where a final confrontation takes place. Lucy’s tough exterior hides her concern for others as she navigates situations involving abuse, drug use, and murder. The time line is between The Firekeepers Daughter and Warrior Girl Unearthed with Daunis and John’s relationship a secondary plot, but it’s a strong standalone story full of suspense and survival. There are trigger warnings as the book delves into difficult topics. VERDICT A gritty story of trust and betrayal, Lucy’s life absorbs readers and leaves them wanting more. A definite first buy.–Tamara Saarinen

 Song of a ­Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout. First Second. Jan. 2025. 256p. Tr $25.99. ISBN 9781250869814.
Gr 10 Up–Van Lieshout’s graphic novel debut opens with a blackbird who acts as a third-person omniscient narrator, calling out to those who are suffering to hear its sympathetic song. “Retelling. Remembering. This is how we keep stories and memories alive. This is how we keep people alive.” ­Readers get two alternating yet intertwined storylines: Annick in Amsterdam, 2011, and Emma in Amsterdam, 1943. Annick is a young girl ­searching for answers to her ailing grandmother’s past, while Emma, a student, is searching for small gleams of light, which she finds in helping those in need through an era of darkness. The illustrations and coloring are sharply contrasted, with slight hues of color to differentiate the point in time readers are being immersed in. These striking illustrations are blended seamlessly with actual photographs that ignite emotions for those following both protagonists on their riveting journeys. Through different characters, the horrific intent of Hitler and the Nazis is made transparent, and the text on how Hitler came to power is comprehensible for developing minds, allowing for critical thinking and discourse about historical events. The story builds a powerful connection from the near present to the past, as readers learn about these tragic moments in history. Though the story is fiction, photographs and historical background at the end of the book reveal the harsh realities of world history. VERDICT Though not for the faint of heart, this touching, gripping, and heartbreaking historical graphic novel doesn’t shy away from the dark sides of the true events it’s based on, while still offering a ray of hope for the genuine good out there.–Cat Miserendino