American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang, was awarded the Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature at the American Library Association's midwinter conference in Seattle yesterday.  The title from First Second Books was the first graphic novel to be nominated for this prize.

The Prinz Award is comparable to the Newbery and is the only award given to a specific title from the Young Adult Library Services Association; all other YALSA awards consist of lists such as Great Graphic Novels for Teens.  American Born Chinese was considered along side all YA literature published in 2006.

In addition to this award, American Born Chinese was the first graphic novel nominated for a National Book Award (see ''American Born Chinese Finalist For National Book Awarad'); made Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2006; was selected as a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, a Booklist Editor's Choice Book, a San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year, an NPR Holiday Pick, and Best Graphic Novel/Comic of the year by Amazon.com.