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Now that the results of the 2022 Newbery Medal have been announced, we’re exactly 52 weeks from learning what the 2023 winner will be. There will be a lot of reading, writing, and discussing on Heavy Medal between now and then, but not for a while. We’ll start building our list of suggested titles in early March, and resume book discussions in September.
I haven’t read any 2022 children’s books yet. I’m taking an adult fiction break: re-reading some (or all if I can) of Julia Glass’ six novels and hoping to catch up on some 2021 adult titles I didn’t have time for, including books by John Le Carré, Amor Towles, and Liane Moriarty…plus there’s a new Jennifer Egan out in March.
I’ll jump back into reading children’s books soon, though. Here are some just-published or coming soon titles that are on my early 2022 to-read list, which will only grow longer as the year continues:
Early 2022 books by past Newbery Medal winners:
- LOYALTY by Avi (February)
- THOSE KIDS FROM FAWN CREEK by Erin Entrada Kelly (March)
- THE OGRESS AND THE ORPHANS by Kelly Barnhill (March)
Early 2022 books by authors who have won Newbery Honors:
- AIN’T BURNED ALL THE BRIGHT by Jason Reynolds (January)
- NORTHWIND by Gary Paulsen (January)
- THE YEAR WE LEARNED TO FLY by Jacqueline Woodson (January)
- CALL ME MISS HAMILTON by Carole Boston Weatherford (February)
- PRINCESS IN BLACK AND THE MERMAID PRINCESS by Shannon Hale (February)
- RIMA’S REBELLION by Margarita Engle (February)
- SOLIMAR by Pam Muñoz Ryan (February)
- THE LAST MAPMAKER by Christina Soontornvat (April)
- THE WORLD BELONGED TO US by Jacqueline Woodson (May)
Early 2022 books by reliably excellent authors:
- I MUST BETRAY YOU by Ruta Sepetys (February)
- NEW FROM HERE by Kelly Yang (March)
- HOW TO BUILD A HUMAN by Pamela Turner (April)
- MURDER AMONG FRIENDS by Candace Fleming (April)
What’s on your Mock Newbery radar for the coming year? We’d love to hear about other forthcoming titles that might be early contenders for the 2023 Newbery…