At first I thought it was just me, being a young mom and taking a lot of these books personally… but NO! When looking at the list of 2025 Newbery contenders (and mainly the middle grade fiction) we are INUNDATED by titles with bad parents, particularly bad moms this year.
I always wonder where these trends come from… and I do like the realistic portrayal that parents are not super heroes and just ordinary people fighting their own battles… but this was still a lot!
We have:
disappearing moms (THE TENTH MISTAKE OF HANK HOOPERMAN, AND THEN, BOOM, DEEP WATER, NOT THE WORST FRIEND IN THE WORLD)
moms that deliver a lot of pressure (THE COLOR OF SOUND, THE SECRET LIBRARY, THE WORLD DIVIDED BY PIPER)
moms suffering addiction or mental illness (KYRA, JUST FOR TODAY, WINNIE NASH IS NOT YOUR SUNSHINE)
moms fleeing cults (THE WRONG WAY HOME)
When looking at all these themes and titles laid out there. I think the mom that sticks out to me as the strongest character is Kyra’s mom. We can really see how the events unfold, and little glimpses into the moms brain even if it is from Kyra’s perspective.
The mom I have the biggest issue with is Hank’s mom and just how selfish her personality is and what tough situations she puts Hank in. I hate to say that there’s probably many kids that relate to that title…
I’m also really impressed by the character development of Rosie’s mom in THE COLOR OF SOUND. It’s really cool to see her as a young girl and as an adult. However, I felt like I was missing where the “big change” happened with her. How did she go from wanting four kids to only wanting one? How did her personality change? Those questions feel very unanswered to me.
What do you think about these titles and the moms character development? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
