2014 Best Books Overlap
From the following review journals: Booklist, Bulletin, Horn Book, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal. Six lists— BROWN GIRL DREAMING THE FAMILY ROMANOV THIS ONE SUMMER Five...
View ArticleResults for the Oakland Mock Newbery
Our Winner: THE FAMILY ROMANOV (11 1st place votes; 1 2nd; 2 3rd) Our Two Honor Books: THE CROSSOVER (4 1st; 4 2nd; 2 3rd) and BROWN GIRL DREAMING (2 1st; 6 2nd; 4 3rd). I’m posting our whiteboard...
View ArticleOnline Mock Newbery
Okay, you know the drill by now. I need your top three clearly labeled first, second, and third so that I can assign the correct point values (i.e. 1st=4 points, 2nd=3 points, 3rd=2 points). You need...
View ArticleThe Night Gardener and Rain Reign
As you all vote, and as we await the results of Jonathan’s San Diego Mock Newbery, I wanted to invite discussion on two contenders that did not make our shortlist, but did many others, and which I...
View ArticleResults for the San Diego Mock Newbery
I’m sorry for posting these results late, but here they are. We had seven participants, but only five voters so we had a much smaller group than Nina. We decided on co-winners and one honor book!...
View ArticleEl Deafo
As Jonathan tallies up your Online Mock votes, I’d love to give some more discussion to EL DEAFO, since it didn’t make our shortlist this year but deserves more exploration. Many of you are stumping...
View ArticleOnline Winners!
Here are the results. We had 67 voters, and although BROWN GIRL DREAMING had less than a quarter of those first place votes, it still has almost double the next highest book. It’s much closer on the...
View ArticleShort and Graphic?
We haven’t given quite as much play to “outlier” formats this year as others, with exception for EL DEAFO. I posted briefly on Picture Books back in November (and am still wildly emphatic about IVAN;...
View ArticleResults from the Mocks, and ALA Midwinter!
Thank you all for starting to post your mock results! If you haven’t yet please contribute your comments here. We’ve heard from: Cincinnati and friends (BROWN GIRL DREAMING) Rhode Island Public and...
View ArticleThree Longshots?
I’m scanning my shelves for books we’ve not done justice to this season. Has anyone mentioned FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, NATE by Tim Federle, LORD AND LADY BUNNY by Polly Horvath, or THE UNSTOPPABLE OCTOBIA...
View Article2016 Newbery Watchlist
By this time of year, the YMAs have usually been announced and we’re signing off with some suggestions of what to read in the coming year. So consider this an early version of that post (if you’re...
View Article90-Second Newbery Film Festival & Battle of the Kids Books
Today we are all arriving in Chicago for the ALA Midwinter Meeting, soon to listen in to the Notable Book discussions, browse the exhibits for next year’s contenders, and await the announcement of the...
View ArticleUnder Wraps
I am sitting on the shuttle bus to the convention center in a snowstorm, and on this bus are THE results of the Newbery! Committee Chair Randall Enos is on his way to deliver the results to the ALA...
View ArticleAnd the Winners Are….
Yeah, no, not yet. We will update this post later this morning. This year, I’m double-booked during the press conference, so as soon as the awards are announced I will be off and running to arrive very...
View ArticleSigning off
Thanks so much for continuing to add your thoughts on this year’s winners to yesterday’s post, and your ideas for next year to the 2016 Newbery Watchlist post. I want to add to my thoughts to yesterday...
View ArticleHey, Old Friends
We know the odds of repeat Newbery recognition are slim (the percentage of repeat winners in the past 5 years ranges from 20%-50%) and the odds of repeating for a sequel are slimmer still–in fact,...
View ArticleGone Crazy in Alabama
I used to open every box of children’s books for review that arrived at my library…but it’s not my direct job anymore, and I had to let go of the micro-managerial (and selfish!) urge to be the first to...
View ArticleHey, Old Friends: Part 2
When I started my list of sequels this year, it grew so rapidly that I decided to focus on sequels of Newbery-winning books, but there are some other high profile sequels as well, and a couple of them...
View ArticleThe Thing About Debuts
It’s easy to keep track of authors from whom we expect excellence; harder to stay on top of debut authors. A pitfall of debut writing can be when it serves as a “warm-up”: a good writer, with a good...
View ArticleLost in the Sun
Lisa Graff appeared on our Newbery radar with the publication of A TANGLE OF KNOTS which was long listed for the National Book Award, then came another strong book with great reviews (ABSOLUTELY...
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