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Meet the 2025 Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Award Committee
Our 2025 Heavy Medal Award Committee (HMAC) is officially set! We have 13 members, just two shy of the real Committee’s 15. Every one of them is committed to reading all 15 titles on our Heavy Medal...
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Author Spotlight: Memorable Newbery Acceptance Speeches
STEVEN: We start our Heavy Medal Mock Newbery discussions soon (full schedule here), but here’s one last post before we jump into all that. During this Heavy Medal season, we’ve done some “Author...
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OLIVETTI by Allie Millington: A Mock Newbery Practice Discussion
Introduction written by Heavy Medal co-blogger Emily Mroczek-Bayci. Although the Newbery Committee will meet at the end of January 2025, to choose the most distinguished books for children published...
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Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: BLACK GIRL YOU ARE ATLAS by Renee Watson
Introduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee Member Gabrielle Stoller “To write my name is to spell the sorrows of my ancestors,How they were sold and traded, hanged and drowned. How their tears and...
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Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: THE COLOR OF SOUND by Emily Barth Isler
Introduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee Member Quade Kelley In THE COLOR OF SOUND by Emily Barth Isler, readers meet twelve-year-old Rosie, an extraordinarily talented violinist with a secret....
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Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: THE ENIGMA GIRLS by Candace Fleming
Introduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee Member Julie Williams Breaking ciphers is laborious work involving trial and error, but in World War II it was a matter of life and death. With the German...
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Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: THE FIRST STATE OF BEING by Erin Entrada...
Introduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee Member Kate Olson As an adult reader, it is always a bit of a shock to see books set during my adulthood considered historical, or in the case of THE FIRST...
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Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: KAREEM BETWEEN by Shifa Saltagi Safadi
ntroduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee Member Louie Lauer The 2024 recipient of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, KAREEM BETWEEN by Shifa Saltagi Safadi brings the story of...
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Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: LOUDER THAN HUNGER by John Schu
Introduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee Member Meghan Baranski Everything feels out of control to Jake Stacey. When middle school started in sixth grade, the year had its ups and downs. When...
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Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: MAGNOLIA WU UNFOLDS IT ALL by Chanel Miller
Introduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee Member Gabrielle Stoller Sometimes, you encounter a book that surprises you. Can a book in a mere one hundred thirty-something pages make waves in a Newbery...
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Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: MALLORY IN FULL COLOR by Elisa Stone Leahy
Introduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee Member Kate Olson Mallory Marsh is a people-pleasing, comic-drawing tween who has been tasked with being a primary caretaker of her twin brothers after...
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Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: MAX IN THE HOUSE OF SPIES by Adam Gidwitz
Introduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee Member Elaine Fultz Every year, new middle-grade novels set in WW2 are published. Some might think, “Another one? Is there anything new to say?” The answer...
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Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: MID-AIR by Alicia D. Williams
Introduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee Member Lauren Taylor The first thing I did after finishing MID-AIR by Alicia D. Williams was to get on my library’s website and put a hold on everything in...
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Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: NOT QUITE A GHOST by Anne Ursu
Introduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee Member Bina Ponce Horror is a genre that is often easily dismissed across several media. Unfairly, in my opinion. As with every genre, some spooky offerings...
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Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: PLAIN JANE AND THE MERMAIDS by Vera Brosgol
Introduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee Member Courtney Hague How does a graphic novel hold up against the Newbery criteria? PLAIN JANE AND THE MERMAIDS by Vera Brosgol definitely hits some of...
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Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: QUAGMIRE TIARELLO COULDN’T BE BETTER by...
Introduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee Member Janeé Jackson-Doering Everyone at the middle school knows Quagmire. He’s the snarky, soon to be high school freshman who’s a whiz with the sound...
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Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: A STRANGE THING HAPPENED IN CHERRY HALL by...
Introduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee Member Lauren Tylor If your Newbery reading didn’t include enough turtles, then you’re going to be very happy to have A STRANGE THING HAPPENED IN CHERRY...
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Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: THE TENTH MISTAKE OF HANK HOOPEERMAN by...
Introduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee Member Jenn Potter Saving the best for last we are looking today at THE TENTH MISTAKE OF HANK HOOPERMAN by Gennifer Choldenko. Hank Hooperman must rank as...
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Heavy Medal Update: It’s Newbery Week!
It’s hard to believe that our Heavy Medal Book List discussions are over and that the Heavy Medal mock winner will be determined ONE WEEK from today! And the actual Newbery medalist and honors on...
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THE FINAL FIVE: Heavy Medal Mock Newbery 2025 Contenders
After almost three full weeks of online discussion, the Heavy Medal Award Committee (HMAC) and many others made it through all 15 titles on our Heavy Medal Book List. Based on those discussions, the...
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