Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
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Posted by Nina Lindsay on November 20, 2009
Ah...Thanksgiving on the horizon. That means: final nominations due soon for the Newbery committee. The Newbery Manual doesn't actually provide a fixed schedule for these nominations, but the final round generally happens in December: enough time for members to ferret out all the eligible books...enough time for everyone to re-read nominations and prepare for discussion in January. It's also around the time I intended to have our final discussion list for our January 10th live Mock Newbery ready...to give people the Thanksgiving weekend to get sta...Read More 
Posted by Jonathan Hunt on November 17, 2009
When the winners are announced--and especially if they are unpopular--people will complain that the committee members must not actually know any real live children if they were able to make those selections. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course. Most, if not all, committee members have a group of children that they regularly consult with, whether it is a group of public library patrons, students at a nearby school, or an odd assortment of friends and relatives. The diversity on the committee, both in terms of geography and job experience, ensures that a wide cross-section of children are being monitored for their response to various titles. While many of us can make very good educated guesse
Posted by Nina Lindsay on November 16, 2009
I recently finished a second read of The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, after having read the ARC many months ago. Comments on Jonathan's original post continue to pop up over a month later, and we've been comparing it to many other books in subsequent posts.Jonathan said in one such comment: "I'm all for understanding that a plot-driven plot and a character-driven plot are trying to accomplish different things, and judging them accordingly, but to my mind ...Read More
Posted by Jonathan Hunt on November 14, 2009
I'm still pondering our discussion of LIPS TOUCH . . .
FROM CHILDHOOD TO ADOLESENCE
The Newbery criteria famously leave the term "distinguished" vaguely defined so that (a) each committee can strive toward a working definition and because (b) it allows for
Posted by Nina Lindsay on November 12, 2009
 Meanwhile, The Dunderheads is really growing on me. When the discussion started, I was relying on month's-old memory of having read the dummy at ALA. My library's copy just made it through processing, and I have to say that I couldn't agree more with Jonathan's assertion of "superb characterization." He goes on to say t...Read More
Posted by Jonathan Hunt on November 11, 2009
While CHARLES AND EMMA is easily one of the best books of the year, I do think many people will not be entirely comfortable with it in the Newbery field. It does skew older than most of the titles we've discussed here, and (like LIPS TOUCH: THREE TIMES) is more likely to find an audience among 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. It could easily be a Printz title, but the revised Newbery manual reminds us that we can select such a title if "it is exceptionally fine for the narrow part of the range to which it appeals, even though it may be eligible for other awards outside this range."
While my
Posted by Nina Lindsay on November 9, 2009
 Moonshot was brought up a few times in our discussions of short texts that could be Newbery worthy. As commenters like Monica and Wendy have pointed out, the poetic text is full of great imagery and sound. "High above / there is the Moon, / cold and quiet, / no air, no life, / but glowing in the sky. // Here below / there are three men / who close themselves in special clothes / who-click-lock hands / in heavy gloves..." Make sure to read it aloud to get...Read More
Posted by Jonathan Hunt on November 8, 2009
I have a new book that I am absolutely besotted with, thanks to the National Book Award judges. It will most likely appeal to the junior high grades of 7th, 8th, and 9th, at the very top of the age range, but this excellent book will probably be my favorite Newbery eligible fiction of the year. It's a book of kissing stories--two novelettes and a novella--and the literary elements are very strong, namely plot and style. I'll give you just a taste of them . . .
GOBLIN FRUIT
There is a certain kind of girl the goblins crave. You could walk across a high school campus and point them out: not her, not her, her. The pert, lovely ones with bu
Posted by Nina Lindsay on November 6, 2009
I've been steadily plowing through the many titles that have been suggested by you all, and still have a ways to go. My jaw isn't dropping yet, and I find myself thinking a lot about Jonathan's suggestion that "When I see the word writing in these conversations I am assuming that it is interchangeable with style which is merely one of the Newbery criteria--one of six, to be exact." I'm not sure that I agree. "Appropriateness of style" to me suggests the tone of a book, or its rhythm, or arc, or voice...the "manner" or "character" of the presentation of the "stuff" that is plot, character and setting. In this crietrion, as much as in as many of the other five that are "pertinent,...Read More
Posted by Jonathan Hunt on November 5, 2009
PLOT
To my mind, this book had the most distinguished plot of last year. The events were organized in such a fashion that they generated an enormous amount of suspense, and what was even more impressive is that Collins accomplished it with a single viewpoint character and a simple uncluttered narrative arc. I thought THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, THE LINCOLNS, and THE UNDERNEATH also had distinguished plots. Clearly, none of these books were as plot-driven as THE HUNGER GAMES, but I think you could make a case for them as most distinguished in terms of plot. A book doesn't necessarily need to be plot-driven in order to have a distinguished plot because technically plot refers to the
Posted by Jonathan Hunt on November 3, 2009
Laurie wrote--
Posted by Nina Lindsay on November 2, 2009
It does appear to be wandering in circles. I missed the anniversary of Anita Silvey's article "Has the Newbery Lost it's Way?" by exactly one month. But will mark its thirteen months by inviting people to read--or at least dip into--Christine Jenkins excellent article of thirteen years ago in Library Trends: "Women of ALA Youth Services and Professional Jurisdiction: Of Nightingales, Newberies, Realism, and the Right Books, 1937-1945." I read this article in KT Horning's excellent online course: The Newbery Medal: Past, Present and Future...Read More
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