Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
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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
Posted by Jonathan Hunt on October 31, 2009
I had THE HUNGER GAMES third on my own personal Newbery ballot last year (behind THE GRAVEYARD BOOK and THE LINCOLNS), but I never thought it had a chance in the Printz field which was crowded with great fantasy (NATION, TENDER MORSELS, THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, GRACELING, THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO, EON, and PRETTY MONSTERS). Now I don't think CATCHING FIRE is quite as good as THE HUNGER GAMES, and I don't necessarily expect it to win Newbery or Printz recognition, but I am surprised that the award buzz has completely passed this book over in favor of lesser titles.
Posted by Nina Lindsay on October 29, 2009
...no, not the Dunderhead's discussion, but the novel by Suzanne Collins. Plenty of Spoilers follow. Readers of this blog last year will remember I was unmoved by suggestions of The Hunger Games as Newbery material. I enjoyed the book a lot...just found it very flat and manipulative. Nevertheless, I was eager to get my hands on Catching Fire, and though I found a trace of the same complaints, this sequel "redeemed" its prequel in my eyes. Newbery? I'm not sure. Let's talk about it. ...Read More
Posted by Jonathan Hunt on October 27, 2009
CHARACTER
In the short introductory section, you can see how Fleischman is able to superbly characterize Miss Breakbone with just a handful of details. The Dunderheads are characterized with even greater economy, nicknames--which not only summarize their talents but foreshadow their part in the plot--coupled with a few details (e.g. I nodded to Clips. His reading scores were low. His math scores were worse. But if they tested for paper-clip chains . . .). While it's true that the characters remain little more than types, it's a remarkable feat of characterization considering that Fleischman introduces ten of the Dunderheads--Einstein, Junkyard, Hollywood, Clips, Wheels, Pencil, Google-Eyes, Nails, Spider, and Spitba
Posted by Nina Lindsay on October 26, 2009
Yes, Jonathan and I are out there pushing them. What picture book is out there that is Newbery worthy? What book of poetry? How low can you go...and how high? Whose appeal?Now's the time of year to out these agendas and explore them...for there's nothing terribly wrong with an agenda at this stage of award selection, as long as its recognized as such. Agendas do come to the Newbery discussion table of course...but they're pretty much impossible to move forward in committee discussion. Once at the table, the list set (usually defined by the books that have been formally nominated by committee members), the discussion is focussed exclusively on the ...Read More
Posted by Jonathan Hunt on October 24, 2009
I have another picture book for your consideration--one with a longer, more independent text: THE DUNDERHEADS by Paul Fleischman. What follows is the opening sequence of events, representing roughly one-fifth of the text. It is reprinted here with the kind permission of Candlewick Press.
...Read More
Posted by Nina Lindsay on October 22, 2009
While I scour my library for picture books to hold against Hook for discussion, here's some thoughts on possible poetry Newbery contenders. Marilyn Nelson's Sweethearts of Rhythm has made some people's lists of favorites. Nelson is an astonginshly adroit poet, and here she takes poems about music and weaves them into an arc that speaks to...Read More
Posted by Jonathan Hunt on October 21, 2009
It seems that as we consider whether or not picture book texts are worthy of Newbery recognition we are confronted with two issues. The first one seems to be the interdependence between the text and the illustrations (something that affects not only picture books, but graphic novels, nonfiction, and the occasional mold-breaker like HUGO CABRET). The second issue is one of quantity. How do you compare two different texts of wildy different lengths? Isn't a shorter text inherently inferior to a longer one?
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