Jonathan Hunt
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Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery BlogRecent Posts
The Great Lakewood Newbery Book ClubNovember 17, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (7) 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 Industries: Awards, Books, Interviews, K-8, Preschool to Grade 4 Recent Posts
What Are Children?November 14, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (24) 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 Recent Posts
Charles and EmmaNovember 11, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (2) 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 Industries: Awards, Books, Interviews Recent Posts
Lips Touch: You Had Me at HelloNovember 8, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (16) 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 Industries: Awards, Books, Interviews, K-8, Preschool to Grade 4 Recent Posts
Unfinished Business: The Hunger GamesNovember 5, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (4) 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
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