SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Book Discussion
  • Heavy Medal Mock
  • Process

January 18, 2012 by Nina Lindsay

Other Mock Winners, Echo Chambers and Outliers

January 18, 2012 by Nina Lindsay   15 comments

Tomorrow I head to Dallas for ALA, and Jonathan a little later. So here’s where our postings and comments may get a little more sporadic. You’ll hear from us at the conference, and on Monday of course.

A couple of Mock Newberies reported on the ALSC listserv:

Queens Library: Winner: OKAY FOR NOW, Honor: WONDERSTRUCK

Maryland Library Association: Winner: OKAY FOR NOW

Allen County Public Library reported online their winner: INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN, and honor: OKAY FOR NOW.

Still to come online: Rhode Island Office of Lib and Info Studies decides tonight,  Eva Perry Mock Newbery Club on Friday night, and St Joseph County on Saturday. Way to string out the drama!!

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Now, compare these winners, and ours, with the Goodreads poll, and you start to get what Mark Flowers so aptly called at our gathering on Monday an “echo chamber.”   While there are some very clear deserving favorites at the top of that poll (in order: OKAY, MONSTER, WONDERSTRUCK, INSIDE OUT, BREADCRUMBS, AMELIA LOST, etc.) showing up as Mock Winners, I have to remember that for all the darn work we put into this, these titles reflect only what we’ve been able to encourage many others to appreciate.  These are popular contenders.  Will any of them be chosen as the most distinguished by the actual committee?

To tag onto Jonathan’s “Unstarred” post, here are a few more titles that I still find strong, and “less buzzed”:

MO WREN, LOST AND FOUND: Tight prose hitting all the pertinent critieria: setting, character, and well-paced episodic plot.  For a “familiar” story structure, plenty of surprises in the protagonist’s attitude.  She sticks around in my memory.

SWIRL BY SWIRL: SPIRALS IN NATURE.  A pitch perfect poetic informational picture book text that epitomizes distinguished text.   It stands up against THE MONEY WE’LL SAVE in my book, but I felt like we could only get away with one picture book on our shortlist. Plus we did Sidman last year.

PIE. I know, I know. But I just re-read it and it stands up. Whacky, fast-paced plot.  Oddball characters all vividly drawn.  Maybe it doesn’t rise to the top of the heap, but it sure gives others something to shoot for in style.

NEVER FORGOTTEN. Captivating voice, giving history both a personal and a heroic tone. Nearly made our shortlist.

BOOTLEG. My favorite of the other strong nonfiction contenders this year…I’m not a natural nonfiction reader but I slurped this one up.

CHIME.  Yep, when all is said and done I come back to it as still a very strong contender for the upper range. Makes a good pair with SCORPIO RACES, which perhaps had the tighter plot and character development, but which I thought had a raveling ending.  Both are still on my list.

And though I probably would place them below all these, I still have soft spots for JUNONIA, BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY, EDDIE’S WAR and BLUEFISH. And, ok Sam, I’d probably have to put SPARROW ROAD here too.

Filed under: Uncategorized

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Nina Lindsay

Nina Lindsay is the Children's Services Coordinator at the Oakland Public Library, CA. She chaired the 2008 Newbery Committee, and served on the 2004 and 1998 committees. You can reach her at ninalindsay@gmail.com

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

January 2023

FREEWATER wins the Newbery Medal, live reactions from Heavy Medal bloggers

by Nina Lindsay

January 2023

Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Webcast Results

by Nina Lindsay

December 2022

Calling all Mock Newbery Enthusiasts: Join the 2023 Heavy Medal Award Committee

by Nina Lindsay

October 2022

Two More Titles: November Nomination Time

by Nina Lindsay

September 2022

85 Books to Consider: Mock Newbery Suggestions Updated

by Nina Lindsay

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

2023 Caldecott Jump

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Ben Mortara and the Thieves of the Golden Table | This Week’s Comics

by Lori Henderson

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

New Reports Show a Decline in YA Book Sales and I Have Some Thoughts as to Why That Might be Happening

by Karen Jensen, MLS

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Newbery Medalist Amina Luqman-Dawson visits The Yarn

by Colby Sharp

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Children’s Publishing World Reacts to Michaela Goade's History-Making Caldecott Medal, Rest of the YMA Winners

2021 Youth Media Awards Winners

A Long Time Coming: Angeline Boulley's 'Firekeeper's Daughter' Takes 2022 Printz Award

Linda Sue Park: Children Love Books with "Fierce Adoration" | The Newbery at 100

Susan Cooper on her Wartime Childhood and How Writing Is "Fed by My Unconscious" | The Newbery at 100

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jonathan Hunt says

    January 18, 2012 at 8:52 pm

    I just trolled the internet looking for other results . . .

    I know this was already posted to the blog earlier by Sam Bloom–

    Medal: INSIDE OUT & BACK AGAIN

    Honor: SMALL AS AN ELEPHANT
    Honor: AMELIA LOST

    Here are Medal winners for two groups of fifth graders at different elementary schools in Wilsonville, OR (they had a pool of six books)

    THE PENDERWICKS AT POINT MOUETTE

    THE TROUBLE WITH MAY AMELIA

    Another student group in Zionsville, IN (Laura’s group) chose five books–

    LOST VOICES
    I BROKE MY TRUNK
    BREADCRUMBS
    THE EMERALD ATLAS
    INSIDE OUT & BACK AGAIN

    Ocean County (NJ?) librarians–

    Medal: OKAY FOR NOW

    Honor: HOUND DOG TRUE
    Honor: A MONSTER CALLS
    Honor: DEAD END IN NORVELT

    Two groups in Suffolk County, NY, one chose–

    Medal: INSIDE OUT & BACK AGAIN

    Honor: CHESHIRE CHEESE CAT

    and the other–

    Medal: INSIDE OUT & BACK AGAIN

    Honor: CHESHIRE CHEESE CAT
    Honor: AMELIA LOST

    Falmouth Elementary School (ME?)–

    Medal: SMALL AS AN ELEPHANT

    Honor: BIGGER THAN A BREADBOX
    Honor: NO PASSENGERS BEYOND THIS POINT
    Honor: THE EMERALD ATLAS
    Honor: TRUE (SORT OF . . .)

    Let us know about others!

  2. DaNae says

    January 18, 2012 at 10:05 pm

    My students will be holding theirs on Friday. I’m not sure how legit it is as I don’t make a short list. I want to give as many students as possible the chance to participate. And since I can’t justify buying multiple copies of just a few books my list tends to be very long. I think I put about 50 books on the list this year. I star the books that are getting the most buzz or that I think stand the biggest chance. The requirement to vote and attend the live announcement is to have read five books from the list, four of which need to be starred. Some students can barely eek out the five books and two have read all 50. I’m most proud that a few struggling readers have joined and met the goal.

    I’ll let you know on Friday how it goes down.

  3. Briar says

    January 19, 2012 at 9:52 am

    Yesterday, the 4-8th grade Mock Newbery club at Berkeley Carroll in Brooklyn had their final vote.

    Medal: WONDERSTRUCK

    Honor: OKAY FOR NOW
    Honor: SIDEKICKS.

    They read at least 3 books from a shelf of about 45 (some 4th graders read 12+!) and then voted to get a finalist list (which also included INSIDE OUT, SMALL PERSONS WITH WINGS and WORDS IN THE DUST). The final result came after only one round of voting and WONDERSTRUCK won by a landslide with the two honors clearly above the rest of the pack.

  4. Cheryl says

    January 19, 2012 at 10:54 am

    RI held it’s Mock Newbery voting last night. We discussed the 14 titles on our short list, and then voted for our winners.

    Medal: Okay for Now
    Honor: Toys Come Home
    Honor: Inside Out and Back Again
    Honor: A Monster Calls

    I can’t wait until Monday!

  5. Genevieve says

    January 19, 2012 at 10:58 am

    So glad to see Toys Come Home on the RI list!

  6. Cheryl says

    January 19, 2012 at 11:14 am

    There was a lot of love for Toys Come Home among our group members. I am personally happy it is there, too!

  7. Hannah says

    January 19, 2012 at 12:02 pm

    The Mock Newbery Committee of Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn, comprised of 25 4th and 5th graders, voted on Tuesday:

    MEDAL: A Monster Calls
    HONOR: The Unwanteds
    HONOR: Small as an Elephant

    The other finalists were Okay for Now, The Emerald Atlas, Breadcrumbs, and Four Seasons. We had some impassioned discussion, with collective gasps at the two or three members who declared that they did not like A Monster Calls or Small as an Elephant.

    Looking forward to Monday!

  8. Debbie Fletcher says

    January 19, 2012 at 4:15 pm

    The members of the Ossining Public Library’s OPLbery Club (a mock Newbery Club) awarded the OPLbery Medal on January 11, 2012 to:

    Floors, by Patrick Carman.

    OPLbery Honors were awarded to Close to Famous, by Joan Bauer, and The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman, by Meg Wolitzer.

    The club members, ages 9 to 13, have been meeting monthly since March 2011 and have read more than 40 book.

  9. Tricia says

    January 19, 2012 at 6:51 pm

    Nina, thanks for all the affection you’ve shown my little Mo!

  10. DaNae says

    January 21, 2012 at 8:58 am

    Our results are in, but you will need to keep the info on the downlow. We voted right before school ended on Friday and I won’t announce the winner to my students until after we watch the announcement live.

    Because of the sporadic reading, our voting was just a tally of points, without trying for a majority consensus. Not very kosher, I know. Maybe some year I will figure out how to make a short list and still have enough books for everyone to read. Anyway as a result the top three vote-getters were within a few votes of each other. In fact a friends husband, who is a statistical genus made me an excel spread sheet that weighted the books by how many readers they had against the number and placement of the votes. It is very cool and when I plugged in the data a different book won.

    Anyway without any further blather here is the official Snow Horse Leubery winner and honors of 2012.

    Medal:

    BETWEEN THE SHADES OF GRAY

    Honors:

    ICEFALL
    A MONSTER CALLS

    Funny thing is that the only reason BTSOG was on my list was because early in the year I was looking for eligible books for our faculty book club. Most of the teachers buy their own copies and then lend them to me during Newbery club. I don’t think I would have put the book on the list otherwise. I told the kids the book might make some of them uncomfortable and not to feel bad if they didn’t feel ready to read it, so of course most of them read it. I suspect that beside the fact that they found the story truly compelling, they also felt included in a more adult world where they were trusted to examine greater issues of human suffering and triumph.

    Although many students read AMELIA LOST and universally ranked it high, it didn’t get a single vote. (Well, except mine)

  11. Paula says

    January 21, 2012 at 9:38 am

    Our group of 3rd-5th grade students at Tuckahoe Elementary in Virginia chose from a shortlist of Amelia Lost, Insided Out & Back Again, Jefferson’s Sons, and Wonderstruck. Our winner was Jefferson’s Sons with Wonderstruck a close second.

  12. Kris says

    January 21, 2012 at 8:15 pm

    From the St. Joseph County (IN) Public Library (SJCPL):

    SJCPL Children’s Mock Newbery Club, Friday, 1/20/12:

    Medal: Okay for Now, Schmidt

    Honors:

    Between Shades of Gray, Sepetys
    The Trouble with May Amelia, Holm

    SJCPL Adult Mock Newbery Club, Sat., 1/21/12:

    Medal: Inside Out and Back Again, Lai

    Honors:

    A Monster Calls, Ness
    Okay for Now, Schmidt
    Breaking Stalin’s Nose, Yelchin

  13. Nina Lindsay says

    January 22, 2012 at 7:29 am

    Thanksfor posting St Joseph!

    Eva Perry picked BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY, with honors MONSTER CALLS, BIRD INA BOX, MICHAEL VEY, and WORDS OF DUST

    BIRD IN A BOX never really got attention here, which was probably an oversight. Never leapt to the top for me, but strong voice and setting…memorably so.

  14. Kathy says

    January 22, 2012 at 8:52 pm

    Results of our Adults Read Youth Books Mock Newbery (Oakland, CA):
    2012 Mock Newbery Winner: A Monster Calls Ness, Patrick
    2012 Mock Newbery Honor: Blizzard of Glass Walker, Sally
    2012 Mock Newbery Honor: Bootleg Blumenthal, Karen
    2012 Mock Newbery Honor: Cheshire Cheese Cat Deedy, Carmen Agra
    2012 Mock Newbery Honor: Inside Out and Back Again Lai, Thanhha

  15. Rachael Myers says

    January 22, 2012 at 11:26 pm

    The Horace Mann School’s Mock Newbery closed voting tonight- both Okay for Now and Monster Calls won medals (we could not break the tie), Wonderstruck won the honor. I’m in Dallas now and so excited for tomorrow’s announcement!

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • Other Mock Newbery Sites

    • Anderson’s Bookshops
    • For Those About to Mock
    • Good Reads Mock Newbery
    • Northport-East Northport PL
    • Rhode Island OLIS
  • Resources

    • Jen J's Starred Reviews Spreadsheet
    • Newbery Manual
    • Newbery Medal & Honor Books
    • Newbery Terms & Criteria
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Age Level
    • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Neverending Search
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Classroom Bookshelf
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • 2022 Youth Media Awards
    • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
    • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
    • Summer Reading 2021
    • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
    • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
    • Summer Programming Survey
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2023


    COPYRIGHT © 2023