Calling the Virtual Mock Supercommittee!
It’s time for our virtual edition of the Mock Newbery! We’ll declare a winner and honor books after the first ballot so it won’t really be very similar to what the real committee will be doing, but it will still be a lot of fun, and that’s what counts, right? What follows is the list of December nominations which is slightly different from our November list (which actually had more participants) so you may want to check out both lists to gauge the amount of online support before you vote.
(16) THE THING ABOUT LUCK
(11) FAR FAR AWAY
(11) THE TRUE BLUE SCOUTS OF SUGAR MAN SWAMP
(10) WHAT THE HEART KNOWS
(9) P.S. BE ELEVEN
(7) IF YOU WANT TO SEE A WHALE
(7) DOLL BONES
(7) FLORA & ULYSSES
(7) THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING
(6) THE REAL BOY
(6) BETTER NATE THAN EVER
(5) CLEMENTINE AND THE SPRING TRIP
(4) THE WATER CASTLE
(4) COUNTING BY 7s
(4) ZEBRA FOREST
(4) THE GREAT AMERICAN DUST BOWL
(4) THE YEAR OF BILLY MILLER
(3) ONE CAME HOME
(3) LOCOMOTIVE
(3) NAVIGATING EARLY
(3) BLUFFTON
(2) JINX
(2) FROM NORVELT TO NOWHERE
(2) LINCOLN’S GRAVE ROBBERS
(2) THE ADVENTURES OF A SOUTH POLE PIG
(2) THE HIDDEN SUMMER
(2) ERUPTION!
(2) PENNY AND HER MARBLE
(2) THE ANIMAL BOOK
(2) ODD DUCK
(1) HOKEY POKEY
(1) SUGAR
(1) A TANGLE OF KNOTS
(1) DUKE
(1) THE MIGHTY LALOUCHE
(1) THE CANARY IN THE COAL MINE
(1) BREAKFAST ON MARS
(1) AFRICA IS MY HOME
(1) PRIMATES
(1) ETCHED IN CLAY
(1) PAPA’S MECHANICAL FISH
(1) COURAGE HAS NO COLOR
(1) SALT
(1) BATTLE BUNNY
(1) YAQUI DELGADO WANTS TO KICK YOUR ASS
(1) HATTIE EVER AFTER
(1) GHOST HAWK
You’ll notice the top four books above are included among my seven nominations, so I’m going to vote for three of them since they already have strong support. I wouldn’t use this spread-the-wealth logic in the real committee, but since our group here already picked TRUE BLUE SCOUTS, I’m going to leave that one off my ballot, and vote for the other three. Would have desperately loved to include ERUPTION! or THE ANIMAL BOOK, but my vote has to count for something.
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1. THE THING ABOUT LUCK: There seems to be slightly more support for this title, and I’m all about following (leading?) the herd at this stage of the game. Rock on, Obaachan!
2. WHAT THE HEART KNOWS: I wish there had been more enthusiasm for this title at our San Diego Mock Newbery, but it doesn’t dampen my hopes. Word for word, I don’t know that there was a better book published this year.
3. FAR FAR AWAY: Something about the ending was off for me, and I’m still not quite sure what it was, but the book as a whole was so damn good that it just belongs here.
Now, give us your top three, and please rank them in numerical order so that I can assign 4 points for 1st, 3 points for 2nd, and 2 points for 3rd. Voting will close on Wednesday, January 22nd at midnight, so make sure you post in the comments below by then.
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About Jonathan Hunt
Jonathan Hunt is the Coordinator of Library Media Services at the San Diego County Office of Education. He served on the 2006 Newbery committee, and has also judged the Caldecott Medal, the Printz Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. You can reach him at hunt_yellow@yahoo.com
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1) Navigating Early
2) Counting by 7’s
3) Doll Bones
Thanks for asking. This will be my first time at the awards, so I’ve tried to read as many top titles as possible.
1) THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING
2) THE THING ABOUT LUCK
3) WHAT THE HEART KNOWS
I’m going with what I want instead of what I predict is going to happen. 🙂
1. Flora and Ulysses
2. What the heart knows
3. True Blue Scouts
1. A Tangle of Knots
2. Counting by 7s
3. Better Nate Than Ever
1. Doll bones
2. Far far away
3. Billy miller
1. Doll Bones
2. What The Heart Knows
3. Far Far Away
1. FAR FAR AWAY
2. THE YEAR OF BILLY MILLER
3. THE TRUE BLUE SCOUTS OF SUGAR MAN SWAMP
1.DOLL BONES
2. FLORA AND ULYSSES
3.BETTER NATE THAN EVER
1. P.S Be Eleven
2. What the Heart Knows
3. One Came Home
1. FAR FAR AWAY
2. P.S. BE ELEVEN
3. THE THING ABOUT LUCK
1) The Real Boy
2) Far Far Away
3) The Thing About Luck
Always so hard to NOT put a couple of titles on this ballot, but here we are. I’m going for:
1) CLEMENTINE AND THE SPRING TRIP
2) THE THING ABOUT LUCK
3) FAR FAR AWAY
Argh, Nina, I was counting on you for a WHALE vote.
1. IF YOU WANT TO SEE A WHALE
2. THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING
3. FLORA AND ULYSSES
THE THING ABOUT LUCK
IF YOU WANT TO SEE A WHALE
TRUE BLUE SCOUTS OF SUGAR MAN SWAMP
Almost booted SCOUTS for WHAT THE HEART KNOWS. After Jonathan’s scolding I reread each poem today and found it exceptional. But I just couldn’t give up on a perfectly executed book no matter how divisive.
Want to tell us what we crowned the last few years.
Love how the first place votes are all over the place in contrast to last year when BOMB and SPLENDORS dominated. Keep ’em coming!
What about the previous years? What was our consensus the year of DEAD END?
We had OKAY FOR NOW as our winner with AMELIA LOST and A MONSTER CALLS as our honors, but we had a secret ballot with multiple rounds then.
I’m good with that. Can we go back and change history?
1.)What The Heart Knows
2.)The Year of Billy Miller
3.)Counting By 7s
1. Counting by 7s
2. True Blue Scouts of Sugarman Swamp
3. Doll Bones
1. Counting by 7s
2. Flora & Ulysses
3. P. S. Be Eleven
1. Far Far Away
2. Hokey Pokey
3. Year of Billy Miller
1. P.S. Be Eleven
2. Year of Billy Miller
3. Far Far Away
1. P.S. Be Eleven
2. Doll Bones
3. True Blue Scouts
1. The Thing About Luck
2. Navigating Early
3. Better Nate Than Ever
1. The Thing About Luck
2. Year of Billy Miller
3. P.S. Be Eleven
1. IF YOU WANT TO SEE A WHALE
2. THE THING ABOUT LUCK
3. ZEBRA FOREST
I leave it to both of you to decide if my vote counts (since my book was nominated) but here they are: 1 TRUE BLUE SCOUTS
2.THE THING ABOUT LUCK
3.PS BE ELEVEN
I also want to eat humble pie and say that I’ve become convinced that FAR FAR AWAY is within the range for the oldest Newbery readership (boy did I struggle with that:) and, since I do agree with all the accolades for it, have put it on my goodreads Newbery list just after PENNY AND HER MARBLE (which I still do think is pitch perfect in what it does). If there were more ballots with this group that indicated that one of my top three wasn’t going to have a chance I could definitely see throwing my vote over to FAR FAR AWAY based on its strong showing here and my admiration for it (which I think I haven’t expressed much as I was too busy arguing about the age issue:).
Don’t be silly. Of course, your vote counts.
(1) THE YEAR OF BILLY MILLER
(2) THE TRUE BLUE SCOUTS OF SUGAR MAN SWAMP
(3) ZEBRA FOREST
1. Flora & Ulysses
2. The Thing About Luck
3. If You Want to See a Whale
1. The Thing About Luck
2. Real Boy
3. Doll Bones
1. The Thing About Luck
2. P. S. Be Eleven
3. Doll Bones
1) Hokey Pokey
2) Flora & Ulysses
3) Navigating Early
1. The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp
2. What the Heart Knows
3. The Real Boy
1. The Year of Billy Miller
2. A Tangle of Knots
3. Counting By 7s
If I would have known Counting by 7s had this much momentum I may have changed my strategy, but I’m pleased, it was one of my personal favorites despite its weaknesses.
1) The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp
2) Far Far Away
3) Clementine and the Spring Trip
1. Far Far Away
2. The True Blue Scouts of Sugarman Swamp
3. Penny and Her Marble
1. The Animal Book
2. Navigating Early
3. The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp
1.the thing about luck
2.the center of everything
3.the canary in the coal mine
1. THE REAL BOY
2. THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING
3. FROM NORVELT TO NOWHERE
1. Clementine and the Spring Trip
2. Far Far Away
3. If You Want to See A Whale
1) BETTER NATE THAN EVER
2) FAR FAR AWAY
3) PENNY AND HER MARBLE
1) THE THING ABOUT LUCK
2) THE YEAR OF BILLY MILLER
3) THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING
I missed the nominating, but I hope I can still vote…
1. Doll Bones
2. Better Nate than Ever
3. Far Far Away
1. TRUE BLUE SCOUTS OF SUGAR MAN SWAMP
2. YEAR OF BILLY MILLER
3. FAR FAR AWAY
1. THE YEAR OF BILLY MILLER
2. DOLL BONES
3. AFRICA IS MY HOME
1. Hokey Pokey
2. The Year of Billy Miller
3. The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp
1. The Real Boy
2. The Thing About Luck
3. P.S. Be Eleven
1. Far Far Away
2. What the Heart Knows
3. The Real Boy
1. Far Far Away
2. Doll Bones
3. Jinx
1. THING ABOUT LUCK
2. YEAR OF BILLY MILLER
3. TRUE BLUE SCOUTS
1. Doll Bones
2. Zebra Forest
3. Counting by 7s
1. Thing About Luck
2. Year of Billy Miller
3. Far Far Away
1. Navigating Early
2. Far Far Away
3. Doll Bones
1) CLEMENTINE AND THE SPRING TRIP
2) THE REAL BOY
3) FLORA AND ULYSSES
Not exactly my three favorites, but ones that seem to have enough support to need my votes.
1. The Year of Billy Miller
2. Doll Bones
3. One Came Home
1. True Blue Scouts
2. What the Heart Knows
3. Thing About Luck
Sure has been fun being part of this – guess I’ll look forward to next year!
1) The Thing About Luck
2) The Real Boy
3) Counting By Sevens
1. Far Far Away
2. Better Nate Than Ever
3. Zebra Forest
1) FLORA & ULYSSES
2) THE TRUE BLUE SCOUTS OF SUGAR MAN SWAMP
3) DOLL BONES
1. The Real Boy
2. The Thing About Luck
3. Counting By 7s
1. THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING
2. IF YOU WANT TO SEE A WHALE
3. CLEMENTINE AND THE SPRING TRIP – I’m tempted to let this one get bumped by one of my other favorites, but it simply is one of the best books of the year. I’m attempting to be a bit strategic in placing it instead of THE THING ABOUT LUCK since I do feel that they’re comparably distinguished and TTAL seems to be running away with the vote. In a secret ballot, TTAL might have still made my list. I’m surprised that ERUPTION has no backers after its strong finish at both the in-person discussions.
Thank you for this ballot. I was getting discouraged.
At the in-person discussion I didn’t give up IF YOU WANT TO SEE A WHALE until the third ballot, and CENTER OF EVERYTHING has been one of my favorites for most of the year (and won both the in-person and online ballots for my system’s Mock Newbery this year).
I could have easily put ERUPTION! on my ballot, as I did in San Diego. The difference here is that going first, I don’t have the benefit of “reading the room” both literally and figuratively.
P.S. Be Eleven
Zebra Forest
True Blue Scouts
1. Thing about luck
2. Eruption
3. Counting by sevens
…but I haven’t read all of them!
1. True Blue Scouts …
2. P.S. Be Eleven
3. Far Far Away
1. The Center of Everything
2. Doll Bones
3. What The Heart Knows
1. The thing about luck
2. What the heart knows
3. Doll bones
1. True Blue Scouts
2. Counting by 7s
3. Clementine and the Spring Trip
(These are my own personal choices, not those of our group.)
1. FLORA & ULYSSES
2. COUNTING BY 7S
3. THE YEAR OF BILLY MILLER
If it were a secret ballot and I didn’t see all the support LUCK has, I would’ve had that on my ballot. FLORA would still be #1, though.
I really prefer BETTER NATE THAN EVER to COUNTING BY 7S, but was voting strategically because COUNTING seemed to have more support. If Jonathan will accept a vote change due to voter’s remorse, I’d change my #2 vote to BETTER NATE THAN EVER. (Sorry, I did this last time!)
Sure, do you still want BILLY as your third choice or does COUNTING bump that off your ballot entirely?
1. Doll Bones
2. Far Far Away
3. Counting by 7’s
1. Flora and Ulysses
2. Far, Far Away
3. The Year of Billy Miller
1. Far Far Away
2. The Center of Everything
3. Better Nate than Ever
It’s
1. FLORA & ULYSSES
2. BETTER NATE THAN EVER
3. THE YEAR OF BILLY MILLER
That is the corrected ballot (dropping COUNTING BY 7S from the #2 slot to altogether gone, and replacing it in the #2 slot with NATE).
1. Doll Bones
2. Flora and Ulysses
3. One Came Home
1. FLORA & ULYSSES
2. COUNTING BY 7S
3. THE REAL BOY
1. True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp
2. The Year of Billy Miller
3. Zebra Forest
1. The Thing About Luck
2. Doll Bones
3. Courage Has No Color
I am going to be “true blue” and loyal to my “heartfelt” choices, here are my votes:
#1: True Blue Scouts of Sugarman Swamp
#2: What the Heart Knows
#3: Eruption
Jonathan, thank you for this opportunity! I’m having so much fun!
Mary
1. The Thing About Luck
2. The Center of Everything
3. Better Nate Than Ever
1. Far Far Away
2. True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp
3. Counting By Sevens
Voting is closed. See the results here.
https://blogs.slj.com/heavymedal/2014/01/23/virtual-winners-2/
1. True Blue Scouts
2. Tangle of Knots (an underdog, but I loved it!)
3. From Norvelt to Nowhere
Just a note..I re-read What the heart knows this week and have come to agree with Jonathan that it needs to be standing somewhere on the medal stand Monday morning…….I cannot find one sentence that is less than distinguished……
Looking forward to Monday!!!