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January 2, 2016 by Jonathan Hunt

Online Mock Newbery

January 2, 2016 by Jonathan Hunt   51 comments

Something weird happened.  Knowing I was going to be out of town during the holidays, I wrote my last couple of posts and scheduled them.  I wrote one about picture books, specifically THE SKUNK and IT’S ONLY STANLEY, that should have posted this morning.  Try as I might, I cannot figure out what happened to it; it’s simply disappeared.  If I can solve the problem then I’ll post it next week sometime.

Meanwhile, we’ve done an informal online mock Newbery the past couple years, so I’ll take advantage of this lapse to jump start that process.  For me, the top three books are THE HIRED GIRL, MOST DANGEROUS, and MY SENECA VILLAGE in no particular order.  On the real committee, I’d listen very carefully to the discussion to decide in which order to vote for them–of course, some of them might not have the support necessary to remain on the table for the first ballot.  In that case, I’d probably turn to ECHO, GONE CRAZY IN ALABAMA, and LISTEN, SLOWLY.  But I would also be happy with another dozen books including, but not limited to, THE WAR THAT SAVED MY LIFE, THE PENDERWICKS IN SPRING, DROWNED CITY, and THE BOYS WHO CHALLENGED HITLER.  So many books!  So hard to choose!

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One thing I notice about my top three choices is that they are all for readers between the ages of 12-14, while my next three are for ages 9-12. Clearly authors can make greater demands on an older audience, but that doesn’t necessarily mean their books are more distinguished than a book for a younger audience.  I’d also listen to the discussions to see how these audience issues are addressed.

But for the purposes of our informal mock Newbery, I’m going to stick with MOST DANGEROUS and MY SENECA VILLAGE since nonfiction and poetry need all the help they can get.  Speaking of help, we’ve given THE HIRED GIRL, ECHO, and GONE CRAZY IN ALABAMA lots of help here, so I’m going to throw some love to LISTEN, SLOWLY.

1.  MY SENECA VILLAGE

2.  MOST DANGEROUS

3.  LISTEN, SLOWLY

Please list your top three in numerical order.  I will tally them and post the results in the middle of next week.

 

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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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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Beth says

    January 2, 2016 at 7:32 pm

    1. The Penderwicks in Spring
    2. Listen, Slowly
    3. Most Dangerous

  2. Aimee says

    January 2, 2016 at 8:29 pm

    1. Goodbye Stranger
    2. The Hired Girl
    3. Roller Girl

  3. Joe says

    January 2, 2016 at 8:30 pm

    1. Echo
    2. Most Dangerous
    3. Gone Crazy in Alabama

    I just finished Gone Crazy a couple days ago, and I would *love* to see a little love thrown its way!

  4. Emily says

    January 3, 2016 at 1:35 am

    1. The War That Saved My Life
    2. The Hired Girl
    3. Echo

  5. Eric Carpenter says

    January 3, 2016 at 8:01 am

    1. Most Dangerous
    2. Drowned City
    3. Goodbye Stranger

  6. Jenni says

    January 3, 2016 at 9:00 am

    1. Echo
    2. Full Cicada Moon
    3. Goodbye Stranger

  7. sam leopold says

    January 3, 2016 at 9:15 am

    1. ECHO
    2. THE WAR THAT SAVED MY LIFE
    3. MY SENECA VILLAGE

  8. MJ says

    January 3, 2016 at 2:49 pm

    1. ECHO
    2. GOODBYE STRANGER
    3. MY SENECA VILLAGE

  9. Christine J says

    January 3, 2016 at 4:13 pm

    1) The War that Saved My Life
    2) The Hired Girl
    3) Goodbye Stranger

  10. Mira says

    January 3, 2016 at 5:41 pm

    1. MY SENECA VILLAGE
    2. GOODBYE STRANGER
    3. GONE CRAZY IN ALABAMA

  11. Jody says

    January 3, 2016 at 6:39 pm

    1. The War That Saved My Life
    2. Drowned City
    3. Audacity by Melanie Crowder

  12. Mary Ann Scheuer says

    January 4, 2016 at 1:53 am

    1. Roller Girl
    2. Most Dangerous
    3. Drowned City

  13. Alison Solove says

    January 4, 2016 at 6:53 am

    #1 is definitely Echo. I’m not sure on 2-3 yet.

  14. Angie says

    January 4, 2016 at 7:04 am

    1. Orbiting Jupiter
    2. Circus Mirandus
    3. The Honest Truth

  15. Carrie Shaurette says

    January 4, 2016 at 9:07 am

    1. Echo
    2. Orbiting Jupiter
    3. Goodbye Stranger

  16. Allison says

    January 4, 2016 at 9:54 am

    1. Drowned City
    2. The War that Saved My Life
    3. The Hired Girl

  17. Kelly says

    January 4, 2016 at 10:06 am

    1. The War That Saved My Life
    2. Goodbye Stranger
    3. Circus Mirandus

  18. Leonard Kim says

    January 4, 2016 at 10:12 am

    1. The Penderwicks in Spring
    2. Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom
    3. Goodbye Stranger

  19. Elaine says

    January 4, 2016 at 10:39 am

    1) THE WAR THAT SAVED MY LIFE
    2) MOST DANGEROUS
    3) GONE CRAZY IN ALABAMA

  20. Mary Z says

    January 4, 2016 at 10:51 am

    1. The War That Saved My Life
    2. Circus Mirandus
    3. Crenshaw

  21. Sam Bloom says

    January 4, 2016 at 11:43 am

    So… are we supposed to be taking our 3 from the long list? Or just whatever our 3 books from all of the eligible books we may/may not have discussed? because it looks like we’ve got a little of both going on…

    • Jonathan Hunt says

      January 4, 2016 at 11:47 am

      The field is wide open. You don’t have to stick with the nine titles we chose for the Oakland/San Diego Mock Newberys.

    • Sam Bloom says

      January 4, 2016 at 8:36 pm

      Thanks, Jonathan! I can’t publicly voice my opinion about a lot of eligible books, but of the books that I *CAN* mention, I’d vote…

      1. Goodbye Stranger
      2. Listen Slowly
      3. Most Dangerous

  22. Amanda says

    January 4, 2016 at 12:03 pm

    1.MOST DANGEROUS
    2.THE WAR THAT SAVED MY LIFE
    3. THE BOYS WHO CHALLENGED HITLER

  23. Darren says

    January 4, 2016 at 12:52 pm

    1. Goodbye Stranger
    2. The War that Saved My Life
    3. The Thing About Jellyfish

  24. Kathy says

    January 4, 2016 at 3:00 pm

    1. Echo
    2. The War That Saved My Life
    3. The Hired Girl

  25. Beth says

    January 4, 2016 at 3:39 pm

    1. Echo
    2. Most Dangerous
    3. The War That Saved My Life

  26. Martha says

    January 4, 2016 at 4:27 pm

    1. Goodbye Stranger
    2. Most Dangerous
    3. The Hired Girl

    I also support The War that Changed My Life and My Seneca Village! I need (at least) five slots! So many good books…

  27. Kerrie says

    January 4, 2016 at 6:09 pm

    1. Most Dangerous
    2. The War that Saved My Life
    3. The Thing About Jellyfish

  28. Allison says

    January 4, 2016 at 6:18 pm

    1. The Hired Girl
    2. The War that Saved my Life
    3. Roller Girl

    (if only he were eligible, THE NEST would have been my #1)

  29. Kate says

    January 4, 2016 at 7:34 pm

    So hard..
    1. Echo
    2. Crenshaw
    3. Fish in a Tree

  30. Ms Martha says

    January 5, 2016 at 11:48 am

    Enchanted Air
    Echo
    Wish Girl

  31. Beth says

    January 5, 2016 at 9:50 pm

    The Marvels, Echo, The War That Saved My Life

  32. Basya says

    January 5, 2016 at 10:10 pm

    1. Echo
    2. The Thing About Jellyfish
    3. Goodbye, Stranger

    • Jonathan Hunt says

      January 6, 2016 at 10:43 am

      Nice to see a familiar face. 🙂

  33. Jessica O. says

    January 5, 2016 at 10:45 pm

    1. Echo
    2. The War That Saved My Life
    3. The Honest Truth

  34. Kimbra Power says

    January 6, 2016 at 3:01 am

    Anticipation is KILLING me slowly… LOVE this time of year.

    1. Fish in a Tree
    2. Crenshaw
    3. Goodbye Stranger

    5 days to go… so much still to read. Thanks Jonathan and all commenters.

  35. Mary says

    January 6, 2016 at 9:48 am

    The War That Saved My Life
    Lost in the Sun
    Listen, Slowly

    (loved The Hired Girl, but consider it much more appropriate for the Printz than the Newbery)

  36. Hannah Mermelstein says

    January 6, 2016 at 9:57 am

    1. The Marvels
    2. The War That Saved My Life
    3. The Detective’s Assistant

    Also, my students just voted this week, and our results are:
    Medal: The War That Saved My Life
    Honors (4 because the votes were just so close!): The Thing About Jellyfish, A Night Divided, Lost in the Sun, The Honest Truth

  37. Mr. H says

    January 6, 2016 at 12:38 pm

    1. MOST DANGEROUS
    2. A NIGHT DIVIDED
    3. ORBITING JUPITER

    Typically, I steer away from anything toward the upper end of the Newbery age range, but I enjoy Gary D. Schmidt so much, and liked ORBITING JUPITER A LOT, so I’m making an exception.

    Wish A NIGHT DIVIDED would have gotten a little more play and love.

    Not sure anyone compares to Sheinkin. Guy is a powerhouse right now.

  38. Library Garden says

    January 6, 2016 at 2:58 pm

    1. The War That Saved My Life
    2. Echo
    3. Full Cicada Moon

  39. Library Garden says

    January 6, 2016 at 3:03 pm

    Can someone remind me where to post my student mocks?? I read it somewhere, but I’ll be darned if I can find where to post them!!
    Thanks

    • Library Garden says

      January 6, 2016 at 4:35 pm

      Found it!!

  40. Genevieve says

    January 6, 2016 at 4:57 pm

    1. THE WAR THAT SAVED MY LIFE
    2. THE PENDERWICKS IN SPRING
    3. GONE CRAZY IN ALABAMA

    • Jonathan Hunt says

      January 6, 2016 at 5:25 pm

      You posted while I was tallying the results, Genevieve, so I went back and revised the totals.

      • Genevieve says

        January 7, 2016 at 3:41 pm

        Thanks, Jonathan – the “Winners” post says The Penderwicks has two 1st place votes and one 3rd place vote, so either mine didn’t get counted or it got counted as a 1st or 3rd rather than a 2nd, I think.

      • Jonathan Hunt says

        January 7, 2016 at 4:02 pm

        Yours was inaccurately listed as a 3rd, but the points were right. That is, 4 + 4 +3 = 11. I made the change, however. Thanks for catching it!

  41. Jonathan Hunt says

    January 6, 2016 at 5:25 pm

    Voting is closed!

    https://blogs.slj.com/heavymedal/2016/01/06/online-mock-winners/

    You are welcome to post votes, but it won’t affect the outcome.

  42. Safranit Molly says

    January 6, 2016 at 7:33 pm

    Drat! Just missed it!
    1. Echo
    2. The War that Saved My Life
    3. Drowned City

  43. Kim Sigle says

    January 9, 2016 at 10:59 am

    1. A Night Divided
    2. Fuzzy Mud
    3. The War that Saved my Life

Trackbacks

  1. ALA Youth Media Awards! | Read It Real Good says:
    January 10, 2016 at 2:54 pm

    […] There are so many cool books up for the Newbery award this year. The School Library Journal’s blog Heavy Medal does an awesome Mock Newbery and it’s fun to see what people think deserves to win. Check out that post here. […]

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