December Nominations: Last Chance!
Around this time, Newbery Committee members are sending in their last two official nominations, after having submitted three in October and two in November. Following that model, it’s time for Heavy Medal readers to do the same:
Submit two Newbery-eligible titles in the comments section below.
If you have missed either of the two previous nominating periods, you can include titles that you would have submitted in October and/or November. Not allowed in the real committee, but fine for our purposes.
You can nominate titles that have already been nominated, which can raise the profile of those books in the eyes of others. In the real committee, you would also write a justification for your nomination, possibly changing the way others view the book. But here just listing titles is fine.
The list of previously nominated titles is here.
We’ll accept nominations through Friday, December 7th, and share the totals on Monday, December 10th.
Coming soon on Heavy Medal
- A call for readers who would like to participate in the Official Heavy Medal Committee balloting. Participants will need to finish the 15 titles on our Heavy Medal Long List and be ready to participate in online discussions on this blog starting January 2nd.
- The announcement of those 15 titles, which will be selected by Roxanne, Sharon, and Steven.
- A look at the Best of the Year lists from journals and how they line up with what we’ve all read and discussed.
But for now, it’s time for two of those so-hard-to-choose December nominations:
Filed under: Process
About Steven Engelfried
Steven Engelfried was the Library Services Manager at the Wilsonville Public Library in Oregon until he retired in 2022 after 35 years as a full-time librarian. He served on the 2010 Newbery committee, chaired the 2013 Newbery Committee, and also served on the 2002 Caldecott committee. You can reach him at sengelfried@yahoo.com.
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I previously nominated The Book of Boy, Merci Suarez and Finding Langston. Not sure I can do four now, but in order they are: The Journey of Little Charlie, The Night Diary, Saving Winslow, and Rebound. (I am also a big fan of the The Girl Who Drew Butterflies and am hoping for some Siebert love).
Yes, four is fine Julie, since you only had three before. Anything that gets one person up to 7.
I just read Sanity and Tallulah by Molly Brooks, and it’s fantastic. The plot, dialog, and character development are all on point, as is the world building. I hope this is eligible, because it’s fantastic.
I’m also going to throw in for Breakout by Kate Messner.
I think Sanity and Tallulah should be eligible. It looks like the characters have appeared in online comics before, but in the book it says: copyright 2018. The author lives in New York.
My first time nominating this year:
MERCI SUAREZ CHANGES GEARS
SMALL SPACES
THE PRINCE AND THE DRESSMAKER
FRONT DESK
THE DAY YOU BEGIN
Since this is your first time nominating, Allison, you are welcome to add two more titles to bring your total up to 7.
MARTIN RISING
BOOTS ON THE GROUND
My December nominations:
SEASON OF STYX MALONE by Kekla Magoon
TWO ROADS by Joseph Bruchac
1. Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett Krosoczka
2. Dreamers by Yuyi Morales
SWEEP by Jonathan Auxier
THE UNFORGETTABLE GUINEVERE ST CLAIR by Amy Makechnie
I nominate Sweep and Luisiana’s Way Home.
SPOOKED by Gail Jarrow
A HOUSE THAT ONCE WAS by Julie Fogliano
I’m doing the thing where you use the last nomination for a couple of books with 0 so far, rather than putting them towards more likely contenders that have nominations already. Maybe if I felt just a little bit stronger about those more likely contenders I’d lean that way, but I’m not quite there.
Front Desk by Kelly Yang
Blended by Sharon Draper
For my final two nominations I’ll go with SWEEP and HEY KIDDO.
1. Miscalculations of Lightning Girl
2. Assassination of Brangwain Spurge
BREAKOUT
JUST LIKE JACKIE
I have been way behind in my reading of newly released books this year but hope to catch up with many of the books others have nominated over my upcoming winter break. So far, nothing has completely blown me away. I’m finding myself giving a lot of 4-star but really very few 5-star reviews this year.
These are my nominations so far (first time nominating, so listing more than two):
AMAL UNBOND
THE PARKER INHERITANCE
THE TRUTH AS TOLD BY MASON BUTTLE
JUST LIKE JACKIE
THE SEASON OF STYX MALONE
*AMAL UNBOUND (sorry for the typo!)
I previously nominated three but I think I missed the last round.
For this round I nominate:
-MARTIN RISING
-HARBOR ME
Snow lane and The girl who drew butterflies
SPOOKED and SWEEP.
I’m just going to throw in some long shots I think at least deserve a mention/read – if you haven’t read them already.
THE LANGUAGE OF SPELLS by Weyr
DRAGONS IN A BAG by Elliott (It’s rare to find really good fantasy for this age group).
HOW SWEET THE SOUND by Carole Boston Weatherford
AMAL UNBOUND by Aisha Saeed
SAVING WINSLOW by Creech
ECHO’S SISTER by Mosier
One of the tougher reads of the year for me, but upon reflecting on the titles I’ve read, I don’t want to sell this one short simply because it was too sad or difficult for me to fathom how it came to be. It’s beautifully written and El’s voice was strong.
December Nominations
Sweep by Jonathan Auxier
The Faithful Spy by John Hendrix
The Parker Inheritance
Season of Styx Malone
Hey, Kiddo
Baby Monkey
The Post Oak Mock Newbery nominates
Checked
Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish
They never did choose between Ghost Boys and Harbor Me. Our final vote is next week, so we’ll see what happens!
If we’re allowed to post on behalf of our Mock Newbery kids, our Mock Newbery group has 7 finalists. I did personally nominate 3 back in October, so I’ll give you our top 4:
THE MISCALCULATIONS OF LIGHTNING GIRL
GHOST BOYS
FRONT DESK
CHECKED
(The other three are CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE, THE NIGHT DIARY, and JUST LIKE JACKIE.)
Thank you so much for the top 4… curious — what are the three other titles?
Bob
The Prince and the Dressmaker
I’ve never nomionated before, so I adding 7.
The Season of Styx Malone
Front Desk
The Parker Inheritance
The Night Diary
Tight
Dragons in a Bag
The Length of a String
Parker Inheritance
Snow Lane
I nominate
SMALL SPACES by Katherine Arden
TRAITORS GAME by Jennifer Nielsen
and
BREAKOUT by Kate Messner
Cardboard kingdom was amazing it had several funny stories sad stories and I loved all of the characters
I also enjoyed ghost boys it was really heart wrenching
Traitors Game
Small Spaces
SMALL SPACES
NO FIXED ADDRESS
Traitors game
Small spaces
1. Breakout
2 The truth as told by Mason Buttle
3. Rebound
The Truth As Told By Mason Buttle
Rebound
Parker Inheritance
This is my first time nominating. I would like to nominate Harbor Me and The Seasons of Styx Malone. Since I did not vote during the last two nominating periods, I would also like to nominate them for the previous nominating periods.
*The Season of Styx Malone
*Sweep
Hey Kiddo
The Season of Styx Malone
BREAKOUT by Kate Messner
THE HEART AND MIND OF FRANCES PAULEY by April Stevens
Bob ( too darn cute to resist)
The Prophet Calls
I’m new! Here are my two selections:
Amal Unbound
Louisiana’s Way Home
Don’t have two at the moment. Lots more reading to do. I will sdd my name to Book of Boy as my one nomination.
As in November, I’m going to nominate one in view of the Heavy Medal discussion list and one in the Newbery spirit of just getting it on the table.
BREAKOUT – in previous comments, I mentioned the impressive homages and the intertwining of setting and character. I think it’s an overall really strong book.
PHOTOGRAPHIC – I do think it’s a just a little pretentious, but in a way that I think is perfect for teens. It is arguably “too old” for the Newbery. This reminds me of ARE YOU AN ECHO?, one of my favorite books of 2016, in its approach to biography – integrating excellent writing, visuals, and the subject’s own work.
Question – can one invoke previously published books in Nominations justifications? I know it’s not permitted in discussion, but this is a different part of the process.
I don’t believe invoking previously published books in Nominations would be appropriate. The Newbery Manual states that “The written justifications serve as preparation for oral discussion at Midwinter and provide practice in stating clearly and succinctly your ideas about books that seem distinguished.” That seems to indicate that the written justifications and the oral discussions are part of the same process and should follow the same guidelines. When I was chair, I felt like I brought up the Terms and Criteria way so often that everyone was probably tired of it, but I think it’s most helpful if members keep those criteria in mind throughout the year and stick to them during the interactions with each other, which include the informal group discussion at the mid year Conference, the written nominations and justifications, and the final formal discussion at Midwinter.
Think I nominated a while ago, but here are my two:
1) Bob – just discussed this with my Mock Newbery students. Loved the symbolism, voice, powerful message. The two author chapters worked for the different voices. I also really liked how it pulled up students who normally eschew fantasy, and gave my usual fantasy readers a nice dose of realistic heart. Also, it was pitched perfectly to make some of my more reluctant readers eager to participate, which in my view, really helps make it a great read for the entire Newbery age range.
2) Prince and the Dressmaker – just read it and LOOOOOOVED. Also, would this be the first time a graphic novel has been chosen for a Newbery award?
We’ve had graphic novels get Newbery Honors; ROLLER GIRL (2017) and EL DEAFO (2016). But no Newbery Medals for graphic novels yet…
Orphan Band of Springdale? It’s not a book with a hook–that is, you can’t summarize it quickly and have children holding out their hands to grab it. But it’s awfully good–
Merci Suarez Changes Gears and The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl
My choices:
JOURNEY OF THE PALE BEAR, Susan Fletcher
PARKER INHERITANCE, Varian Johnson
FRONT DESK, Kelly Yang
DEAR SISTER, Alison McGhee
I love Susan Fletcher’s work! Alas, she’s British, thus ineligible.
Actually there are two authors named Susan Fletcher. The author of JOURNEY OF THE PALE BEAR lives right here in Oregon. She also wrote the DRAGON KYN series, ALPHABET OF DREAMS, and other books. So JOURNEY OF THE PALE BEAR is Newbery eligible.
It was difficult to choose, but I nominate SWEEP and THE ADVENTURES OF A GIRL CALLED BICYCLE.
SWEEP
I’ll have to come back for my second nomination this round, I just can’t choose.
Merci Suarez Changes Gears– Meg Medina
Drum Roll, Please– Lisa Jen Bigelow
Hello, this is my first time nominating:
Stella Diaz Has Something to Say by Angela Dominguez
Front Desk by Kelly Yang
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
The Season of Styx Malone by Kelda Magoon
The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty
Harbor me by Jacqueline Woodson
The Park Inheritance by Varian Johnson
I am in the same fix I was last time–waiting until the last minute because I cannot choose between two books! So I am going to be strategic with my last two nominations and give them both to books that have received other nominations but not yet been mentioned on the blog, in hopes that they will merit some attention.
The Mad Wolf’s Daughter
The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair
The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge (this title is a nightmare for poor spellers)
Hey Kiddo
Snow Lane
Assassination of Brangwain Spurge
We are ALL DONE! Thanks for the nominations!!!