The Newbery Search Continues

The world has changed quite a bit in the five weeks since we solicited our first round of Suggestions for the 2021 Heavy Medal Mock Newbery. Book award forecasting may seem trivial compared to everything else that’s going on…but it might also serve as a welcome distraction, as well as a reminder of the power and importance of high quality literature for children. Speaking for myself, I take some comfort in engaging in a long-term process like this and choose to believe that by the time we get to the actual Newbery announcement next January, the worst will be well behind us.
With that in mind, we invite readers to submit April suggestions for our 2021 Mock Newbery. Please include title and author, with a maximum limit of 5 titles (all must be published). More detailed guidelines can be found in last month’s post and the list of suggestions so far is here.
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With libraries closed, I’ve fallen behind some in the past month. I’ve placed holds on as many e-book versions as I can, though, and hope to catch up soon. I suspect others may be in the same boat, but still look forward to learning what everyone’s reading and rating highly. Suggestions for April are open from today through Sunday, April 12th. Please add yours in the comments below:
Filed under: Heavy Medal Mock, 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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Snapdragon by Kat Leyh
An Almost American Girl by Robin Ha
Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes
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1. Prairie Lotus, by Linda Sue Parks.
2. The List of Things that Will Not Change, by Rebecca Stead.
3. Mananaland, by Pam Munoz Ryan.
Efren Divided by Ernesto Cisneros
Show Me a Sign by Ann Clare Lezotte
A Voice Named Aretha by Katheryn Russell-Brown
Thanks for keeping this going—it is a welcome distraction
The Thief Knot by Kate Milford
Show Me a Sign by Ann Claire LeZotte
Prairie Lotus – Linda Sue Park
I’ll add my voice to Mananaland and The List of Things….
I’d add The Great Upending by Beth Kephart
• Here in the Real World by Sara Pennypacker
• Leaving Lymon by Lesa Cline-Ransome
• When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller
KING AND THE DRAGONFLIES by Kacen Callender
One more this month!
WHEN STARS ARE SCATTERED by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed
I didn’t get any in in time last month, so I am going to use all five:
PRAIRIE LOTUS by Linda Sue Park
MA˜NANALAND by Pam Munoz Ryan
AN ORDINARY DAY by Elana K. Arnold
THE ONLY BLACK GIRLS IN TOWN by Brandy Colbert
WHEN YOU TRAP A TIGER by Kae Teller
I think A HOME FOR GODDESSES AND DOGS by Leslie Connor is worth discussing, though it may not be the best of the best.
And I’ll add another voice for KING AND THE DRAGONFLIES by Kacen Callendar
BLACK BROTHER, BLACK BROTHER by Jewell Parker Rhodes
THE LIST OF THINGS THAT WILL NOT by Rebecca Stead
SNAPDRAGON by Kat Leyh
The list of things that will not change
Prairie Lotus
Mananaland
When stars are scattered