The Almost-But-Not-Quite-Final Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Book List
The final nominations from Heavy Medal readers are completed. The Newbery Medal will be announced in seven weeks. So now is a good time to announce our final Heavy Medal Book List (HMBL). But…we’re not quite there yet. We’ve got twelve so far, and will eventually get to fifteen. Here’s the path we’ve taken and what comes next:
The Early 6: We chose six books in November to get our list started
- ECHO MOUNTAIN
- EVERYTHING SAD IS UNTRUE
- FIGHTING WORDS
- THE LIST OF THINGS THAT WILL NOT CHANGE
- SHOW ME A SIGN
- WHEN STARS ARE SCATTERED
3 More from Nominations: Once our final round of nominations was complete, I selected one title that was high up among the leaders, plus two fall releases that received strong support in the last round, with the assumption that folks might have only just been able to read those two. Also, both represent styles that are pretty different from the rest of the list.
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- CHANCE (5 nominations; October release)
- SKUNK AND BADGER (5 nominations; September release)
- WHEN YOU TRAP A TIGER (11 nominations)
3 More for Balance: I chose three books to ensure that our list includes more varied formats of children’s books: one nonfiction title, one graphic novel, and one picture book.
- THE RISE AND FALL OF CHARLES LINDBERGH (2 nominations; nonfiction)
- OVERGROUND RAILROAD (2 nominations; picture book)
- SNAPDRAGON (2 nominations; graphic novel)
3 More for a Poll: The remaining three will be selected after a poll of the Heavy Medal Award Committee (HMAC), which will form soon (details coming Wednesday, December 9th). Only the HMAC members will take part in the poll this year. These volunteers will be reading all of the books and then discussing and voting for a winner, so we want the list to include as many member favorites as we can. The HMAC will select three from a list of nine titles. The list of nine consist of the remaining six books that received at least five nominations, plus three more from those underrepresented titles in the “3 for Balance” category:
- ALL THIRTEEN (1 nomination; nonfiction)
- BLACKBIRD GIRLS (6 nominations)
- CLASS ACT (2 nominations; graphic novel)
- A GAME OF FOX AND SQUIRRELS (6 nominations)
- I AM EVERY GOOD THING (1 nomination; picture book)
- KING AND THE DRAGONFLIES (5 nominations)
- PRAIRIE LOTUS (6 nominations)
- WE DREAM OF SPACE (7 nominations)
- A WISH IN THE DARK (5 nominations)
We’re not balloting on these yet. Wednesday I will post the invitation to join the HMAC, with details and dates and all. Once the HMAC is formed, that group will vote to reach the final list of 15. Meanwhile, though, everyone is welcome to share opinions on what the final three books should be. You can also comment on the list of twelve so far. There are certainly a bunch of great books that aren’t there….
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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I like how well-balanced this list is so far, incorporating a good collection of varying titles.
I must just put in one final plea for A Game of Fox & Squirrels, by Jenn Reese. You have my word that after this final plea, I won’t mention it again.
This novel vividly portrays a child’s feelings and explores how Sam is able to finally find her voice. Reese explores difficult themes in a unique way, and the merging of fantasy and reality is seamless. The use of metaphor, and the excellent character development make this book a strong contender.
Favorite Quotes:
Anger was not the same thing as panic. Panic was a feeling trapped inside the chest, a bird beating its wings inside its cage. Anger was when feelings made it past the bars. When they made it out (74).
Ashander continued, his voice like honey dripped over thorns (165).
Sam yelled.
She yelled as loud as she could.
She used her lungs and her heart and every last thing she could find inside herself (233).
(All these quotations come from the Braille edition of the book).
These quotes serve as samples of Reese’s excellent writing ability. You truly become immersed in the story, and Reese’s descriptions and ability to make you feel what the characters are feeling is phenomenal. I haven’t read a third person singular point of view story that placed me so firmly in a main protagonist’s heart in quite some time.
A Game of Fox & Squirrels would be excellent to discuss in conjunction with When You Trap a Tiger. Both use magical realism and have wild animals as characters, but they are used in very different ways.
I also think that The Blackbird Girls, by Anne Blankman and We Dream of Space, by Erin Entrada Kelly should be considered for the final list.
I will be unable to participate in the Heavy Medal Committee as I cannot commit to reading every book. (Snapdragon is not in an accessible format). I do wish the committee the very best and am so excited to see what book is ultimately chosen for the mock Newbery.
I finished this one this morning, and I completely agree! It is wonderful!
Meredith, would you have volunteered for the HM committee but for SNAPDRAGON? If so, I hope Steven would consider making an exception to “read all books” to let you participate. In past years, not all committee members commented on every book anyway.
Meredith, I really appreciate your advocacy for this book. When you love a book, it’s sometimes hard to convey exactly why you think it has so much merit, but you have definitely convinced readers. I’m impressed by your devotion to your choice, and to your careful analysis of all the books which you’ve considered so far.
I’m going to join Meredith in her plea for A GAME OF FOX AND SQUIRRELS. Her plea is so eloquently made that I won’t add to it., but please consider this book.
Good point, Leonard. Not all committee members comment on Heavy Medal. It’s true on the real Committee too, where time is tight and you really want to save your comments for the books where you have the most to say. The best approach to a book that you don’t strongly support can sometimes be to just stay silent.
And on Heavy Medal, exceptions are always possible. I’ll contact Meredith and we’ll see what we can do…
When I was on a few ALSC book award committees many moons ago, the chairs assigned us not only a book or two we nominated for presentation to the full committee during the final selection meeting(s), but also a book we had not. I thought this was a smart way to help us see the strengths others saw in a book and, perhaps, even discover new ones.