Award Worthy? : Heavy Medal’s Mock Newbery Suggestions through August
August suggestions are now closed, with the totals for the year so far listed below. The top three titles so far are all novels in verse, but very different in their uses of the form. Eight new titles received suggestions this month, bringing our total to 56. Those new titles appear in red below.
We’ve opened suggestions up on the first Monday of the month so far, but we’ll switch it up a bit next time. The call for suggestions will be from August 30th to September 5th, and then the official Heavy Medal season will start right after Labor Day. It will be an interesting year…
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Keep in mind that our cumulated list always favors early-year publications. It’s hard for all participants to read the newest books right away, plus there are a bunch of fall releases about to come out. Still…this is a very good list!
| Title | Author | Total |
| STARFISH | Fipps | 17 |
| RED, WHITE, AND WHOLE | LaRocca | 12 |
| AMBER AND CLAY | Schlitz | 8 |
| LION OF MARS | Holm | 7 |
| MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF AIDAN S. | Levithan | 6 |
| TOO BRIGHT TO SEE | Lukoff | 6 |
| MAYBE MARISOL RAINEY | Kelly | 5 |
| SHAPE OF THUNDER | Warga | 5 |
| DA VINCI’S CAT | Murdock | 4 |
| GONE TO THE WOODS | Paulsen | 4 |
| JUST LIKE THAT | Schmidt | 4 |
| OPHIE’S GHOSTS | Ireland | 4 |
| SEA IN WINTER | Day | 4 |
| UNSPEAKABLE | Weatherford | 4 |
| CHANCE TO FLY | Stroker | 3 |
| ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM | Sloan | 3 |
| MILO IMAGINES THE WORLD | de la Pena | 3 |
| ONE JAR OF MAGIC | Haydu | 3 |
| PITY PARTY | Lane | 3 |
| PLACE TO HANG THE MOON | Albus | 3 |
| RACONTEUR’S COMMONPLACE BOOK | Milford | 3 |
| ROOT MAGIC | Royce | 3 |
| ALONE | Freeman | 2 |
| AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS | Alston | 2 |
| ANCESTOR APPROVED | Smith | 2 |
| FINDING JUNIE KIM | Oh | 2 |
| GROUND ZERO | Gratz | 2 |
| 365 TO ALASKA | Carr | 1 |
| ALMOST THERE AND ALMOST NOT | Urban | 1 |
| BEING CLEM | Cline-Ransome | 1 |
| BILLY MILLER MAKES A WISH | Henkes | 1 |
| BOY WHO FAILED SHOW AND TELL | Sonnenblick | 1 |
| DEAD WEDNESDAY | Spinelli | 1 |
| DELICATES | Thumler | 1 |
| FABULOUS ZEB WATSON! | Sylvester | 1 |
| HARRY VS. THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF SCHOOL | Jenkins | 1 |
| HOLLOW CHEST | Sandstrom | 1 |
| IT DOESN’T TAKE A GENIUS | Rhuday-Perkovich | 1 |
| JOSEPHINE AGAINST THE SEA | Bourne | 1 |
| LEGACY: WOMEN POETS OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE | Grimes | 1 |
| LEGEND OF AUNTIE PO | Khor | 1 |
| MR. SUMMERLING’S SECRET CODE | Butler | 1 |
| PEACEMAKER | Bruchac | 1 |
| RACE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE EARTH | Barrone | 1 |
| ROCK FROM THE SKY | Klassen | 1 |
| SAVING AMERICAN BEACH | King | 1 |
| SEVENTH RAVEN | Elliott | 1 |
| SISTERS OF THE NEVERSEA | Smith | 1 |
| SUNSHINE | Bauer | 1 |
| TOOTH FAIRY DAY CELEBRATION | Ditto | 1 |
| TWENTY-ONE STEPS | Gottesfeld | 1 |
| UNPLUGGED | Korman | 1 |
| UNSETTLED | Faruqi | 1 |
| WE ARE ALL UNDER ONE WIDE SKY | Wiles | 1 |
| WE BECAME JAGUARS | Eggers | 1 |
| YEAR I FLEW AWAY | Arnold | 1 |
Filed under: Suggestions
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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As part of the 100th Anniversary of the Newbery, the Center for Children’s Books is presenting a symposium that sounds fantastic. “The Newbery at 100” is a full-day of history and discussion of all things Newbery. Agenda, presenters and topics are listed here, with a link to register for the free Zoom event on November 5th.
I’m reading Ophie’s Ghosts right now — loving it so far!
JOSEPHINE AGAINST THE SEA may not be eligible. The author is described as “born and based in Barbados.”