March Suggestions: A list of early Mock Newbery candidates
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The first round of “suggestions” for our 2023 is now complete. Our list so far includes 13 titles. The five books that received multiple recommendations show a pretty broad range of formats and styles. They include a historical adventure novel by the late Gary Paulsen, a picture book set in an incarceration camp, new titles by the 2017 and 2018 Newbery winners, and a Reynolds/Griffin collaboration that I don’t know how to categorize.
We’ll call for suggestions again in early April. Here’s the current list of titles:
Title | Author | Total |
AIN’T BURNED ALL THE BRIGHT | Reynolds | 3 |
NORTHWIND | Paulsen | 3 |
LOVE IN THE LIBRARY | Tokuda-Hall | 2 |
OGRESS AND THE ORPHANS | Barnhill | 2 |
THOSE KIDS FROM FAWN CREEK | Kelly | 2 |
ANYONE HERE SEEN FRENCHIE | Connor | 1 |
COMB OF WISHES | Stringfellow | 1 |
FREEWATER | Luqman-Dawson | 1 |
I MUST BETRAY YOU | Sepetys | 1 |
LOYALTY | Avi | 1 |
OMAR RISING | Saeed | 1 |
WAYWARD CREATURES | Lorentz | 1 |
WISHING UPON THE SAME STARS | Feldman | 1 |
Filed under: Heavy Medal Mock, Suggestions

About Steven Engelfried
Steven Engelfried retired from full-time library work a couple years ago and now works as a part-time Youth Librarian at the West Linn Public Library in Oregon. 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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