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 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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