Doubling the titles: April Heavy Medal Suggestions
Eighteen new titles were suggested this month, bringing us to a list of 32 total suggestions for the 2023 Heavy Medal Mock Newbery.


I’m excited to have quite the expansive reading list. Imagine where the committee is now, with 15 members having no limit of suggested titles. (I may have gone overboard on suggestions some months/ sorry Newbery friends).
Past Newbery winner, Kelly Barnhill’s title THE OGRESS AND THE ORPHANS made its way to the top, closely followed by AIN’T BURNED ALL THE BRIGHT, I MUST BETRAY YOU, LOVE IN THE LIBRARY, and NEW FROM HERE. Starred titles are newly nominated this month.
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2022 is shaping up to be a great year for children’s literature and we will open up for new suggestions in May. Happy Reading!
OGRESS AND THE ORPHANS- 6 | Barnhill |
AIN’T BURNED ALL THE BRIGHT- 4 | Reynolds |
I MUST BETRAY YOU- 4 | Sepetys |
LOVE IN THE LIBRARY- 4 | Tokuda-Hall |
NEW FROM HERE*-4 | Yang |
COMB OF WISHES- 3 | Stringfellow |
NORTHWIND- 3 | Paulsen |
THOSE KIDS FROM FAWN CREEK- 3 | Kelly |
ALIAS ANNA: A TRUE STORY ABOUT OUTWITTING THE NAZIS*-2 | Hood |
DREAM ANNIE DREAM*-2 | Brown |
LOUISA JUNE AND THE NAZIS IN THE WAVE*-2 | Elliott |
SOLIMAR*-2 | Ryan |
AFRICAN TOWN*-1 | Latham and Water |
AIR*-1 | Roe |
ALL MY RAGE*-1 | Tahir |
AT THE END OF EVERYTHING*-1 | Nijkamp |
ANYBODY HERE SEEN FRENCHIE-1 | Connor |
BARE TREE AND LITTLE WIND*-1 | Perkins |
EACH OF US A UNIVERSE*-1 | Ferruolo |
FREEWATER-1 | Luqman-Dawson |
GIBBERISH*-1 | Vo |
LAWLESS SPACES*-1 | Haydu |
LOYALTY-1 | Avi |
MAIZY CHEN’S LAST CHANCE*-1 | Yee |
OMAR RISING-1 | Saeed |
THE RED PALACE*-1 | Hur |
THE UNFORGETTABLE LOGAN FOSTER*-1 | Peters |
TO THE FRONT*-1 | Friddell |
VINYL MOON*-1 | Browne |
WAYWARD CREATURES-1 | Lorentz |
WISHING UPON THE SAME STARS-1 | Feldman |
Filed under: Heavy Medal Mock, Suggestions
About Emily Mroczek-Bayci
Emily Mroczek (Bayci) is a freelance children’s librarian in the Chicago suburbs. She served on the 2019 Newbery committee. You can reach her at emilyrmroczek@gmail.com.
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