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July 11, 2022 by Steven Engelfried

Mid-Summer Update: 63 titles on our Mock Newbery list

July 11, 2022 by Steven Engelfried   Leave a Comment

Our list of possible Newbery contenders from the first part of 2022 now stands at 63 titles. We added 22 title suggestions in July, and seven of those appear for the first time…those are marked with an asterisk.

I took a rough look at how our list so far breaks down in terms of genre, format, and age level. Looking only at the 29 titles with at least two suggestions, and recognizing that genre and age level assignation is not an exact science, here are some observations:

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  • 24 of the 29 are fiction
  • 18 of the 24 fiction titles fall into two genres:
    • Contemporary Fiction —— 12
    • Historical Fiction ————- 6
    • Fantasy ————————- 4
    • Animal Fiction —————- 1
    • Science Fiction ————— 1
  • 16 of the fiction titles feature female characters as main protagonists. Only four feature male protagonists.
  • Of the five nonfiction titles, one is a picture book, one is a science book, and the other three are all history books told in verse (ALIAS ANNA, AFRICA TOWN, and AND WE RISE), which is pretty interesting, I thought. Plus they all start with “A.” No straight prose biography or history so far.
  • Only one graphic novel (LITTLE MONARCHS) has two suggestions to this point.
  • Defining diverse/inclusive content can be tricky, but it looks to me that at least 18 of the 29 titles feature historically under-represented populations.
  • 26 of the 29 titles fall somewhere in that grade 4-8 range.
    • The one picture book (LOVE IN THE LIBRARY) is nonfiction and for an elementary school age audience rather than preschool.
    • No early readers or first chapter books yet.
    • I believe there are just two titles that are in YA collections at most libraries (AIN’T BURNED ALL THE BRIGHT and I MUST BETRAY YOU). Interestingly, those both land in the top three at this point.

I don’t know how significant any of this is, especially since we’re barely halfway through the year. But this sort of thing can be a useful exercise for Newbery Committee members (and Mock participants) because it might lead to slight adjustments in reading priorities. Looking at our list and my own reading so far, for example, I might try extra hard to seek out books for younger readers, as well as genres beyond the big three of Contemporary, Historical, and Fantasy. Nonfiction and Graphic Novels are on my need-to-read-more-of list as well.

Our next Mock Newbery suggestion period starts on the first Monday of August. Here’s our updated list:

TitleAuthorTotal
AIN’T BURNED ALL THE BRIGHTReynolds11
THE OGRESS AND THE ORPHANSBarnhill11
I MUST BETRAY YOUSepetys10
THE LAST MAPMAKERSoontornvat9
THOSE KIDS FROM FAWN CREEKKelly9
ANYBODY HERE SEEN FRENCHIEConnor8
NEW FROM HEREYang8
JENNIFER CHAN IS NOT ALONEKeller7
LOVE IN THE LIBRARYTokuda-Hall6
LOUISA JUNE AND THE NAZIS IN THE WAVEElliott5
ALIAS ANNA: A TRUE STORY ABOUT OUTWITTING THE NAZISHood4
DREAM ANNIE DREAMBrown4
FALLING SHORTCisneros4
NORTHWINDPaulsen4
COMB OF WISHESStringfellow3
CRESS, WATERCRESSMaguire3
MAIZY CHEN’S LAST CHANCEYee3
MY OWN LIGHTNINGWolk3
OMAR RISINGSaeed3
A DUET FOR HOMEVan Glaser2
AFRICAN TOWNLatham and Water2
AND WE RISEMartin2
DIFFERENT KINDS OF FRUITLukoff2
FREEWATERLuqman-Dawson2
HOW TO BUILD A HUMANTurner2
IN THE KEY OF USLockington2
LITTLE MONARCHSCase2
SOLIMARRyan2
WISHING UPON THE SAME STARSFeldman2
A SONG CALLED HOMEZarr1
AIRRoe1
ALL MY RAGETahir1
AT THE END OF EVERYTHINGNijkamp1
AVIVA VS. THE DYBBUKLowe1
AWAY WITH WORDSHoberman1
BARE TREE AND LITTLE WINDPerkins1
BIG AND SMALL AND IN-BETWEENHiggins1
DREW LECLAIR GETS A CLUEBury1
EACH OF US A UNIVERSEFerruolo1
ELLEN OUTSIDE THE LINESSass1
GIBBERISHVo1
IN THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY *Kuo1
LAWLESS SPACESHaydu1
THE LEGEND OF GRAVITYPalmer1
LOYALTYAvi1
THE LUCKY ONESJackson1
MARSHMALLOW CLOUDSKooser and Wanek1
MOONWALKINGElliot1
OUT OF RANGELang1
THE PATRON THIEF OF BREADEager1
THE RED PALACEHur1
RED SCARE *Walsh1
THE SECRET BATTLE OF EVAN PAO *Shang1
SINGING WITH ELEPHANTS *Engle1
STAR CHILDZoboi1
TINY DINOFreedman1
TO THE FRONTFriddell1
THE UNFORGETTABLE LOGAN FOSTERPeters1
VINYL MOONBrowne1
WAYWARD CREATURESLorentz1
WHEN WINTER ROBESON CAME *Woods1
THE WOMAN WHO SPLIT THE ATOM *Moss1
YONDER *Standish1
Total169

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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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