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

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:

• 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:

Filed under: Suggestions