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December 5, 2022 by Steven Engelfried

Final Nomination List: 68 possible contenders for the 2023 Newbery Medal

December 5, 2022 by Steven Engelfried   Leave a Comment

Our final nomination period is over and the results are in! A few notes about the numbers:

  • 68 titles received nominations. Almost exactly the same as last year (68).
  • 30 of those received a single nomination.
  • 12 had five or more nominations.
  • 10 books are first-time nominees (marked with an asterisk).
  • The two leading titles have a 50% edge over the next group of nominees.
  • Remember that our list tends to favor early year publications, since most of us aren’t able to keep up the way the real committee must.
  • We never know how many the real committee nominates. It has to be somewhere between 15 (if every member nominated the same seven books) and 105 (if every member nominated unique books).

And some notes about the types of books nominated, keeping in mind that author creativity can make a title hard to categorize, so we took our best guess on genres and formats:

  • 38 fiction titles (including four novels in verse)
  • 13 nonfiction titles (including three in verse, one in graphic novel format, and three in picture book format)
  • 6 picture books
  • 4 poetry books (not including the novels in verse and nonfiction in verse…see, it gets complicated)
  • 2 graphic novels (not including a non fiction book in that format).
  • 1 early reader

The largest group, as usual, is fiction, so hears a rough breakdown of genres:

  • 19 realistic fiction
  • 9 fantasy (no real science fiction this year, which was the genre of last year’s Medalist)
  • 7 historical fiction
  • 3 animal fiction

Besides being an excellent reading list of the year’s children’s book, we consider this nomination list heavily (but not solely) when we select the official Heavy Medal Book List. We’ll announce that list next week, and may include a quick poll to get some extra input. Meanwhile, here’s the full list of our 2023 Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Nominations. Thanks to all who participated!

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TitleAuthorTotal
I MUST BETRAY YOUSepetys12
THE LAST MAPMAKERSoontornvat12
HOW TO BUILD A HUMANTurner8
AIN’T BURNED ALL THE BRIGHTReynolds6
THE DOOR OF NO RETURNAlexander6
THE OGRESS AND THE ORPHANSBarnhill6
AVIVA VS. THE DYBBUKLowe5
BLACK BIRD, BLUE ROADPasternack5
JENNIFER CHAN IS NOT ALONEKeller5
LOVE IN THE LIBRARYTokuda-Hall5
MAIZY CHEN’S LAST CHANCEYee5
SWIM TEAMChristmas5
AFRICAN TOWNLatham and Water4
A DUET FOR HOMEVan Glaser4
ALIAS ANNA: A TRUE STORY ABOUT OUTWITTING THE NAZISHood3
AND WE RISEMartin3
ANYBODY HERE SEEN FRENCHIEConnor3
ATTACK OF THE BLACK RECTANGLESKing3
* BUZZKILLMaloney3
FARMHOUSEBlackall3
INVISIBLEGonzalez3
MOONWALKINGElliot3
* A ROVER’S STORYWarga3
BERRY SONGGoade2
BLUEBrew-Hammond2
CRESS, WATERCRESSMaguire2
* FREEWATERLuqman-Dawson2
HEALER AND WITCHWerlin2
IN THE KEY OF USLockington2
NEW FROM HEREYang2
NORTHWINDPaulsen2
THE PATRON THIEF OF BREADEager2
* SPARROWS IN THE WINDLevine2
STAR CHILDZoboi2
THE STAR THAT ALWAYS STAYSJohnson2
THOSE KIDS FROM FAWN CREEKKelly2
VIOLET AND JOBIE IN THE WILDPerkins2
YONDERStandish2
ABSURD WORDSLazar1
AIRRoe1
* AWAY WITH WORDSHoberman1
BARE TREE AND LITTLE WINDPerkins1
BIG AND SMALL AND IN-BETWEENHiggins1
CELIA PLANTED A GARDENRoot1
* THE CIRCLES IN THE SKYMountford1
A COMB OF WISHESStringfellow1
* CORNBREAD AND POPPYCordell1
DIFFERENT KINDS OF FRUITLukoff1
FALLING SHORTCisneros1
THE FIRST THING ABOUT YOUHayden1
FOOTPRINTS ACROSS THE PLANETSwanson1
GOBLIN MARKETZahler1
MARSHMALLOW CLOUDSKooser & Wanek1
* MEANT TO BEKnowles1
MIGHTY INSIDEFrazier1
MY OWN LIGHTNINGWolk1
ODDERApplegate1
OH SALHenkes1
* THE REAL DADA MOTHER GOOSEScieszka1
RUBY FINLEY VS. THE INTERSTELLAR INVASIONBradford1
SECRETS OF THE LOST CITYMarkle1
SEEN AND UNSEENPartridge1
* THREE STRIKE SUMMERSchrempp1
THE VANDERBEEKERS ON THE ROADGlaser1
VICTORY STANDSmith et al1
WAVEFarid1
WINDSWEPTPreus1
THE WOMAN WHO SPLIT THE ATOMMoss1

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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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