What books should be on our 2023 Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Book List?
With 68 titles on our Heavy Medal nominations list, we need to narrow it down to 12-15 for our final book list. Please fill out our poll by Monday December 12 at 5:00 pm to help us determine which titles we should discuss.








- These results will remain confidential and Steven and Emily will use them to guide our decisions. E-mail addresses are required simply to ensure people only vote once.
- The categories are very general and definitely not perfect. They help organize the choices and make sure our list is balanced. This doesn’t mean we will only choose one (or any) titles in that category.
- Remember, the six titles already on our list are: ATTACK OF THE BLACK RECTANGLES, AVIVA VS. THE DYBBUK, BLACK BIRD BLUE ROAD, HOW TO BUILD A HUMAN, I MUST BETRAY YOU, AND SWIM TEAM.
- If you have any additional reflections on the final list, thoughts of books that may compliment each other well, or books you nominated that you are reconsidering- leave them in the comments. SPEAK NOW OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE!!!
- Feel free to share the poll with anyone who is interested in participating in discussions or joining the Heavy Medal Award Committees. Just remember to fill it out by Monday, December 12 at 5 p.m.
A call for Heavy Medal Award Committee members comes out Friday and we’ll announce our list next Wednesday. We cannot wait to see the final titles and our committee members.
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Filed under: Book Discussion, Heavy Medal Mock
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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So exciting! I would love to see more discussion about the titles in the historical fiction category. 🙂 It’s a surprisingly small group!
I’ve not participated this much as I would have liked to this year, but there are two books I’ve read this year that I seriously hope will be considered by the Newbery Committee: LOLO’S LIGHT by Liz Garton Scanlon and THE VISITORS by Greg Howard.
I’d love to see a few more nonfiction books in the mix, too.
Lolo’s Light made me heave-sob in a way few other children’s books ever have!