Let’s Get This Party Started: Think about early favorites and take our “Beginning of the Year Check-In” Survey
To start off our Heavy Medal Mock Newbery season, Steven and I wrote back and forth about the books we’ve read and the books we’re looking forward to reading. Please join us with your own thoughts in the comment section below, and also be sure to take our Beginning of the Year Check-In survey as well, where you can vote for your own early favorites by genre.
EMILY: We have 86 titles suggested so far and I have to say I’m not sure if I’m in love with anything yet though I do have one favorite (cough HERCULES cough). Steven, I know you’ve been up on your reading this year. Any frontrunners?
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
STEVEN: I don’t have a clear frontrunner yet, and my favorites are a pretty mixed group: a poetry collection (MY HEAD HAS A BELLYACHE), a graphic novel (just finished and loved MEXIKID), a nonfiction (IMPOSSIBLE ESCAPE), and a historical fiction that might be just a little too old (BUFFALO FLATS). And many others are close…
EMILY: There’s a few I still need to get to and I know more will come. I don’t know why I haven’t read BUFFALO FLATS and THE SONG OF US YET. And of course there’s more coming this fall (like a new Jacqueline Woodson). What are you still looking forward to Steven?
STEVEN: Though it’s the third in the series, I’m eager to get my hands on THE WILD ROBOT PROTECTS, due later this month. The first two were really strong. Kate DiCamillo has THE PUPPETS OF SPELHORST coming out in October. I like her and I like puppets (though not always stories about puppets). And I’m excited about THE MONA LISA VANISHES, a nonfiction book that I first heard about from Betsy Bird’s Newbery Predictions on her excellent Fuse 8 blog. That one comes out this very week.
EMILY: We have a suggestion list of 86 titles but I’m always paranoid about missing something (and we always do and you always assure me it’s normal). Anderson’s just released their Mock Newbery list and there’s a BUNCH I haven’t read.
STEVEN: I’ve missed a bunch too, I’m sure. Fortunately, it’s not just us, and we can count on the rest of the Heavy Medal community to let us know about any under-the-radar gems…
EMILY: I’ve been waiting for a good mystery book and I thought CARREFOUR was going to be it for me, but I don’t think it meets all the Newbery criteria. I also am just not feeling the MANY ASSASSINATIONS OF SAMIR vibes. I guess I need to hear more about those titles.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
STEVEN: I liked SAMIR a lot, but it took me a minute to get a feel for the writing, and I wonder if kids will stick with it. As for mysteries, I thought WHAT HAPPENED TO RACHEL RILEY? had a clever plot and appealing style, and you could call it a mystery. Not a lot of fantasy showing up on our list so far, especially compared to last year.
EMILY: We had a lot of pandemic books last year and this year I may be seeing a rise in poetry (BELLYACHE, RED EAR…) Have you noticed any other particular trends from this year’s books?
STEVEN: Lots of novels in verse this year, for sure. What used to seem like an unusual narrative choice is now pretty standard. WHEN CLOUDS TOUCH US and THE SONG OF US are the standouts in that category for me, maybe with EB & FLO. A second trend has nothing to do with Newbery, but doesn’t it seem like there’s an increasing number of books with the main character’s full name in the title? ANIANA DEL MAR, ELLIE ENGEL, RACHEL RILEY…I think that’s been happening for a while. I blame the MERCI SUAREZ Committee.
EMILY: Wow that committee is really a TRENDSETTER!
We’d love to hear everyone else’s thoughts in the comments below and in our Beginning of The Year Check-In Survey which will help us see what titles to highlight as we begin book discussions. Please fill out the survey by Friday (we’ll share results next Monday) and get ready for our more discussions to come! Let’s do this!
Filed under: Book Discussion, Intro
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
SLJ Blog Network
A JUST ONE FLAKE Preorder Secret
Review of the Day: The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh
Superman vs. Meshi | Review
Grief, Hope, and Bittersweet Endings, a guest post by Victoria Wlosok
The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving
ADVERTISEMENT
I’m a newcomer but wondering about the eligibility of Buffalo Flats, since the author is Canadian?
So much reading to do…it’s an exciting time of year!
Thanks for noting that Holly. Fortunately (at least for me, since I like that book so much), though she does live in Alberta, Martine Leavitt is also “an American citizen by birth” according to her website. So we can keep that book on our list.
Aha, thanks for the explanation!
Hello!
STATELESS definitely qualifies as mystery. It seems THE LOST LIBRARY hasn’t been Suggested by anyone yet, and it has a mystery (more than one, actually) at its center. I don’t think it’s actually going to win anything, but probably any book Rebecca Stead is involved with should get a look. Another mystery book I thought about Suggesting is DREW LECLAIR CRUSHES THE CASE by Katryn Bury. In the end, I didn’t Suggest it, but I definitely recommend it. Maybe someone else will think it’s discussion-worthy? It has the protagonist’s full name in the title, so fits the trend!
For fantasy, another book I came close to suggesting is DRAGONBOY by Megan Reyes. Again, I eventually decided it wasn’t competitive enough to Suggest, but I do recommend it. On Goodreads, I wrote, “Conventional fantasy, but well-done and particularly impressive for being firmly middle grade and a debut. Reyes is already writing at the level of authors she names as inspirations in her endnote: Auxier, Ursu, and Barnhill. I’ll read the next one.” Another one really I liked is THE PALACE OF DREAMS by Jodi Lynn Anderson, but I thought it had even less of a chance (3rd in a series and genre, though top-notch I thought.)
One more to add to my “looking-forward-to” list: ALEBRIJES by Donna Barba Higuera, which comes out in early October. Higuera won the 2022 Medal for THE LAST CUENTISTA.
Yes, looking forward to ALEBRIJES by Donna Barba Higuera, as well as SOMETHING LIKE HOME by recent Newbery Honor author, Arango, Andrea Beatriz.
Also, I am probably thinking too much about Steven’s comment, “I like puppets (though not always stories about puppets),” given that Splendors and Glooms was his Newbery Chair year.
That crossed my mind too, Leonard. I did like that story…a lot. But the puppets I like are cute and funny animal hand puppets, the kind I use in my puppet shows. Gaspare Grisini was a very different kind of puppeteer. Far more skilled, I’m sure, but at least I don’t go turning audience members into puppets and holding them for ransom. I haven’t read the Kate DiCamillo yet, so I’m not sure what her puppets will be like…
Two of my recent favorites I have not seen mentioned on any list so far. I suspect neither meets the criteria. I hope someone here will confirm . . . THE PROBABILITY OF EVERYTHING and THREE STRIKE SUMMER. Thank you.
I’m afraid you’re correct, Judy. THE PROBABILITY OF EVERYTHING is by a Canadian author and THREE STRIKE SUMMER was published in 2022. Both excellent books, though!
Thanks!
Kate Albus’s NOTHING ELSE BUT MIRACLES is just out, and should be on your list.
Thanks for adding that MIRACLES, Susan. A PLACE TO HANG THE MOON was very good and I’m looking forward to her second book.
Feeling really great about my leaders list from August 28th after the National Book Awards long list was published this week. When I put the comments I had an * because I would have voted twice for those over some of the others. I am excited for these books and the authors. They were really special.
– The Labors Of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt
+ A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat *
+ The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh F: Historical Fiction *