The Heavy Medal 2024 Mock Newbery Book Discussion Schedule
It’s been another busy year for Heavy Medal. After suggesting and nominating books, We finally decided on 16 titles for the final Heavy Medal Book List (HBML). And this past week a bunch of readers applied to take part in the Heavy Medal Award Committee (HMAC). Here’s what’s to come as we approach the climax of our Mock Newbery season:
Heavy Medal Award Committee: We’ll share the final roster later this week.
Real Discussion: Beginning Tuesday Dec. 26, the HMAC discuss the 16 titles on the HMBL here on the blog, with a new title almost every day. The list of dates and discussion titles is below. Heavy Medal readers who are not on the HMAC are welcome to join in.
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The Final Five: Later in January, the HMAC will select five titles from the 16 as finalists. Date and method for that will be decided in a few weeks.
ZOOM Discussion: Members of the HMAC will discuss that Final Five in a live ZOOM discussion on Friday, January 19 at 1:00 pm EST. You can sign up for this free School Library Journal webcast at this link. The HMAC will select a Mock Newbery winner at the end of the Zoom event. Webcast viewers will also vote on a winner.
Youth Media Awards: Three days after we complete our Heavy Medal Mock Newbery ballots, the real Newbery winner will be announced on Monday, January 22, along with all of the other 2024 Youth Media Awards. The link to the live webcast is on the the ALA Youth Media Awards page.
Here is our schedule for discussing the books from HMBL:
| DATE | TITLE | AUTHOR |
| Tues Dec 26 | AN AMERICAN STORY | Alexander |
| Wed Dec 27 | A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING | Santat |
| Thu Dec 28 | ALEBRIJES | Higuera |
| Fri Dec 29 | CHINESE MENU | Lin |
| Sat Dec 30 | EB & FLOW | Baptist |
| Mon Jan 1 | THE EYES AND THE IMPOSSIBLE | Eggers |
| Tues Jan 2 | GONE WOLF | McBride |
| Wed Jan 3 | THE LABORS OF HERCULES BEAL | Schmidt |
| Thurs Jan 4 | THE LOST YEAR | Marsh |
| Fri Jan 5 | THE MANY ASSASSINATIONS OF SAMIR, THE SELLER OF DREAMS | Nayeri |
| Sat Jan 6 | MEXIKID | Martin |
| Mon Jan 8 | MY HEAD HAS A BELLYACHE | Harris |
| Tue Jan 9 | THE MONA LISA VANISHES | Day |
| Wed Jan 10 | THE SKULL | Klassen |
| Thur Jan 11 | SIMON SORT OF SAYS | Bow |
| Fri Jan 12 | A WALK IN THE WOODS | Grimes |
| Mon Jan 15 | Final 5 Announced | |
| Fri Jan 19 | http://What’s It Really Like? Join the 2024 Mock Newbery LIVE!Live ZOOM Discussion and Balloting |
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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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**Monday, January 22nd, Emily, for the 2024 ALA YMA. I think the 2023 ones were Monday, January 30th.
Thanks for catching, Kelly. We’ve updated the post above to show the correct date for the 2024 Youth Media Awards.