Plain Jane? Hank Hooperman? Orris? Trimble? Standout characters from this year’s Newbery Contenders
The Newbery Terms and Criteria list “Delineation of characters” [check] as one of several literary qualities that Committee members should look closely at. So what makes Newbery-level characterization? For me, it’s not just creating a character who is memorable or likeable or unique…or even all three. It’s how that character helps to convey the themes and concepts of the book. Thinking back to my last Newbery year, for example, Ivan (from The One and Only Ivan) was definitely an engaging character with a distinct voice. But it was his growing self-awareness, his relationships with others, and the actions and choices he made that made the impact.
So for today, please share one of your favorite characters of the year and their book. You can stop there if you want. But even better, we’d love to hear how you think the character development of that person (Or dog. Or mermaid. Or typewriter…) was especially important to the book as a whole.
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Here are some guidelines:
- Pick one character per comment.
- If you have more characters to share, do more comments
- It doesn’t have to be the main character (any one of several from FERRIS or THE FIRST STATE OF BEING could work)
- Nonfiction is fine (Paul Robeson? One of the Enigma Girls?)
It doesn’t have to be your favorite character from your favorite book…just a good example of how excellent characterization can elevate a book. Share your favorites below, and let us know what you think of the characters others have chosen…
Filed under: Book Discussion
About Steven Engelfried
Steven Engelfried retired from full-time library work a couple years ago and now works as a part-time Youth Librarian at the West Linn Public Library in Oregon. 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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My first example is Morgan from KEEP IT LIKE A SECRET. He tells his story himself, describing the day he spends with his sister Claire and flashing back to past conflicts between Claire and their mother. He’s a thoughtful anxious kid and we realize before he does what the day was really all about. The family crises in this book aren’t as dramatic as those in some of this year’s other books, but they’re still powerful and sometimes surprising thanks in part to Morgan being such a fully developed character.
Halle in Light and Air was one of the most memorable characters for me. Her confusion about her parents feelings, her love for her mother, her isolation and quarantine from all but a nurse, and her developing friendships with other girls at the TB hospital.
Olivetti the typewriter! I mean a physical object with so much personality and character development throughout the story- that is impressive. Seeing the typewriters commitment to the family…. and desperation to help.
The scene in Chapter 12 when Olivetti and Ernest start communicating…when Olivetti recognizes that Ernest is communicating to his mother through him…Olivetti’s decision to help, thus betraying the typewriter’s code….that chapter was amazing. I used part of that scene to booktalk the book to 5th graders, and it grabbed them immediately.
I loved Jake in Louder Than Hunger. A large part of that was because I have OCD and was able to identify a lot with him.
I loved this book too and think that the subject matter is very important to include. However, as a middle school reading specialist, I do NOT think this book is for students younger than about 7th grade. The protagonist is in high school. The problems he faces are real and harsh. I think it would be a great Printz contender.
The age question for LOUDER THAN HUNGER is worth looking at. If it’s a book for 12-14 year olds and also one that is not for most kids younger than that, it can still be a Newbery candidate. Though the Terms and Criteria state that it’s an award for children’s literature, “Children are defined as persons of ages up to and including fourteen, and books for this entire age range are to be considered.” Books like FERRIS or MAX IN THE HOUSE OF SPIES might find readers from wider age ranges, spanning from 8 or 9 through 13 or 14. But as long as a book is “most distinguished” with its intended age range, even if it’s a narrower segment of that 0-14 span, it could still win a medal…
My other choice would be the unforgettable Pinky from Ferris. She’s so hilarious, and takes common little-kid traits to their logical extreme—enough to be relatable, but also outlandishly ridiculous.
She is a great character! So much personality and I think kids relate to her, even if only vicariously.
Though there are so many I could mention, I really liked how passionate Sammie, in Monarchs of Winghaven, was for the natural world. I loved that she never let anyone talk her out of that passion, or talk her into being more mainstream. She stayed true to herself, while also learning how to be a friend and an activist. I think we need books about kids who are passionate about nature.
Charlene Cuffey for your book birthday, I am placing you in the 2024 character Hall of Fame.
Kwame Alexander pitched up Black Star and has a free verse winner.
Best character in a supporting role: Pinky in Ferris by Kate Dicamillo. That tooth-pulliing, bank-robbing little sister is special.
Hank Hooperman is one of my favorite characters of the year, a particular kind of kid survivor who doesn’t want to make a mistake – but he makes a very big one. The reason may be that he is so dependent on the goodwill of others as he must care for his little sister. I found Hank’s approach of trying to please everyone else every bit as convincing as Alex’s rage in Not, Nothing, as both deal with their abandonment. The other thing I appreciated about Hank was the strong secondary characterization, which I thought was some of the best of the year. As Gennifer Choldenko noted in an afterward, she drew on personal experience for this engaging book. I previously wrote here about another favorite character, Max in the House of Spies, so I won’t repeat that.
Amil and the Ever After hasn’t generated a lot of discussion; perhaps, that’s because it’s a sequel. Yet, I found Amil’s perspective convincingly childlike, not only as he deals with such big issues as the trauma of his family’s migration and subsequent disappearance of their cook, but also his deep desire for a bicycle. That said, I felt Amil was a character who broadened his perspective.
In thinking more about characters who grow and change, Telephone of the Tree’s Ayla is someone who spends much of the book in denial over her friend’s death, although we see it lessening with the appearance of the telephone for calling the departed. The climax is Ayla’s flashback of the deadly accident. That was a tear-jerker. A writer friend wondered if Newbery will be willing to go there. I’m not sure, although I also liked that Ayla’s family appears to be working-class, which we still don’t see enough of in children’s books. Another emotionally intense story was Not Quite a Ghost, where Violet must deal not only with everyday concerns like a moving household and the changing social dynamics of middle school, but her invisible illness and a malevolent ghost. Yet, she rises to the challenge by choosing the right friends and gathering the courage to find back against the monster, not only to save herself, but her blended family.
Thanks for bringing up Ayla and TELEPHONE OF THE TREE, Julie. I like the way we get to know her in small steps. Those short one-page chapters provide specific glimpses of her range of emotions, thoughts, and memories. And we also learn about Ayla partly by the way she interacts with the other characters whose paths cross hers.
I don’t have one character from THE FIRST STATE OF BEING to name, because all three of the main protagonists (Michael, Libby, and Ridge) are developed kind of at the same time. I don’t know that any one of them is interesting enough on their own, but because of how they interact and how their words and actions impact each other, all three become more engaging.
Fern’s growth in Wrong Way Home. I thought it was fascinating to watch her go from a sheltered, naieve, cult member, to learning that the world outside of her “home” wasn’t the land mine filled dangerous place that she had been taught it was.
Yes, Fern is a good one. As a reader, you just wanted her to see how dangerous the Farm really was…but we could also see why she wanted that familiar world.
And the way she realized it wasn’t what she thought it was was very well done. It didn’t happen all at once, but was spurred, little by little, by individual moments or insights that build up gradually.