Are We Up to Date?: Recently Released Books to Consider for Our Mock Newbery
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In a Newbery year, every book published from January through December has an equal chance at winning the Medal. On a Mock Newbery like ours, though, we can’t help but pay a bit more attention to books published earlier in the year. It’s a logistical thing. And the numbers so far back it up:
- Of the ten books with the most Heavy Medal suggestions, eight were published between January and April. (We gather suggestions between March and the end of August).
- Our first round of ‘nominations” happened in October. Nine books received four or more nominations; all nine came out in the first half of the year.
It’s not a problem we’ll be able to fix, I’m afraid. It’s just the nature of a Mock Newbery like ours, where participants rarely get books the instant they’re published, like Newbery Committee members usually do. So readers here are often catching up to books that have been out for a while. Also, real Committee members have pressure and a commitment to read fast and furiously. Mock Newbery participants do that sometimes, for sure…but we also sometimes don’t. So the weight towards early-year publications is just something we live with and be aware of as we discuss and vote.
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With that in mind, let’s call attention to some of the more recently published titles that might be contenders. I’ve got a list of eight that I’ve read and am thinking about. Only one nomination so far among the bunch, but that might change in November.
BLACK STAR by Kwame Alexander (September)
Historical fiction in verse, with baseball, racism, and a backstory narrative referencing earlier days. A possible contender for me.
THE BLETCHLEY RIDDLE by Ruta Sepetys & Steve Sheinkin (October)
Excellent historical fiction by an interesting pair of writers. It made me want to re-read THE ENIGMA GIRLS and MAX IN THE HOUSE OF SPIES to compare.
BOY 2.0 by Tracey Baptiste (October)
A foster child gets the power of invisibility. Well-done mix of racism and family themes in a superhero plot.
THE HOTEL BALZAAR by Kate DiCamillo (October)
The latest of three Kate DiCamillo Newbery-eligible books from this year (with FERRIS and ORRIS AND TRIMBLE). Interesting language, a multi-threaded plot, and a bit of mystery. Strong on plot, theme, style, and setting.
NARWHAL: UNICORN OF THE ARCTIC by Candace Fleming (October)
First-rate picture book nonfiction, with enough narrative style to possibly contend. The second-person narrative voice makes both the science facts and the personal story work really well.
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STELLA AND MARIGOLD by Annie Barrows (October)
I mentioned how much I like this one in our post on Early Readers and Short Chapter Books. Excellent example of how once in a while a simple chapter book can make you think: could this be a Newbery?
STILL SAL by Kevin Henkes (October)
Fine and sometimes funny profile of a kindergartner, simple enough for readers new to chapter books. The author is always worth reading, but this one doesn’t rise to the top for me.
A STRANGE THING HAPPENED IN CHERRY HALL by Jasmine Warga (September)
A fun and clever mystery, with some family/friendship themes, a kind-of ghost and a romance mixed in. I thought all parts worked very well.
If you’ve read any of these, tell us which ones should be jumping to the top of our possible nomination lists. And let us know what other titles published this fall (or soon-to-be-published) should be up there with all of those first-half-of-the-year books?
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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Travis Jonker of 100 Scope Notes did a great deep dive into Newbery winners from 1983-2013 and found none were published in December. Now, this was 11 years ago, so I don’t know if things have changed, but it’s certainly interesting! Here’s the link to his post:
https://100scopenotes.com/2013/09/03/so-you-want-to-win-the-newbery-part-i/
Thanks for sharing that link, Kelly (and to Travis J. for doing the research). More recently A SNAKE FALLS TO EARTH was a late-release Honor Book (November 9th), but I don’t think we’ve had any other Novembers since that 2013 post, even with Honors.
Travis’ list goes through 2013. Here’s a quick update looking at Medal books from 2014 – 2024. Still weighted towards books in early spring and early fall. And nothing published in October or later:
Jan – 2
Feb – 1
Mar – 3
Apr – 0
May – 1
Jun – 0
Jul – 0
Aug – 1
Sep – 3
Oct-Dec – 0
My hope is that publishers plan on releasing their top picks in early spring and fall…but it just seems like even with that, there will be some outstanding books trickling in late. When I was on my Newbery Committees I remember trying really hard to cover as many late releases as I could. In a couple of instances, I know I used a December nomination for a book that was probably a long shot, but I wanted to be sure all members read it because it had just come out in November. I’d guess other members have done that too over the years.
It’s also possible for a book to be published after the last round of Nominations in December…or even just before the nomination deadline, which makes the odds of it being read and nominated very slim. The Newbery Manual provides an “exception” for “late suggestions that may be made for books published in December.”
So in that case, a member can put a worthy book forward as a suggestion and it will be discussed along with the officially nominated books. We still haven’t seen a December-released Newbery, but it’s definitely possible within the Committee’s procedures.
October had incredible releases from a few modern writers that are masters of historical fiction.
BLACK STAR by Kwame Alexander
Incredible language. Excellent characterization. Loved how the series is growing, but they stand alone- and I love the tie to sports (baseball) for a middle grade audience
THE BLETCHLEY RIDDLE by Ruta Sepetys & Steve Sheinkin
These two authors have written some of my favorite books of all-time. They both lean on heavy research and a deep calling to bring to life the “untold stories,” that magnify a more well-rounded view of history. After readign MAX IN THE HOSE OF SPIES and ENIGMA GIRLS, my mind was already in WWII England. This book excelled in plot and development of a theme.
I am so glad I took time to read Black Star and enjoyed the book very much. And I agree with you about Still Sal. A fan of Kevin Henkes for years and years, this one did not carry much impact for me.
I commented in a recent post about the seemingly unfairness of publication dates. If the publishers have ability to judge which of their books in a given year should rise to the top, it seems in their financial interest to get them into readers’ hands ASAP. I may be missing important information and hope someone will share knowledge of the process.
These statistics were quite fun to look at, so thanks for that.
Of the above titles, I’ve read three- BLACK STAR, THE BLETCHLEY RIDDLE, and A STRANGE THING HAPPENED IN CHERRY HALL. Black Star I thought was really jumpy and hard to follow, THE BLETCHLEY RIDDLE I hyped up to much in my head (I’ll blame Quade on that one) and A STRANGE THING HAPPENED IN CHERRY HALL, I’m definitely still thinking about. And definitely recommending to children.
LOL. I am here for it.
I am going to stand by THE BLETCHLEY RIDDLE as a well-researched middle grade novel that provides a great setting, fun plot and interesting characters. It’s a modern page-turner and motivator and I like the pairing of Sheinkin and Sepetys.
Books that are published near the end of the year have one uphill battle from my award angle- I begin to measure them up against the forerunners, (especially when there are dominant themes.)
After reading THE BLETCHLEY RIDDLE, I went back to THE ENIGMA GIRLS and MAX IN THE HOUSE OF SPIES.
Of the three, I think that MAX IN THE HOUSE OF SPIES hits the Newbery Rubrics most successfully. Delineation of Characters, Development of a Plot, Delineation of a Setting, Appropriateness of Style, Interpretation of a Theme, Presentation of Information … it’s all there and its clever. I am all about books that raise the bar of literature and still are fun to read.
And just for you Emily- read the ARC of MAX IN THE LAND OF LIES (2.25.25) Go ahead and hype it up for the future- I am here for that too.