MORE POSTS
Well, we were due to come back here at some point, and Six Boxes of Books’ post last week corresponded with my re-read and re-deliberation of this title taking all of Jonathan’s second-read arguments to mind. I think he’s on to something, framing this as a satire. However, doing so only makes me more convinced of my […]
A month ago we had a vigorous debate about the lower end of the Newbery range and now we find ourselves haggling about the upper end. I’d like to take this discussion back to the Newbery manual. If a book is challenging, and suitable for 13-14-year-olds but not for younger readers, is it eligible? Yes; but it […]
Ah…Thanksgiving on the horizon. That means: final nominations due soon for the Newbery committee. The Newbery Manual doesn’t actually provide a fixed schedule for these nominations, but the final round generally happens in December: enough time for members to ferret out all the eligible books…enough time for everyone to re-read nominations and prepare for discussion […]
When the winners are announced–and especially if they are unpopular–people will complain that the committee members must not actually know any real live children if they were able to make those selections. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course. Most, if not all, committee members have a group of children that they regularly […]
I recently finished a second read of The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, after having read the ARC many months ago. Comments on Jonathan’s original post continue to pop up over a month later, and we’ve been comparing it to many other books in subsequent posts. Jonathan said in one such comment: "I’m all for understanding that a plot-driven […]
I‘m still pondering our discussion of LIPS TOUCH . . . FROM CHILDHOOD TO ADOLESENCE The Newbery criteria famously leave the term "distinguished" vaguely defined so that (a) each committee can strive toward a working definition and because (b) it allows for flexibility should notions of what constitutes distinguished literature change over the course of time. Similarly, I think that […]
Meanwhile, The Dunderheads is really growing on me. When the discussion started, I was relying on month’s-old memory of having read the dummy at ALA. My library’s copy just made it through processing, and I have to say that I couldn’t agree more with Jonathan’s assertion of "superb characterization." He goes on to say that […]
While CHARLES AND EMMA is easily one of the best books of the year, I do think many people will not be entirely comfortable with it in the Newbery field. It does skew older than most of the titles we’ve discussed here, and (like LIPS TOUCH: THREE TIMES) is more likely to find an audience among 7th, 8th, and […]
Ernie Cox and I sat down with Marco Torres after his inspiring keynote and chatted a little more about the importance of creativity, community,
Moonshot was brought up a few times in our discussions of short texts that could be Newbery worthy. As commenters like Monica and Wendy have pointed out, the poetic text is full of great imagery and sound. "High above / there is the Moon, / cold and quiet, / no air, no life, / but glowing […]
ADVERTISEMENT
Archives
ADVERTISEMENT