Newbery 1975

M.C. Higgins, the Great
Author: Virginia Hamilton
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Plot: M.C. Higgins sits on top of a big pole watching over a mountain that is supposed to fall down.
Verdict: I'm not sure anything really happened
My Rating: 2 stars


Figgs & Phantoms
Author: Ellen Raskin
Genre: Fantasy
Plot: Mona is part of the eclectic Figg family
Verdict: Quite strange
My Rating: 3 stars


My Brother Sam is Dead
Author: James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Tim lives in a loyalist town but his brother Sam goes off to fight with the Continental Army.
Verdict: Puts perspective on the Revolutionary War
My Rating: 3 stars
**Challenged Book**


The Perilous Gard
Author: Elizabeth Marie Pope
Genre: Fantasy
Plot: Kathrine is banished to a remote mansion and is forced to live with the Fairy Folk.
Verdict: Boring start, interesting middle
My rating: 2 stars


Phillip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon Maybe
Author: Bette Greene
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Beth has a crush on Phillip Hall
Verdict: Interesting adventures
My rating: 3 stars

All in all, I don't consider this to be a great year for Newbery.  None of the books overly impressed me.

We start with M.C. Higgins the Great.  I came away from this book confused.  It seemed that nothing had actually happened in the book, but perhaps it was because there was a kind of "life goes on" theme.  I wanted to like the characters but I just couldn't make a mental picture of M.C. and his pole.  The next book, Figgs & Phantoms just isn't Westing Game.  It's an odd little fantasy book, mostly about Mona and her uncle and the quest for used books and Capri.  My Brother Sam is Dead is probably the best offering of this year.  This historical fiction set in the Revolutionary War is a perennial fixture on the challenged list.  The biggest issue is probably the violence, but I'm not really sure what you expect from a book set during a war.  It does really flesh out the challenges that Loyalist Americans faced during the war and would make a good addition to a middle school or high school social studies unit.  I wanted to like The Perlious Gard but it really didn't get interesting until the middle of the book.  The beginning and ending plodded a bit.  The time that Kate spends in the Fairy realm is actually quite interesting.  The last book is Phillip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon Maybe and it is about a girl who is on a quest to get a boy to notice her (because she has a crush on him).  They do have some interesting adventures.