#2 - Cathrine Called Birdy

Catherine Called Birdy
Karen Cushman
1995 Newbery Honor Book
Historical Fiction

I remember reading this book in sixth grade because my teacher had a copy in the classroom.  I must have been out of books to read or needing something for Accelerated Reader because at the time, I almost exclusively read Star Trek books.  I remember having to stifle my laughs in class.

This book is told in a series of journal entries that Catherine makes as she goes her through her daily life as the daughter of a knight.  Eventually, she gets a book of saints so the saint of the day is added to the entries.  Catherine wants to do so much more than just do embroidery but she gets even more upset when she finds out that she is getting married off to Shaggy Beard, an old man. 

Unfortunately, this book gets a lot of flack because many argue that a girl in the middle ages would not be able to read and write.  While that is probably very true, I am sure that there were some exceptions to the rule.  Moreover, I tend to suspend my disbelief when reading so a lot of the inaccuracies don't always bother me.

I liked this book a lot better than The Midwife's Apprentice which actually won Cushman the Newbery medal.  They are both set in the middle ages but this book is way more detailed. 

Newbery 1971

Summer of the Swans
Author: Betsy Byars
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Plot: Sara and her family search for Charlie, who is lost.
Verdict: Underwhelming
My rating: 3 stars


Knee Knock Rise
Author: Natalie Babbitt
Genre: Fantasy
Plot: Egan travels to Instep where the people live in fear of Kneeknock Rise.
Verdict: A bit odd
My rating: 2 stars


Enchantress From the Stars
Author: Sylvia Louise Engdahl
Genre: Science Fiction
Plot: A group of aliens must pretend to be mystics to help a primitive planet.
Verdict: The narrator rambles a lot
My rating: 3 stars


Sing Down the Moon
Author: Scott O'Dell
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: A Native American Girl is kidnapped and forced to walk the Navaho Long Walk.
Verdict: The history draws you in
My rating: 3 stars

This year was an odd mix of genres that starts normal and gets odder as we travel down the list.  Sadly, none of these books really caught my undivided attention.  We start with Summer of the Swans which is a realistic fiction book.  The characters are children who are living with their aunt and not enjoying their summer.  Things heat up, when one of the children wanders off and becomes lost.  This is especially worrying because he is intellectually disabled.  I originally thought that he was Autistic but it comes out in the book that he became brain-damaged as a result of a fever. 

The next book is Kneeknock Rise by Natalie Babbitt.  Babbitt is famous for her book Tuck Everlasting which everyone assumes won the Newbery honor, when in fact her book that graced the Newbery list is Kneeknock Rise.  The two books are similar in that they are almost realistic fiction but have a small element of fantasy.  This book is about a boy named Egan who travels to Instep to go to a fair.  Instep is in the shadow of Kneeknock Rise, where a monster is supposed to dwell so the whole town in afraid of it.  The book explores his interaction with this forbidden place (I won't give away any spoilers).

If that wasn't strange enough, we move onto Enchantress From the Stars.  I think I might have liked this book a little better if I hadn't listened to the audio version.  The narrator tends to go off on tangents and wander a bit and this is made very evident when you hear it read aloud.  The plot is also extremely science fiction (in fact, the author says that it's really for an older audience but keeps getting read to younger audiences because of its Newbery status).  The basic premise is that a group of aliens find themselves on a primitive world where they have to help the native primitive aliens evict another group of aliens who are trying to terraform and colonize the planet (which will kill the natives) but they can't give themselves away to either group of aliens because both of them are less advanced.  So, the aliens have to pass themselves off a wizards (or, specifically, an enchantress) and get some of the native aliens to use "magic" (advanced technology) to run off the invading aliens.  If it sounds confusing, that's because it is.  Apparently, there are even more books written in the series after this one.  It would be a good choice to snag juvenile science fiction lovers.

The last book returns to normal with Sing Down the Moon.  Scott O'Dell is no stranger to the Newbery list (with a medal for The Island of the Blue Dolphins and several honors).  This book is about a Native American girl who gets forced to join the Navaho Long Walk where the Natives were relocated against their will.  His writing is excellent and I enjoyed it.

#3 - The House of the Scorpion

The House of the Scorpion
Nancy Farmer
2003 Newbery Honor Book
Science Fiction

I don't remember if this was the first Nancy Farmer book I read or if it was The Ear, The Eye and The Arm (1995 Newbery Honor Book).  In any case, between those two books, Nancy Farmer quickly became one of my favorite authors.

This book is a science fiction novel that rides the line between children's lit and YA.  It is set in futuristic, post apocalyptic Mexico.  We are introduced to Matteo, a young boy living on an opium plantation.  After an accident, Matteo is sent to live at the big house where we discover that he is not a normal boy, but a clone of the drug lord, El Patron.  Matteo soon finds that there a people who see clones as fellow humans, and those who see clones as nothing but animals.

The book explores some controversial themes such as are clones actual people?  Do they have rights?  Can they be grown for replacement parts?  There is a sequel to this book (The Lord of Opium) but I did not like it as much as I did the original. 

Newbery 2017

The Girl Who Drank the Moon
Author: Kelly Barnhill
Genre: Fantasy
Plot: Xan rescues a girl but accidentally feeds her moonlight, causing the girl to become magical.
Verdict: Great plot twists
My rating: 4 stars


Wolf Hollow
Author: Lauren Wolk
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: A girl who is bullying Annebelle makes trouble for the town, specifically for a war veteran named Toby.
Verdict: Interesting look at a bully
My rating: 3 stars


The Inquisitor's Tale
Author: Adam Gidwitz
Genre: Fantasy
Plot: In a tavern, the tale of three magical children is pieced together.
Verdict: Odd ending
My rating: 3 stars


Freedom Over Me
Author: Ashley Bryan
Genre: Poetry
Plot: A set of poems of the profiles of slaves at a slave auction.
Verdict: Potent and thought-provoking
My rating: 4 stars

This year in Newbery was a very interesting year.  I enjoyed the winner, The Girl Who Drank the Moon.  It is a high fantasy about a girl who is fed moonlight on accident by a witch, who then is forced to raise her because of her potential magical powers.  The other fantasy offering of the year was The Inquisitor's Tale.  I read this book first because it looked the most interesting with its great illuminations.  It was a interesting because the story is pieced together by people in a tavern which gives it a unique story telling experience, however, I was not thrilled with the ending.

The other two books are more historical ficotion.  Wolf  Hollow was set during World War II.  It involves a girl named Annabelle and her family as well as a veteran named Toby, who lives alone on the outskirts of town.  Annabelle is bullied by a girl in town and Toby becomes involved as the girl tells lies about an incident that happens.  Freedom Over Me is a collection of poems but it also historical fiction.  The author takes a bill of sale for a slave auction and creates backstories for all the different slaves who are on the auction block.  The mixing of the poetry and his art creates a very powerful book which should be a part of any Civil War unit.  If you look up Ashley Bryan, you will find that he has a very long and illustrious career.

#4 - El Deafo

 

El Deafo

Cece Bell

2015 Newbery Honor Book

Graphic Novel

I remember seeing this book listed as possible Newbery winners for 2015 and immediately liking the cover.  It was the first book I was eager to read when the list came out.  It is also the first ever graphic novel to be honored by the Newbery committee.  I know that a lot of people (especially educators, reading teachers in particular) often look down at graphic novels because they "lack content."  This book is definitely not lacking in content.

El Deafo is about a girl who loses her hearing at an early age.  She originally attends a program for hearing impaired students and learns to lip read but when her parents move to a smaller town, she has to attend school with all the regular kids.  She gets a giant hearing aid that she wears (called "The Phonic Ear") and the rest of the book is about her trying to make friends and be normal in a world the relies on being able to hear.

I love the tone of this book.  It is semi-autobiographical and Cece is so snarky.  Cece is very shy but she leads a rich fantasy life (in which she is a superhero, hence the cover) which shows us her true snarky side. It is a book about dealing with disability, about trying to fit in, and about friendship.  I also love how she uses rabbits and their overly large ears in a book about hearing loss (I caught the correlation right away and it was confirmed in a comment by Bell on Goodreads, so then I felt really smart).

I am hoping to see more of Cece Bell on the Newbery list.  She has already received awards for her other children's books, most notably a Theodore Seuss Geisel Honor for Rabbit and Robot: The Sleepover (my daughters love that book and we can't wait for the upcoming sequel).  She also has another children's book series, Sock Monkey (which I have only read one book because that's all my library system has).  I have interacted with her several times on social media and she seems to be a genuinely nice person too.

Newbery 1973

Julie of the Wolves
Author: Jean Craighead George
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Julie is forced to live with a wolf pack for survival
Verdict: I prefer part 2
My rating: 3 stars
**Challenged Book**


Frog and Toad Together
Author: Arnold Lobel
Genre: Picture Book
Plot: Frog and Toad have adventures as friends
Verdict: Cute, readable characters
My rating: 4 stars


The Upstairs Room
Author: Johanna Reiss
Genre: Nonfiction
Plot: Annie is a Jew who must hide in a room during World War II
Verdict: Interesting but not terribly compelling
My rating: 2 stars


The Witches of Worm
Author: Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Genre: Fantasy
Plot: Jessica rescues a kitten that turns out to be a witch's cat.
Verdict: Creepy
My rating: 2 stars
**Challenged Book**

This year boasts two books from the banned book list.  Julie of the Wolves, the medal winner, is about a Native American girl who finds herself living in harmony with a pack of wolves when she is forced to flee her home.  The situation that she flees from is what gives the book its challenged status.  She was forced into an arranged marriage with a boy, who is intellectually disabled and he tries to rape her.  The other challenged book, The Witches of Worm, is the most disturbing of the three Zilpha Keatley Snyder books I have read.  The plot revolves around Jessica who rescues an abandoned kitten and has to feed it around the clock to keep it alive.  As it grows into a larger cat, Jessica hears the cat's voice in her head and bad things begin to happen. The fact that the cat is a "witch's cat" lands the book on the challenged list.  On an interesting note, we are never explicitly told if the cat is actually a witch's cat or if Jessica made up everything in her head.

There are two broad kinds of picture books.  The first kind contains fairly complicated text and is intended to be read aloud to pictures.  The second kind has simplified, decodable text and is intended for children to read themselves.  These books are often referred to as "easy readers" and generally are numbered 1-4 based on their level of complexity.  Picture books are rarities on the Newbery list and most often they fall into the first category of picture books.  This makes a lot of sense because Newbery books are awarded on  the basis of their text, not their pictures, and easy readers are often a bit choppy to read because of their simplified text.  Frog and Toad Together is the second book in the four book Frog and Toad series by Arnold Lobel.  Many of Lobel's books, including the Frog and Toad series, are considered easy readers, which makes Frog and Toad Together a unique addition to the Newbery list.  Frog and Toad (who are, in fact, a frog and a toad; Frog is green and Toad is brown) who are friends.  Each book contains five of their adventures together in five separate, stand-alone short stories.  My favorite in Frog and Toad Together (and probably the whole series) is "Cookies" where Frog and Toad bake cookies....and then can't stop eating them!

The Upstairs Room is one of two books on the Newbery list written by Holocaust survivors.  The other is Upon the Head of the Goat a Newbery Honor for 1982.  Both authors had very different experiences during the Holocaust.  In The Upstairs Room, the author (known as Annie) is forced to flee her home in Holland with her sister.  They go into hiding in the country and most hide in an upstairs room of the farmhouse to survive.  Of the two, I actually prefer Upon the Head of the Goat which I think is more interesting since you can see the progression of the Jews losing their livelihood, possessions and houses and, at the end, getting sent off to the concentration and death camps.  Both, however, are definitely appropriate to read while studying the Jewish Holocaust.

#5 - Breaking Stalin's Nose

 

Breaking Stalin's Nose

Eugine Yelchin

2012 Newbery Honor Book

Historical Fiction

This was one of the first books that I read when I decided to start reading the Newbery list.  It is a quick read with short chapters and occasional black and white illustrations.  I read it shortly after reading Hitler Youth which has similar themes and complements it.

The book is told in first person by a boy named Sasha.  Sasha lives with his father in Stalin's Russia in a communal apartment.  Sasha's mother died some year prior and his father works for the State Security.  Sasha is very excited because he is going to join the Red Pioneers and he begins the book with a gushing letter to Stalin.

Things begin to go wrong when Sasha's father is arrested for being a traitor.  It is implied that the neighbor across the hall turned him in to get a larger room in the apartment.  Sasha is told he will be sent to the orphanage as he is evicted from his room when the neighbor and his family move in.  Sasha tries to find refuge with his aunt, but she turns him away in fear that their family will be punished for taking in a son of the enemy of the state.  Sasha goes to his school the next day, not telling anyone what happened. 

 

The rest of the book is a chilling look at Communism.  Because the book is written in first person, you can see how Sasha's thinking changes as events happen in the book.   The especially disturbing part is when the teacher asks the students to write down who they think broke the nose off the statue of Stalin.  It puts perspective on how scary it was to live under Stalin.

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.

Newbery 1972

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Author: Robert C. O'Brien
Genre: Animal Fantasy
Plot: Mrs. Frisby needs the help of the rats of NIMH when her son becomes ill.
Verdict: Nice animal fantasy
My Rating: 4 stars


Incident at Hawk's Hill
Author: Allan W. Eckert
Genre: Historical fiction
Plot: A boy lost on the prairie is rescued and care for by a female badger
Verdict: Well written despite plausibility challenges
My Rating: 3 stars


The Planet of Junior Brown
Author: Virginia Hamilton
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Plot: Junior Brown is a piano prodigy who lives in his own fantasies
Verdict: Not my kind of book
My Rating: 2 stars


The Tombs of Atuan
Author: Ursula K. LeGuin
Genre: Fantasy
Plot: Arha is the new high priestess for the Nameless Ones.
Verdict: Excellent sequel
My Rating: 3 stars


Annie and the Old One
Author: Miska Miles
Genre: Picture Book
Plot: Annie tries to delay her grandmother's death by interfering with the weaving.
Verdict: Powerful theme
My Rating: 3 stars


The Headless Cupid
Author: Zipha Keatley Snyder
Genre: Fantasy
Plot: Amanda comes to live with the Stanley family in a supposedly haunted house.
Verdict: Creepy
My Rating: 3 stars
**Challenged Book**

The medal winner this year, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH is also known as Secret of the NIMH, a movie made by Don Bluth.  In fact, the copy that my school library had actually had "Secret of the NIMH" on the cover.  There are some notable differences between the movie and the original book.  The basic plot to move Mrs. Frisby's house because of Timothy's illness remains intact in both the movie and the book.

The Newbery committee has a lot of flexibility when assigning honor books for each year so there's always some question of how many honor books there will be in addition to the one medal winner.  This year is on the higher end with five honor books.

The first is Incident at Hawk's Hill which is supposedly based on a true story.  Ben is a six year old boy who has an affinity for animals but does not get along with most of his family.  There is an incident with a fur trader and Ben finds himself alone on the prairie.  He is rescued by a female badger who has just lost her pups.  The plausibility of this, of course, is questionable.  However, the book does a good job of being extremely realistic with the story instead of venturing into the animal fantasy genre as some books like this tend to do.

The next book is by Virginia Hamilton, who is a very prolific and celebrated author.  The only problem I have is that I haven't been impressed with her writing.  To be fair, I think there is a cultural divide that I am not crossing (which is odd because I have enjoyed books written by other African American authors) either that or her writing style does not jive with my reading style.  In any case, The Planet of Junior Brown is an odd book about a piano prodigy who is kind of lost in his only fantasies.  He teams up with Buddy Clark, who is completely different and homeless and together they do things like build a model of the solar system in the janitor closet.

The Tombs of Atuan is the second book in the very popular fantasy series, The Earthsea Cycle.  In preparation to read this book, I read the first book in the series (A Wizard of Earthsea)....and strongly disliked it.  I was so hesitant to read the second book that I put it off for awhile, but I was pleasantly surprised.  Tombs has almost no connection to the first book until the very middle.  This seems to be quite common in fantasy series because I have also seen this with The Dark is Rising and Howl's Moving Castle.

Annie and the Old One is a longer picture book about Annie, a Navaho girl and her grandmother.  When her grandmother says that she will die when the current rug is done being woven, Annie tries whatever she can to stop the rug from being finished. It has a very powerful theme about how certain events are inevitable and there is nothing that an individual can do to change them.

The final book is a Snyder book called The Headless Cupid.  It reminds me a lot of Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley and Me, Elizabeth because of the whole "witchcraft initiation" plot line.  This plot line, incidentally, also landed the book on the challenged book list.  The Stanley family moves to a new house that is supposedly haunted.  Their mother has died so the father remarries and a new stepsister, Amanda arrives.  Amanda is very unhappy and says that she is a witch and then makes her new step-siblings initiates into witchcraft.

Newbery 2016

Last Stop on Market Street
Author: Matt de la Pena
Genre: Picture Book
Plot: CJ and his grandma ride the bus after church.
Verdict: Good themes
My rating: 3 stars


Echo
Author: Pam Muñoz Ryan
Genre: Fantasy
Plot: Three different children possess a magical harmonica
Verdict: The stories are interesting
My rating: 4 stars


The War That Saved My Life
Author: Kimberly Brubraker Bradley
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Ada and Jamie escape to the English countryside during the bombing in World War II
Verdict: Great story
My rating: 4 stars


Roller Girl
Author: Victoria Jamieson
Genre: Graphic Novel/Realistic Fiction
Plot: Astrid signs up for roller derby camp but her friend does not.
Verdict: Awesome story about friendship transitions in middle school
My rating: 4 stars

The big stir over this year's Newbery awards was that a picture book took the medal for the first time in decades.  I enjoyed The Last Stop on Market Street and I can definitely see why it won the medal.  It has some great themes and the art really adds to the story.  However, as happens to me a lot, I enjoyed the honor books more than the medal winner.

Echo is a fantasy/historical fiction book with four storylines.  The first reads like something out of Grimm and introduces us to a possessed harmonica.  The three main story lines in the book follow a German boy prior to World War II, a pair of brothers in Philidelphia who live in an orphanage and a Mexican-American girl who lives in California.  The book touches on some rather controversial subjects like the German sterilization of "imperfect" people, corrupt orphanage directors, the Japanese internment camps and the placement of all Mexican American students in "naturalization" schools.  The War that Saved My Life is a historical fiction set during World War II.  Eva has a club foot and is mistreated horribly by her mother so she and her brother Jamie escape to the countryside with the other children who are feeling the bombings in London.  They are housed reluctantly with a woman named Susan and Eva's life improves drastically.  I think this was my favorite.

For the second year in a row, a graphic novel has been honored by the Newbery committee.  This year, the book is Roller Girl.  It centers on Astrid, who signs up for roller derby camp.  She thinks that her friend Nicole will also sign up but Nicole opts for ballet camp instead.  Astrid is hurt but continues with roller derby, learning the new sport and making new friends. This book is extremely relevant for middle schoolers who often find that they lose old friends and make new friends when transitioning to middle school.

Newbery 1985

The Hero and the Crown
Author: Robin McKinley
Genre: Fantasy
Plot: Aerin discovers the secret of a fire proof substance and goes off to find dragons.
Verdict: A rare good prequel
My rating: 5 stars


Like Jake and Me
Author: Mavis Jukes
Genre: Realistic Fiction/Picture Book
Plot: A boy tries to bond with his stepfather
Verdict: Not that great
My rating: 2 stars


The Moves Make the Man
Author: Bruce Brooks
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Plot: Jerome tells the story of his runaway friend Bix and Basketball
Verdict: I don't like sport books
My rating: 1 star


One-Eyed Cat
Author: Paula Fox
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Ned is guilt-ridden after firing his gun in the dark because he thinks he wounded a cat.
Verdict: The writing is a bit choppy and ploddy
My rating: 2 stars

The medal winner from this year, The Hero and the Crown is one of my favorite books and a rare prequel that outshines the original book.  It and the original book, Newbery Honor winner The Blue Sword are part of McKinley's Damar series, which really is only these two books and a few short stories.  McKinley is known for her retellings of fairy tales (similar to Gail Carson Levine, but McKinley's are more YA than children's lit) but Damar is an original series, not tied to any previous tales.  I love all her writing, it is very smooth and descriptive.

The other three books from this year are more realistic. Like Jake and Me is an advanced picture book.  The story is about a boy who is trying to bond with his very rugged, cowboyish stepfather.  It is unclear if his biological father is deceased or his parents are just divorced.  I wanted to like it but it seemed like it was missing something.  Be warned, in one picture, the stepfather is almost completely naked.  I wasn't sure that was terribly appropriate.  The Moves Make the Man is a sports book.  Unfortunately, I'm not a big fan of sports books but sometimes I am pleasantly surprised, like with 2015's The Crossover.  Sadly, this book did not impress me.  It is told in first person by Jerome, an African American high school student, who ends up being the only African America student in a whole white school.  He loves basketball but is not given a fair chance at the basketball team.  He makes friends with Bix in Home Ec class and teaches him the game.  I think it had many redeeming qualities and possible points of discussion but I didn't like the narrator's voice and as I said, I'm not big into sports.  One-Eyed Cat is more of a historical fiction book.  The main character, Ned, receives a gun for his birthday but it is taken away by his father.  He goes and gets it anyway and fires it into the dark.  The rest of the book is about his guilt because he believes he injured a cat.  I thought it plodded a bit but it is a good example of a book with guilt as the theme and the ending actually fit the rest of the story. 

Newbery 1974

The Slave Dancer
Author: Paula Fox
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Jessie is kidnapped and pressed into service on a slave ship.
Verdict: Interesting story, choppy writing
My rating: 2 stars


The Dark is Rising
Author: Susan Cooper
Genre: Fantasy
Plot: Will discovers that he is one of the "old ones" and must collect 6 signs.
Verdict: Confusing at start but gets better
My rating: 3 stars

Both books from this year are pretty dark.  The first, The Slave Dancer, is an historical fiction book about a boy pressed into service on a slave ship.  I'm not sure his kidnapping is plausible but the horrible conditions on the slave ship certainly are. He is a first hand witness to the horrors of slavery.  The second book, The Dark is Rising, is the second book of the series, also titled "The Dark is Rising."  It does not seem to be unusual for the second book in a series to get honored on the Newbery list (The Black Cauldron, The Tombs of Atuan and Dicey's Song come to mind) and usually, I recommend that that reader read the first book or books in a series leading up the one who has won and award.  In this case, the book is only slightly connected to the first book so it is not necessary to read the first book.  However, the fourth book in the series, The Gray King, is a medal winner so if you are trying to read the Newbery list, you might as well read the whole series.  The Dark is Rising is a darker low fantasy book about a boy named Will who finds out he is an "Old One" and has special powers. 

Newbery 1996

The Midwife's Apprentice
Author: Karen Cushman
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Brat learns to be an apprentice to a midwife.
Verdict: Not quite as good as Catherine
My rating: 4 stars


What Jamie Saw
Author: Carolyn Coman
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Plot: Jamie, his mother and his sister flee their mother's abusive significant other.
Verdict: A bit dark
My rating: 2 stars


The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
Author: Christopher Paul Curtis
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: The Watson family travels to Birmingham to drop off their oldest son, Byron.
Verdict: The first chapter is great
My rating: 3 stars


Yolanda's Genius
Author: Carol Fenner
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Plot: Yolanda discovers that her brother is a harmonica prodigy.
Verdict: Interesting story
My rating: 3 stars


The Great Fire
Author: Jim Murphy
Genre: Nonfiction
Plot: The story of the great Chicago fire.
Verdict: Great descriptions
My rating: 3 stars

The winner of the medal this year was The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman, who won an honor the previous year for Catherine Called Birdy.  I felt that Catherine was actually a better book but it was up against some stiff competition.  The Midwife's Apprentice is a great book about an urchin girl who becomes an apprentice to the local midwife and is frustrated when she feels she isn't learning anything.

I felt that fiction honor books were a bit lackluster this year.  The Watsons Go to Birmingham was the best.  I was not impressed with What Jamie Saw.  Yolanda's Genius was a little better.

On the other hand, the nonfiction book for the year, The Great Fire was excellent.  It described in detail the events of the great Chicago fire, including diagrams to show the path of the fire as it spread.  It also talked about the "fire proof building" and how they still had weaknesses that led to them burning as well. 

Newbery 1994

The Giver
Author: Lois Lowry
Genre: Science Fiction
Plot: Jonas lives in a Community where everything is controlled and he is chosen to be the next Receiver of Memory
Verdict: Best Book Ever!
My rating: 5 stars
**Challenged book**


Crazy Lady
Author: Jane Leslie Conly
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Plot: Vernon becomes close to the "crazy lady" down the street and her ID son Ronald.
Verdict: Sad ending
My rating: 3 stars
**Challenged Book**


Dragon's Gate
Author: Laurence Yep
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Otter comes to America from China to work on the transcontinental railroad.
Verdict: Very gritty
My rating: 3 stars


Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery
Author: Russell Freedman
Genre: Nonfiction
Plot: The story of Eleanor Roosevelt, the political activist, suffragette and wife of FDR.
Verdict: Interesting woman
My rating: 3 stars

The Giver has been my favorite since eighth grade when I read it during DEAR time after I finished my other book (I didn't pick it, the teacher did and I thought it was boring).  Today, we have the benefit of Lowry's three sequels to tell us what Jonas' fate was.  At the time I read it, (1998 or 1999), all we could do was speculate.  This is a perennial challenged book because of some of the controversial things in the book such as euthanasia.  It compares well to more recent dystopia novels like Hunger Games and Divergent and classic adult novels like Brave New World and 1984.

Crazy Lady was a bit of a surprise.  Vernon needs help with his English and finds help in an unsuspecting place: the crazy lady, Maxine and her intellectually disabled son, Ronald.  In exchange for the tutoring, Vernon helps her with yard work and forms an unlikely attachment to Ronald.  It is challenged due to some cussing (and probably also the "r" world).

I read about Dragon's Gate in the book Stories Matter before I even touched the book.  The essay compared two children's literature books about the transcontinental railroad.  Yep did extensive research for Dragon's Gate so it is quite accurate and much grittier than people would expect.  The Chinese workers and American taskmaster did not get along and cooperate.  There is constant tension.  

And sorry, fantasy fans, no actual dragons appear in Dragon's Gate.

The last book is another great narrative biography with pictures written by Russell Freedman.  This one is about Eleanor Roosevelt.

#6 - The Hero and the Crown

The Hero and the Crown
Robin McKinley
1985 Newbery Medal Winner
Fantasy

My introduction to this book was in high school.  I was in our school library with friends and my friend saw this book and told me that I had to read it.  So I picked it up....and I couldn't put it down. 

It was also my introduction to Robin McKinley, who I found out is known for her adaptations of fairy tales.  Her first novel was Beauty, an adaptation of "Beauty and the Beast" (which she adapted yet again with Rose Daughter).  The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword (which is a Newbery Honor book) are not fairy tale adaptations but are high fantasy novels which take place in the imaginary land of Damar.  Hero is technically the prequel to Blue Sword, although the two can technically read in either order. 

The main character in the book is Aerin, the daughter of the king and queen.  Most of the royal family members have some form of magical powers (called "The Gift"), except for Aerin, who is teased by her other cousins, especially Galanna.  To prove that she is of royal blood, she eats a bunch of surka leaves which leaves her bedridden for quite a long time but does not kill her.  While she recovers, she forms a bond with her father's old lame warhorse, Talat and works to find the secret lost recipe of kenet, a substance that makes things fire proof.  After she recovers, she decides to go out and slay dragons.

One of the best features of McKinley's writing is her descriptive writing.  It brings the book to life.  Aerin is a very amusing and multi-dimensional character who grows immensely throughout the novel.

#7 - Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Grace Lin
2010 Newbery Honor Book
Folk/Fantasy

When I started the task of reading the Newbery list, this was one of the first books I picked up from the library.  I was enchanted.  I couldn't put it down. 

Grace Lin doesn't so much tell the story as weave the story.  The main story is that is Minli, a girl who lives next to Fruitless Mountain and hopes to change her family's poor fortune by seeking the Old Man of the Moon.  The main story contains "stories within a story" that eventually connect back to the main story.  Lin makes it easy to tell when we are reading one of these by not only putting a clear title for each story but also changing the font so it is easy for the reader to see when the story ends and the main plot picks back up.  One of the best features of this book is that there is color all over the pages.  She adds small splashes of color throughout with some additional full color illustrated pages which are absolutely gorgeous. 

At the end of the book, Lin tells the story of how she ignored her Taiwanese heritage until one day she picked up a book of Chinese fairy tales that her mother had put on her bookshelf and rediscovered her culture.  She traveled to China and the surrounding areas which gave her inspiration for many of the illustrations and places in the book.  Lin has another series of books based on her life as a Taiwanese American girl (Year of the Dog, Year of the Rat and Dumpling Days) and she has written a follow up book to this book in a similar style called Starry River of the Sky. 

I feel this book was a much better book than the medal winner for 2010, When You Reach Me.  Personally, I think it was robbed.

Newbery 2000

Bud, Not Buddy
Author: Christopher Paul Curtis
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Bud runs away from his foster family to try to find his father.
Verdict: Great story
My rating: 4 stars


Getting Near to Baby
Author: Audrey Couloumbus
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Plot: Two sisters contemplate the death of their baby sister on their aunt's roof.
Verdict: Quite sad
My rating: 3 stars


Our Only May Amelia
Author: Jennifer L Holm
Plot: May Amelia is a tom boy in a family with all brothers
Verdict: Use quotation marks, Jennifer L. Holm!
My rating: 1 star


26 Fairmount Avenue
Author: Tomie dePaola
Plot: Tomie's parents are building a new house.
Verdict: Humorous biography
My rating: 5 stars

I was pleasantly surprised by Bud, Not Buddy.  The character of Bud is a well developed and interesting as he runs away from his abusive foster family during the Great Depression in search of his father.  I loved the scene with the "fake family" and also the whole jazz band which Bud runs into at the end of the book.  Getting Near to Baby is a sad story told in flashbacks about two sisters who have lost their baby sister.  I could not stand Our Only May Amelia because all of the dialogue omits quotation marks, which drove me crazy.  I may try the audio version later but I wasn't terribly intrigued by the book.

Last, but not least, we have Tomie dePaola's autobiographical novella 26 Fairmount Avenue.  I was introduced to this book in my undergrad student teaching.  I have read all eight books in this series.  Tomie was definitely a precocious child.  I think my favorite story was when he went to see Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.   It is a very short read with illustrations so it is a great read for children and a good beginner chapter book.