Celebration! The 200 book mark!

I figured that hitting 200 books off the list was a pretty large milestone.  To celebrate, I've decided to talk about some of my absolute favorite books off the Newbery list in a top ten list plus one extra.

What makes a good book?  I love it when a book just grabs you and doesn't want to let you go.  You're almost sad when it ends because you have no more book to read.  I make a sort of "mini movie" in my head as I read a book, so I love books which make that process extremely easy with great descriptions and a flowing plot.  I also love fleshed out characters. 

Some of these books have been favorites from mine for a long time, having originally been read in grade school or high school.  Some of these books are new favorites.  I am re-reading each book before posting, as I find that re-reading some of these Newbery books as an adult has changed my perspective on several books or made me like it even more.

So, over the next few weeks, watch for my top 10 Newbery favorites (plus 1).

Newbery 1976

The Grey King
Author: Susan Cooper
Genre: Fantasy
Plot: Will teams up with an albino boy to continue his quest.
Verdict: Lots of Welsh mythology
My rating: 3 stars


The Hundred Penny Box
Author: Sharon Bell Mathis
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Plot: Michael's Aunt Dew has a box with a hundred pennies for each year of her life.
Verdict: Interesting short story
My rating: 3 stars


Dragonwings
Author: Laurence Yep
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Moon Shadow and his father survive the San Francisco earthquake
Verdict: Expertly researched multicultural writing
My rating: 3 stars

The Grey King is the fourth book in the series "The Dark is Rising."  I always try to read the proceeding books in a series when the Newbery winner is not book number one (it doesn't always happen because sometimes I'm unaware there is a series until I have the book mostly read).  The series is a low fantasy series, with lots of Welsh mythology.  There is one book after this which I did read but this book is probably the best in the series. 

The Hundred Penny Box is a longer picture book which can easily be read in one sitting.  The main character is Michael who enjoys having his Aunt Dew (who really is a great aunt) tell him about the hundred pennies in her "Hundred Penny Box."  She has one for each year of her life.  It touches on memory and treasured objects.

Laurence Yep is an author you will see mentioned if you are looking for culturally relevant and accurate children's multicultural literature.  He spent years researching his books and you will find them gritty in comparison to other books which try to make all cultures friendly.  In this book, Moon Shadow and his father work at a laundry in San Francisco right before the big earthquake.  His father wants to build a flying machine.  A parting note: if you are a fantasy dragon lover, you will find absolutely no mythical dragons in Yep's writing, despite the title.

Newbery 1983

Dicey's Song
Author: Cynthia Voigt
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Plot: Dicey and her siblings adjust to life with their grandmother.
Verdict: A book of struggles
My rating: 4 stars


The Blue Sword
Author: Robin McKinley
Genre: Fantasy
Plot: Harry is kidnapped by the Hillfolk and taught to wield the Blue Sword.
Verdict: Great fantasy
My rating: 3 stars


Doctor De Soto
Author: William Steig
Genre: Fantasy
Plot: A dentist mouse outwits a fox.
Verdict: Mice are clever
My rating: 3 stars


Graven Images
Author: Paul Fleischman
Genre: Folk
Plot: Three short stories involving statues.
Verdict: He didn't nail the endings
My rating: 2 stars


Homesick: My Own Story
Author: Jean Fritz
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Based on the author's experience of being raised in China, to American parents and then moving to America.
Verdict: Rides the nonfiction/fiction line
My rating: 3 stars


Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush
Author: Virginia Hamilton
Genre: Fantasy
Plot: Tree is in love with a ghost.
Verdict: Interesting ghost story
My rating: 3 stars

Dicey's Song is the second book in the Tillerman Cycle.  I would definitely read the first book, Homecoming, before reading this book.  The third book, A Solitary Blue, is also a Newbery Honor book.  I enjoyed all three of these books.  The series chronicles Dicey and her siblings who are abandoned by their mother and must fend for themselves while trying to find a relative to take them in.  Eventually, by the second book, they end up with their grandmother and each faces a particular challenged in adjusting to his or her new life. 

Robin McKinley is one of my favorite authors.  She is known for her retellings of fairy tales but her two Newbery books The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown take place in the land of Damar, a place of her own imagining.  The Blue Sword was written first takes place after the events of The Hero and the Crown however, the books can be read in either order.  This book starts a little slow before launching into epic fantasy. 

William Steig is one of the few authors who shows up on both the Newbery and Caldecott lists.  One of his most popular books is Shrek! which was eventually turned into a movie loosely based on the book.  Doctor De Soto is a regular illustrated picture book featuring his signature art. 

Having enjoyed Fleischman's Joyful Noise poetry collection, I had high hopes for this book.  It is a collection of three folk-esque stories.  But the endings just didn't seem to fit with the rest of the story, in my opinion.  The stories were a bit muddled and didn't quite build to fit his interesting plot twists.  Having read other traditional folk stories, I appreciated his effort.  On another interesting note, his father, Sid Fleischman, won the Newbery for The Whipping Boy making it the only father-son pair to win on the list.

Homesick really rides the line between fiction and nonfiction.  The author based the book on her own experience as an American girl growing up in China, but she added fictional details.  It would make for an interesting discussion about when a book crosses that imaginary line (in other words, how much embellishment can you add to a biography before it ceases to be nonfiction).

The last book on the list is by the very famous African American author Virginia Hamilton.  I admit, I've struggled with her other books.  She is true to her African American roots and that can make her writing hard to understand for readers who are not African American.  I found her characters very interesting.

Newbery 1987

The Whipping Boy
Author: Sid Fleischman
Genre: Fantasy
Plot: Jemmy, the whipping boy, runs away with Prince Brat and has an adventure.
Verdict: Not "The Prince and the Pauper"
My rating: 3 stars


A Fine White Dust
Author: Cynthia Rylant
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Plot: Peter becomes attached to the traveling Preacher Man at the local revival.
Verdict: Kind of wishy washy
My rating: 2 stars


On My Honor
Author: Marion Dane Bauer
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Plot: Joel is unsure what to do when a tragedy happens.
Verdict: Short and sad
My rating: 3 stars
**Challenged**


Volcano: The Eruption and Healing of Mount St. Helens
Author: Patricia Lauber
Genre: Nonfiction
Plot: A description of the Mount St. Helens eruption and an account of the scientists documenting the ecology's recovery.
Verdict: Extremely interesting
My rating: 4 stars

At first glance, The Whipping Boy seems to be a sort of "The Prince and the Pauper" tale  Jemmy is plucked off the streets to be with the horrible Prince Brat.  However, Jemmy does not look a thing like the Prince and his only job is to be whipped whenever the prince does something wrong (which is horrible discipline because the prince learns absolutely nothing).  Then, Prince Brat runs away and Jemmy is kind of forced to go with him (or face severe punishment).  The book is extremely short but I can see why it won the Medal this year.

The next two books are both realistic fiction with some very deep themes.  A Fine White Dust is told by Peter, who is a Christian but his parents are not and his friend is a confirmed atheist.  One day, a revival comes to town and he is extremely attracted by the traveling Preacher Man, with whom he can talk about spiritual matters, something he has not been able to do.  However, a betrayal is in the works.  On My Honor is about two boys who go for a bike ride until one boy decides to go for a swim instead.  When tragedy strikes, the other boy is not sure what to do.  This book is on the ALA's challenged list for the 1990-1999 decade.

The last book is actually my favorite.  Volcano chronicles the famous and devastating eruption of Mount St. Helens.  Then, the rest of the book talks about the scientists who stayed on the mountain, which was preserved for scientific study, to watch how nature recovered. 

Newbery 1982

A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers
Author: Nancy Willard
Genre: Poetry
Plot:  This picture book is of a fictional inn based on the poetry of William Blake
Verdict: A bit strange
My rating: 3 stars


Ramona Quimby, Age 8
Author: Beverly Cleary
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Plot: Ramona's father is in school and Ramona tries to survive third grade.
Verdict: Classic Ramona
My rating: 3 stars


Upon the Head of the Goat: A Childhood in Hungary 1939-1944
Author: Aranka Siegal
Genre: Nonfiction
Plot: The author's memories of being a Jew in Hungary during World War II.
Verdict: Powerful
My rating: 3 stars

The 1982 Newbery books are completely different from each other. 

The winner, A Visit to William Blake's Inn is the only book that I know of to get on the Newbery and Caldecott lists simultaneously (several authors have books on both lists but for separate books).  Before reading it, I recommend reading  Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience by William Blake so that the book will make more sense.  It is a short read, being a picture book of poetry, and after my first read, I had to go find both books on Open Library before rereading the book and it made a bit more sense the second time.  I think it is one of the oddest most unique books on the Newbery list.

Ramona Quimby, Age 8 is the sixth book in Cleary's Ramona series.  I have seen some call it dated, but I did not find it to be dated personally as I read it.  It might be because it was published only a few years before I was born so I am not too far removed from the timeframe of the book.  Many of the trials Ramona goes through are still relevant, such has having a parent in college and struggling financially.

Upon the Head of the Goat is definitely the serious book of this year.  It is based on the author's experiences as a Jewish girl in Hungary during World War II.  The book ends before the family is sent to a concentration camp.  Hungary was the last country to persecute its Jewish population.  The author's mother is definitely a strong and intelligent woman. 

Newbery 1993

Missing May
Author: Cynthia Rylant
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Plot: Summer's Aunt May dies suddenly and her Uncle Ob seeks a spiritualist to local her spirit.
My rating: 2 stars


What Hearts
Author: Bruce Brooks
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Plot: We see four episodes of Asa's childhood.
My rating: 2 stars


The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural
Author: Patricia McKissack
Genre: Folk Fiction
Plot: This book is a collection of African American folk/ghost stories.
My rating: 3 stars


Somewhere in the Darkness
Author: Walter Dean Myers
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Plot: Jimmy's father, Crab, comes home to take his estranged son on a road trip.
My rating: 3 stars

Three of the four books this year are realistic fiction and all three are rather dark.  Missing May deals with the death of Summer's aunt, What Hearts deals with Asa's parents divorcing and Asa's tumultuous relationship with his mother's new boyfriend and Somewhere in the Darkness deals with Jimmy's escaped convict father who has a serious illness.  The Dark-Thirty is the wildcard in the bunch since it is a collection of Southern and African American folk stories.  It would be a great, diverse "spooky" read for around Halloween. 

Overall, this was a bit of a lackluster year of Newbery reads for me.  None of the books reached out and grabbed me.  The only one I found remotely interesting was The Dark-Thirty. 

Newbery 1978

Bridge to Terabithia
Author: Katherine Paterson
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Plot: Jess and Leslie create the imaginary land of Terabithia.
Verdict: Bring Kleenix
My rating: 3 stars


Ramona and her Father
Author: Beverly Cleary
Genre: Realistic fiction
Plot: Ramona's father loses his job and the Quimby family must downsize.
Verdict: Not dated
My rating: 3 stars


Anpao: An American Indian Odessey
Author: Jamake Hightower
Genre: Folk tale
Plot: Anpao goes on a quest to find the Sun and ask him for the hand of the girl he loves.
Verdict: Interesting read
My rating: 3 stars

The Newbery Medal winner for this year is Bridge to Terabithia which is quite a popular book and is also on the banned list.  The author, Katherine Paterson, is a two-time medal winner (her other book is Jacob Have I Loved).  I remember reading this in sixth grade and having to build Terabithia as our book project (I did it with my best friend and of course, ours had a real moat).  Among the reasons for this book being "banned" is the fact that someone dies, saying "lord" outside of prayer and the fact that Leslie and her parents don't go to church.  The grade school I attended was a very conservative Christian school, yet we still read it and no one raised a fuss.  To this day, I still don't understand why people go above and beyond to "ban" certain books.  Overall, it's a great book.

The next book is Ramona and her Father by Beverly Cleary out of her popular Ramona series.  This time the family is in financial trouble causing some humorous stories as the girls try to get their father to quit smoking and the cat protests his cheap food.

Anpao was an interesting read.  It takes a bunch of Native American folk stories and weaves them into one big story.  I thought it was interesting and it was easy to understand.  However, there is a bit of controversy with the author.  He has authored several Native American books and claimed to be Native American, however, there is some controversy over whether or not he is actually Native American.