Newbery 1989

Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices
Author: Paul Fleichman
Genre: Poetry
Plot: This is a collection of animal poems designed to be read by two people
Verdict: Great fun
My rating: 4 stars


In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World
Author: Virginia Hamilton
Genre: Folk Fantasy
Plot: This is a collection of creation stories from different cultures.
Verdict: Interesting read
My rating: 3 stars


Scorpions
Author: Walter Dean Myers
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Plot: Jamal's brother Randy is in jail and Jamal is not sure if he should join the Scorpions gang.
Verdict: Not my type of read
My rating: 2 stars

The first two books from this year are excellent for a teacher to have in his or her classroom.  Joyful Noise would make an awesome addition to a poetry unit or for reader's theater.  In the Beginning would work well in a folk tale unit and provides the students and opportunity to compare and contrast different stories about the same subject (the creation of the world/man). 

Scorpions was a bit of a disappointment for me.  I had heard great things about Walter Dean Myers but I just couldn't get into the plot.  It's probably a cultural thing but I really don't like literature with gangs and such.  I will definitely try reading another of Myers' books because the writing itself was excellent but this plot really didn't appeal to me.

Newbery 1977

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry
Author: Mildred D. Taylor
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Cassie and her family face racism because they are black and own their own land.
Verdict: Intense
My rating: 4 stars


Abel's Island
Author: William Steig
Genre: Animal Fantasy
Plot: Abel, a mouse, gets marooned on an island after he is swept away in a storm.
Verdict: Love the ending
My rating: 3 stars


A String in the Harp
Author: Nancy Bond
Genre: Fantasy
Plot: Peter finds a key that shows him Taliesen.
Verdict: Too whiney
My rating: 1 star

First, we have Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, which often finds itself on banned book list because it dares to talk about racism.  It seems that if you use the "n" word in a book, it automatically gets the book banned.  It was a very intense portrait of the effects of racism in the deep South.  I could not put the book down.  It was also very readable, which was a plus.  It would be interesting to pair it with Sounder.

Second, there's Abel's Island by William Steig, who is one of the few authors to get honored on both the Caldecott and Newbery sides.  This is actually a novella but it has frequent illustrations.  It is a very cute story about a gentleman mouse who is swept off while retrieving his wife's scarf and ends up on an island from which he cannot escape.

Finally, we have A String in the Harp which I did not like at all.  I thought Peter was too whiney and the bit with the key was a bit convoluted. 

Newbery 2005

Kira-Kira
Author: Cynthia Kadohata
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Katie and her family move to the south and her sister Lynn is sick.
Verdict: A bit ploddy
My rating: 2 starso


Al Capone Does My Shirts
Author: Gennifer Choldenko
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Moose must look after his Autistic sister Natalie after his family moves to Alcatraz Island.
Verdict: Darker than expected
My rating: 3 stars


The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marion Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights
Author: Russell Freedman
Genre: Nonfiction
Plot: Marion Anderson was a famous African American contralto who struggled with the Jim Crowe laws.
Verdict: Interesting bit of history I didn't know about
My rating: 4 stars


Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
Author: Gary D. Schmidt
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Turner moves to Maine when his father becomes the new pastor and stirs up trouble when he befriends Lizzie of Malaga Island.
Verdict: So sad at the end
My rating: 3 stars

Four different aspects of history were explored this year. Kira-Kira did not impress me that much.  Al Capone Does My Shirts, however, was a bit of surprise.  The title is a it witty so I thought the book would be more humorous.  However, it is extremely serious and we had a bit of a discussion in my book group about whether or not the mother was right in expecting Moose to look after Natalie.  I found that I did not know as much as I thought I did about the Civil Rights Movement when I read The Voice that Challenged a Nation.  Marion Anderson was a famous African American singer who faced problems when singing in the South due to the Jim Crowe laws and segratation.  I am glad that Freedman decided to write this book.  Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy starts a bit slow.  Much of what happens to Turner is definitely tongue and cheek but the ending is very sad.  It is a story set within actual historical events.

Newbery 2007

The Higher Power of Lucky
Author: Susan Patron
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Plot: Lucky lives in a small California town with her guardian and searches for her higher power.
Verdict: The ending is good
My rating: 3 stars


Penny from Heaven
Author: Jennifer L. Holm
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Penny's summer is sure to be boring since her mother won't let her do anything but then tragedy strikes.
Verdict: Watch out for laundry ringers
My rating: 3 stars


Hattie Big Sky
Author: Kirby Larson
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Hattie tries to prove her uncle's homestead claim as a 16 year old girl.
Verdict: Bittersweet
My rating: 3 stars


Rules
Author: Cynthia Lord
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Plot: Catherine writes rules for her autistic brother and befriends Jason, who is in a wheelchair.
Verdict: Realistic Fiction
My rating: 3 stars

This year definitely had an interesting mix of books. 

I don't have a lot to say about The Higher Power of Lucky.  I found the bit about the government cheese amusing.   Penny From Heaven was an interesting look at a girl who has two families that don't generally intermingle.  Her Italian family cracked me up.  The plot kind of plods along until the big tragedy (which will make you wince).  Hattie Big Sky seemed to me to be not terribly realistic until I found out that the author based it upon a female relative who attempted to homestead.  Parts of it were definitely "Little House" like except that it is set in a completely different time period.  The distrust of the Germans during World War I is something that is not often explored so it was interesting to see it.  The end was heartbreaking.  Rules is often talked about in special education circles because of her Autistic brother and Jason, who is in a wheelchair.  I love how the brother loves Frog and Toad.

Contempoary Realistic Fiction

Contemporary Realistic Fiction is fiction that is plausible and could actually happen, set in the present day.  The characters are realistic and they face realistic problems.  Many children and adults alike enjoy contemporary realistic fiction because often the characters face problems similar to problems that they have faced in real life.

There are different subgenres within contemporary realistic fiction.  These include adventure, survival, mysteries, animal stories (as in ones that do not contain talking animals), sports, comedy and romance.  The themes found in realistic fiction include coming-of-age stories, relationships with peers and family and current issues.  Current issues includes things like drug use, violence, war, and cultural dislocation or being bicultural.  Obviously, some of these themes can be controversial so many of these books are often found on the "banned books list."

Historical fiction is closely related to contemporary realistic fiction.  Many books that are now considered historical fiction now, started out as contemporary realistic fiction are now considered historical fiction because of the age of the book.  There is no set guideline as to how old a book needs to be to shift from contemporary to historical fiction so it is subject to debate.  I suspect the older books from the 1960s and 70s will be re-categorized as "historical fiction" in the next few decades.

- Information taken from Galda and Cullinan's  Literature and the Child. 

Newbery books that are contemporary realistic fiction:

• The Crossover - Kwame Alexander (2015)
• Doll Bones  - Holly Black (2014)*
• The Year of Billy Miller - Kevin Henkes (2014)
• Three Times Lucky - Shiela Turnage (2013)
• After Tupac & D Foster - Jacqueline Woodson (2009)
• Feathers - Jacqueline Woodson (2008)
• The Higher Power of Lucky - Susan Patron (2007)
• Rules - Cynthia Lord (2007)
• Criss Cross - Lynne Rae Perkins (2006)
• Olive's Ocean - Kevin Henkes (2004)
• Pictures of Hollis Woods - Patricia Reilly Giff (2003)
• Hoot - Carl Hiaasen (2003)
• A Corner of the Universe - Ann M. Martin (2003)
• Surviving the Applewhites - Stephanie S. Tolan (2003)
• Hope Was Here - Joan Bauer (2001)
• Because of Winn-Dixie - Kate DiCamillo (2001)
• Joey Pigza Loses Control - Jack Gantos (2001)
• The Wanderer - Sharon Creech (2001)
• Getting Near to Baby - Audrey Couloumbis (2000)
• Lily's Crossing - Patricia Reilly Giff (1998)
• Wringer - Jerry Spinelli (1998)
• The View from Saturday - E.L. Konigsburg (1997)
• Belle Prater's Boy - Ruth White (1997)
• What Jamie Saw - Carolyn Coman (1996)
• Walk Two Moons - Sharon Creech (1995)
• Missing May - Cynthia Rylant (1993)
• What Hearts - Bruch Brooks (1993)
• Somewhere in the Darkness - Walter Dean Myers (1993)
• Shiloh - Phyllis Reynolds (1992)
• Nothing But the Truth: A Documentary Novel - Avi (1992)
• Maniac Magee - Jerry Spinelli (1991)
• Afternoon of the Elves - Janet Taylor Lisle (1990)
• Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind - Suzanne Fisher Staples (1990)
• The Winter Room - Gary Paulsen (1990)
• Scorpions - Walter Dean Myers (1989)
• After the Rain - Norma Fox Mazer (1988)
• Hatchet - Gary Paulsen (1988)
• A Fine White Dust - Cynthia Rylant (1987)
• On My Honor - Marion Dane Bauer (1987) 
• Dogsong - Gary Paulsen (1986)
• Dear Mr. Henshaw - Beverly Cleary (1984)
• A Solitary Blue - Cynthia Voigt (1984)
• Dicey's Song - Cynthia Voigt (1983)
• Ramona Quimby, Age 8 - Beverly Cleary (1982)
• Jacob Have I Loved - Katherine Paterson (1981)
• The Westing Game - Ellen Raskin (1979)
• The Great Gilly Hopkins - Katherine Paterson (1979)
• Bridge to Terebithia - Katherine Paterson (1978)
• Ramona and her Father - Beverly Cleary (1978)
• M.C. Higgins, the Great - Virginia Hamilton (1975)
• Philip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon Maybe - Bette Greene (1975)
• Julie of the Wolves - Jean Craighead George (1973)
• The Planet of Junior Brown - Virginia Hamilton (1972)
• From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler - E.L. Konigsburg (1968)
• Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth - E.L Konigsburg (1968)
• Up a Road Slowly - Irene Hunt (1967)
• The Egypt Game - Zilpha Keatley Snyder (1968)
• My Side of the Mountain - Jean Craighead George (1960)

*Doll Bones is one of those books that rides the genre line.  It seems like it should be fantasy but from what I can tell, nothing supernatural actually happens in the book so I would say it's more realistic fiction than fantasy but it could easily be categorized as either.

Genre Madness

One of the best things about reading the Newbery list is that the Newbery committee has been good about selecting children's literature from a wide variety of genres.  Recently, I decided to go through my books on Goodreads and try to re-categorize them by genre.  This is more difficult than it sounds because sometimes there are some books that ride the lines between genres.  I also chose to include some subgenres which made the task even more complicated

Strictly speaking, literature comes in two broad categories:

1. Nonfiction - Writing that is not made up
2. Fiction - Writing that is made up

I prefer to break literature into three broad categories:

1. Nonfiction - Writing that is not made up
2. Realistic fiction - Writing that is made up but could actually happen.  This can be contemporary or historical.
3. Fantasy fiction - Writing that is made up and could not happen (or has not happened yet in the case of science fiction)

I think this is a good way to divide literature because distinguishing fact from fiction is often difficult for young children.  I remember student teaching and we were looking at Alexander and the Wind Up Mouse.  There was a worksheet that had the students identify if parts of the book could have actually happened or not and the students really struggled with it.  One of the kindergarten teachers that I observed always had her students determine fiction or nonfiction for each book that was read in class.  I think it would also be beneficial to have students judge a fiction book after reading it to determine if it is realistic or fantasy. 

Newbery 1963

A Wrinkle in Time
Author: Madeline L'Engle
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy
Plot: Meg and her brother Charles Wallace team up with three mysterious beings to try to save the world and their father.
Verdict: Great fantasy ride
My rating: 4 stars


Thistle and Thyme: Tales and Legends from Scotland
Author: Sorche Nic Leodhas
Genre: Folktales
Plot: A collection of Scottish folk tales often told at weddings and other special occasions.
Verdict: Fresh, fun folk tales
My rating: 4 stars


Men of Athens
Author: Olivia Coolidge
Genre: Historical fiction
Plot: A fictionalized account of the rise of Athens.
Verdict: Boring boring boring
My rating: One star

The medal winner this year is one of my favorite books, A Wrinkle in Time.  It seems to me that people either love the book or hate it.  The most common reason I hear for people not liking it is that the book is confusing.  And it is.  It definitely rides the science fiction and fantasy line with Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Which.  I have read the next three books in the series and liked them all, especially Many Waters.  If you enjoy fantasy, this is a must read.

Thistle and Thyme is a collection of Scottish folk tales.  They read completely different from other European folk stories like those of Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen.  They are more upbeat.  I especially enjoyed the story with the Kelpie.

I was very disappointed by Men of Athens.  It is supposed to be an account of the history of Athens but it hard to tell if it is historical fiction or nonfiction as parts of it seem to be fabricated.  It wasn't very interesting in my opinion.