By: bookkm,
on 8/15/2011
Thanks to a Neil Gaiman blog post (The Three Weddings and a Fringe post), I got to see this delightful 90 Second Newbery video for Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. Click and watch. It's too cool.
I think there's still time to enter a 90 second video based on your favorite Newbery award winner. If not for this year, I am hoping there will be a competition next year, too.
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By: Mary Ann Scheuer,
on 6/25/2011
On the first day, I walked into the exhibit hall's graphic novel artist's lane because I knew my students adore graphic novels. I'm quite a shy person, not very good at asserting myself into conversations, so I was waiting patiently to say hi to Raina Telgemeier
, the author of our most popular graphic novel Smile, when she saw me and shouted, "Mary Ann! Hello!!!" and gave me a huge hug. I've never met Raina or her husband Dave Roman
before, but I've shared my enthusiasm for their stories on my blog and on Twitter. My support (and truly, the support of my students) has meant a lot to them, and Raina recognized me immediately from my blog - I was stunned!
By: Mary Ann Scheuer,
on 5/14/2011
Seventh grade: it’s smack in the middle of the tween years, and a time full of transition for so many kids. Seventh graders are standing with a foot in each side of growing up - one side leaning into their teenage years, yearning to grow up and become fully independent, the other side keeping a toe in their childhood. I just finished listening to The Wednesday Wars
The Wednesday Wars
by Gary Schmidt
NY: Clarion Books, 2007
audiobooknarrated by Joel Johnstone
NY: Scholastic Audiobooks, 2007
ages 9 - 14
available on Amazon
2008 Newbery Honor Award
Audie A0 Comments on The Wednesday Wars, by Gary Schmidt (ages 9 - 14) as of 1/1/1900Add a Comment
By: Mary Ann Scheuer,
on 5/11/2011
A student recently told me he liked reading historical fiction that made him think about things in a new way. Some tweens really enjoy reading books that take them to new places, but this student was looking for more. He not only wanted to visit a new place, he wanted a book that would expand his thinking in a deeper way. If your tween is looking for a book to stretch their thinking, try Heart of a Samurai
Inspired by the real life adventures of Manjiro Nakahama, Margi Preus has written a riveting historical fiction, filled with action, suspense and conflicting cultures. At the age of 14, Manjiro was a young teen living in a small Japanese village when he went to work on a fishing boat. On January night in 1841, his boat was caught in a terrible storm and the crew washed up onto a tiny remote island. After barely surviving on this rocky outcrop, Manjiro and his shipmates were rescued by an American whaling ship passing by. The American captain, John Howland, treats them with respect, but life aboard the whaler is not easy. Manjiro must learn English, try to understand the ways of the Americans, and earn the respect of both his Japanese crew and the American crew.Heart of a Samurai
by Margi Preus
NY: Amulet, 2010
ages 11 - 14
available on Amazon
2011 Newbery Honor Award
2010 Asian/Pacific American Award for Childen's Literature
By: Mary Ann Scheuer,
on 4/10/2011
Imagine being sent away from home to live with an aunt you don't know. When you arrive at your aunt's house, it turns out she doesn't want another mouth to feed and your cousins are less than thrilled to share their rooms. It's a rough time and takes a kid with a hard shell to deal with it. This is just the situation that sets up one of my favorite books: Turtle in Paradise
At Emerson School, we are so excited to have a visit from Jennifer Holm on Monday, April 11th. We can't wait! She's the author of the very popular Babymouse
Eleven-year-old Turtle looks at life realistically, with a keenTurtle in Paradise
by Jennifer L. Holm
NY: Random House, 2010
ages 9 - 12
available on Amazon
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By: Aaron Starmer,
on 4/1/2011
A lot of people stop by this site because they’re curious to learn what it takes to not only write a children’s book, but to write a successful one. Some authors appear at workshops where they charge hundreds of dollars to dispense such insider tips. Not me. Today, I’m giving the good stuff out for free. I only ask that you thank me in your acknowledgements and cut me in on any foreign rights. It’s a fair trade for this invaluable wisdom. Let’s get down to it.
First off, the old advice is often the best advice. Write what you know. Do you know a puppy that’s a bit poky? How about some teenagers who hunt each other for sport? Connecting with children is about connecting with the world around you. A few monkeys don’t hurt either. That’s right. Forget wizards, vampires and zombies. Monkeys are what distinguish great children’s books. Try to imagine The Secret Garden without Jose Fuzzbuttons, the wisecracking capuchin whose indelible catchphrase “Aye-yaye-yaye, Mami, hands off the yucca!” is still bandied about schoolyards today? I don’t think you can.
Of course, the magic that is artistic inspiration must find its way in there. So how do you grab hold of it? Christopher Paolini swears by peyote-fueled pilgrimages to the Atacama Desert. I’m more of a traditionalist. A pint of gin and a round of Russian Roulette with Maurice Sendak always gets my creative juices flowing. Have fun. Experiment. Handguns and hallucinogens need not be involved. Though I see no reason to rule them out. Find what works for you.
Now, you’ll inevitably face a little writer’s block. There are two words that cure this problem and cure it quick. Public Domain. Dust off some literary dud and add spice to it. Kids dig this stuff. For instance, you could take some Edith Wharton and inject it with flatulence. The Age of Innocence and Farts. Done. Easy. Bestseller.
I give this last bit of advice with a caveat. Resist the temptation to write unauthorized sequels to beloved classics. I speak from experience. My manuscripts for You Heard What I Said Dog, Get Your Arse Outta Here! and God? Margaret Again…I’m Late have seen the bottom of more editors’ trash cans than I care to mention. Newbery bait? Sure. Immune to the unwritten rules of the biz? Hardly.
Okay, let’s jump forward. So now you’ve got your masterpiece, but how the heck are you going to sell the thing? Truth be told, you’re going to need an advanced degree first. As anyone will inform you, kid lit authors without PhDs or MFAs are rarely taken seriously. If you can’t work Derrida or Foucault into a pitch letter, then you certainly can’t survive a 30-minute writing workshop with Mrs. Sumner’s 5th period reading class. So invest 60-100K and 3-6 years of your life. Then let the bidding war begin.
In the off chance that your book isn’t going to sell for six figures, try blackmail. Sounds harsh, but the children’s book industry runs almost exclusively on hush money and broken kneecaps. I mean, Beverly Cleary doesn’t even own a car. So why is she always carrying a tire iron?
Money is now under the mattress and the editorial process begins. Don’t worry at all about this. Editors won’t even read your book. They’ll simply call in Quentin Blake for some illustrations and then run the whole thing through a binding machine they keep in the back of the o
By: Betsy Bird,
on 1/13/2011
Oh sure, it may seem like everyone’s all smiles and happiness after the recent announcements of the ALA Media awards, but don’t be fooled. There’s definitely a deep discord of discontent out there. Funny thing is, it has nothing to do with the books and everything to do with the day after the awards. For the past eleven years the winners of the Newbery and the Caldecott Awards have gone on The Today Show to speak with the folks there for roughly 15 seconds. It’s not a big spot, but it’s the only time the nation gets to really hear about these books and it’s important. This year . . . well, you may have seen the headlines. Monica Edingers’ Did Snooki Bump Children’s Book Award Winners From the Today Show?
was my personal favorite. Since that post the details have been released. According to the SLJ article ‘Today Show’ Snubs 2011 Caldecott, Newbery Winners, The Today Show gave the excuse that they were all booked up for the week thanks to the aforementioned Snooki. Said their publicist, ” ‘The Internet rumors insinuating that we ‘bumped’ the Newbery and Caldecott winners for a segment with Snooki, that we ‘passed up’ the winners for Snooki, or that there was a ‘lack of interest’ in the winners, are totally false,” says Megan Kopf, publicist for the Today Show, in an email. ‘Snooki was booked on Today before the winners were even pitched to us’.” If by “pitched” they mean “were told” then that’s really no excuse since for the past eleven years none of this was a surprise to The Today Show.
I’ve seen folks on Twitter questioning why anyone’s upset since it’s not like other TV networks do anything for children’s literature. All true, but The Today Show really is one of the few networks to give books for kids some cred. Al’s Book Club for Kids may have its flaws, but Mr. Roker does an awesome job of showing new books and kids reading. One would think there’d be some spillover into other aspects of the show like, say, a mere 30 seconds dedicated to the most highly regarded award for children’s books and their writing and art. Instead, bupkiss.
By: Betsy Bird,
on 1/12/2011
How it all began is anybody’s guess, but it probably started with YA author James Kennedy. On a day like any other I received an email from him with a proposal: Why not have a contest where kids created videos of their favorite Newbery books. The catch? All the videos must be 90 seconds or less.
What would that look like? Well, James made a sample video of his own. I bring you . . . The 90-second version of A Wrinkle In Time:
And before you say it, yes Meg isn’t wearing glasses in this video. Aside from that, you have to admit it’s a lot of fun.
Well, obviously I was gonna be on board with James and his plan. So we put our heads together and came up with a plan. Why not have an honest-to-goodness film festival of the kids’ films here at the main branch of New York Public Library as well? Obviously kids from around the country wouldn’t be able to necessarily attend, but maybe some of them would. And certainly the kids here in New York would like to see other kids doing their thing. Heck, James and I could even put up a website with the various submissions! He’s always been good at displaying the art of his book’s fans, after all.
And so it shall be! This fall (date to be determined very soon) we will present the 90-second Film Festival. Know some kids (or a class) interested in participating? In that case, pilfered from James, here are the rules in brief:
1. Your video should be 90 seconds or less. (Okay, okay: if it’s three minutes long but absolute genius, we’ll bend the rules for you. But let’s try to keep them short.)
2. Your video has to be about a Newbery award-winning (or Newbery honor-winning) book. Here’s a list of all the winners.
3. Your video must condense the plot of the book in 90 seconds or less. Again, exceptions will be made for something really ingeniously bonkers, but it has to be related to a Newbery winning book.
4. Upload your videos to YouTube or Vimeo or whatever and send me the link at kennedyjames [at] gmail [dot] com. Make the subject line be “90 SECOND NEWBERY” and please tell me your name, age, where you’re from, and whatever other comments you’d like to include, including whether you’d like me to link to your personal site. You can give an alias if you want; I understand privacy concerns.
5. Sending the link to me grants me (James Kennedy) the right to post it on my blog and to other websites where I sometimes post content (like Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and to share at public readings, school visits—and hopefully the 90-Second Film Festival at the New York Public Library in the Fall of 2011.
6. Deadline is September 15, 2011.
I’ll add in some details of my own. Participants must be between the ages of 0-18. Yes, we will take teenage versions of these books, if they want to participate. Everyone is welcome.
New York Caveat: Because the library likes to tie-in these things to their own lists, the film festival will consist of Newbery videos, yes. BUT, New Y
By: Betsy Bird,
on 1/10/2011
Didn’t I TELL you it was a Wild Card Year? And the truth? I adore Wild Card Years. They’re my favorites, and not just because my Newbery year’s committee picked The Higher Power of Lucky either. The whole reason I like the ALA Media Awards is because right until the last minute anybody can win and everybody’s fair game (always assuming they meet the right criteria). So here’s my round-up of the winners! And for the record, if you want to see the full list of winners (which I will not put here because I am lazy) head on over to Heavy Medal. That’s where they lay.
We also get to play a little game I like to call How Many of These Did Fuse #8 Actually Read/Review. I’ve never tallied my previous years before, so let’s start now! From the top:
Newbery Award Winner:
Moon Over Manifest by Claire Vanderpool – I love you, Ms. Vanderpool. Yes, I had a different winner picked out since (checks date of review) this time last year, but that’s okay. If it had to go to anyone, I’m glad it went to a book that came so far out of left field that it left all the folks who had made predictions panting in the dust (including myself, of course). It has three starred reviews to its name, which in some circles is considered the magic number for any Newbery winner. Did I Review It: No. Did I Even Read It: No. Random House book. You understand. And that makes two years in a row for them!
Newbery Honors:
Turtle in Paradise, by Jennifer L. Holm – Woo-hoo! Go, Jenni, go go go! Loved that book, I did. I just hope she gets an actually shiny gold award soon. All these Honors are cool, but I wanna see her make a dive for the medal proper and soon. Did I Review It: No. Did I Even Read It: Yes!
Heart of a Samurai, by Margi Preus – Wow! The book I thought would get a Scott O’Dell Award got a Newbery Honor instead! Well played, Ms. Preus. I’m not all that surprised, of course. It’s a rip-roaring adventure tale with some fabulous writing. I was a big fan. Did I Review It: You bet! I did a podcast review of it over at the Katie Davis site.
Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night, written by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen – Silly me. I read and reviewed the OTHER Joyce Sidman book this year (Ubiquitous) and left this one, the actual award winner, out in the cold. Honestly, that was because I preferred the art in Ubiquitous to the art in this title. But since I always assume Newbery committees won’t give props to poetry, I missed this one’s great Honor win. Did I Review It: Nope. Did I Even Read It: Nope and nope.
One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia – Ahhh. Well at least it has an Honor and enough buzz around it that folks will remember it for years and years. My initial review of this title came out on February 2, 2010, almost one year ago. It’s always a kind of relief to know that a book you loved and adored for that long had other fans as well. That silver sticker will look awful pretty on th
By: Betsy Bird,
on 1/9/2011
I am writing this post today around 9 p.m. on Sunday. As such, many of you will read this, knowing full well who the Newbery and Caldecott winners are. I will be a little behind you in this respect. Amusingly, I realized too late that I scheduled my latest sonogram for the PRECISE moment the ALA Media Awards will be announced. I blame time zones. Or, rather, my apparent lack of understanding about time zones. So just picture me on the doctor’s table, Android phone in hand, watching the Twitter updates scroll past. That’s priorities for you, eh?
Yes my husband Matt is a screenwriter and he sports a jaunty blog of his own called Cockeyed Caravan. From time to time he’ll allow friends and folks in the field to write posts there with their own cinematic recommendations. Not too long ago our best buddy Geoff went on with his own, and danged if one of films he came up with wasn’t Sounder, based on the 1970 Newbery Award winning novel by William H. Armstrong. I swear he didn’t do that film for me, as (I’m ashamed to admit) I’ve never seen it. I want to now, though. A nice continuation of our Newbery themed day, eh?
By: Mary Ann Scheuer,
on 1/20/2010
Everyone loves a contest - the competition is exciting, and a lot of buzz is created. This week, the American Library Association announced their award winners - for the Newbery Medal, the Caldecott Medal, and many others. Contests are great for highlighting wonderful books from a vast field. But in order to be meaningful, you need to know what books will appeal to your child. Instead of going through each award, I'd like to highlight some of the awards that will have appeal to different age groups, starting with the youngest first.
Little kids loving books: preschoolers and kindergartners 
The Lion and the Mouse, by Jerry Pinkney - this is a truly amazing, nearly wordless picture book that retells Aesop's fable where the mouse saves the lion from the hunter's trap. It mesmorized our kindergarten class - they were completely silent (!) as they watched the pictures unfold the story. This is the first time an individual African American has won the Caldecott Medal, and is well deserved by Pinkney. Winner of the 2010 Caldecott Medal.
All the World, by Liz Scanlon, and illustrated by Marla Frazee - this is a delightful book as it transports readers all over a young person's world. I love the way it zooms into the small scenes of a young child's life, following a busy day with their family from the beach, to home, to a family gathering at night. The illustrations are radiant as they show the every day magic in the child's life. 2010 Caldecott Honor Book.
By: Beth,
on 1/20/2010
After a whirlwind weekend of meetings, awards and live blogging, it’s a wonder my thumbs are intact. Like many ALA members, I spent Friday through Monday largely on Twitter, hashtagging with the best of them.
Whether or not teens tweet, it’s clear that librarians do. And from last year’s ALA “secrets” to this year’s Newbery leak, it seems that library conferences are the impetus for both the best and worst in crowdsourcing.
As someone who just loves statistics, I spent plenty of time using Twitterfall to let the #alamw10 tweets wash over me. That search was quickly a little too overwhelming–does every ALA member use Twitter?!–so I switched to tags like #yalsa and #libs30, which many of us attending (or just tweeting about) Libraries 3.0: Teen Edition used to discuss the YALSA Midwinter Institute.
Libraries 3.0 was a fantastic illustration of the best of Twitter. All three FLIP Your Library! presenters (@VennLibrarian, @wsstephens and @buffyjhamilton, respectively) tweeted throughout the day, including the time when their co-presenters were speaking. Buffy J. Hamilton attended virtually, presenting using Skype and screen sharing, and proved she was paying attention to our ad hoc hashtag when she mentioned one of the tweets.
Other tweets ranged from the practical (plenty of “Anybody know where ____ is?” and “Help! I’m lost!” updates) to the humorous (commentary on the number of Boston hotels with “Copley” in the name, quips about the distracting nature of #sexylibrarians). Everyone from Library Journal to the ALA Member Blog offered up their picks for “top” tweets from Midwinter.
And then, of course, there was the leak.
Seventeen minutes might not seem like a big deal, but to those of us tweeting the Youth Media Awards Monday morning, learning the Newbery Award winner early was quite the spoiler. The original leak didn’t come from a librarian, but plenty of librarians passed it along–including unwittingly, as I did when I decided to include the hashtag #alayma in our live blog of the Awards.
In a sense, the Midwinter tweets are a microcosm of our professional community. We’re constantly sharing information, making judgments, letting our personal feelings slip, and standing up for our passions and our profession.
What can 140 characters tell you about teen librarians?
By: Anastasia Goodstein,
on 1/19/2010
'Avatar,' 'The Hangover,' 'Glee' (take home the big wins at the Golden Globes. Also "Avatar" gets pulled from movie theaters in China by propaganda officials and replaced with a documentary on Confucius) (THR) (Los Angeles Times, reg. required)
-... Read the rest of this post
By: Beckyb,
on 1/18/2010
It is the BIG day - when SO many great awards are announced:
Newberry Award - pleased to say I've read all but ONE!!! (That always makes me proud!) The winner was: When you Reach Me by Rebecca Stead - a story I enjoyed - although certainly not one of my all-time favorites for the year - but they do this to me almost every year - I'm not surprised!
Caldecott Award - this one I fell short - but they are now all on order for our library! I had not seen the winner - The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney - but it looks fabulous!
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By: Cynthia Reeg,
on 1/18/2010
The winners have just been announced and they are....TA DA!
By: Mary Ann Scheuer,
on 12/23/2009
Do your older children enjoy audiobooks? There are some wonderful productions for older children. What sets these apart for older children is their emotional depth and captivating stories. Below I've focused on two that are particularly appealing for girls who like realistic fiction. For kids who like fantasy or adventure, I'd highly, highly recommend Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld's newest book, reviewed here.
Twelve-year-old Catherine loves her younger brother, David, but she's embarrassed by his autistic behavior. She knows that she has to go to extra lengths to help him, but she's also angry that her parents focus on David more than her. In an effort to make life more manageable for David, Catherine creates rules for him (It's okay to hug Mom but not the clerk at the video store). Really, she's trying to make life predictable. But what she learns through the course of this story is that life is anything but predictable.Rules
by Cynthia Lord
narrated by Jessica Almasy
MD: Recorded Books, 2007
length: 4 hours 1 minute
ages 9 - 12
0 Comments on Audiobooks for family listening with older children (ages 9 - 12) as of 1/1/1900
By: Mary Ann Scheuer,
on 4/21/2009
Middle school students are in the process of creating their own identity, thinking about their friendships, and trying to figure out who they are as individuals. After Tupac and D Foster tells the story of three friends and their search to see who they are in this confusing world of ours.
After Tupac and D Foster
by Jacqueline Woodson
NY: Putnam Juvenile, 2008. 153 pages.
ages 11 - 14.
After Tupac and D Foster won the 2009 Newbery Honor Award, and it will appeal many kids in middle school. This book has an amazing voice. Told from a first person point of view, the author brought me into feeling like a 12 year old girl struggling to understand herself, made me remember what it felt like to try to understand myself, my friends, my Big Purpose.
At its heart, it's a story about friendship. D Foster comes into the main character's life just a few months before Tupac gets shot the first time. D's foster mom lets her roam, and one day she appears on Neeka and the narrator's block. Over the next two years, the three girls (Neeka, D, and the narrator) develop a strong friendship - they become Three the Hard Way - and share their love for Tupac and his music.
"How could I explain even a little bit of this to Mama - how some days D smiled at me and felt like my missing half. ... D was home to me and Neeka. D was ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies. She was sun and crazy loud laughter and warm rain."But D disappears just as suddenly as she appeared. And Neeka and the narrator have to come to terms with that. Tupac is shot, and D is gone. But they'll both be part of their lives forever. In the end, I found that the big message was that home is where people love and accept you for who you are, even if your story has missing pieces.
By: Beckyb,
on 3/31/2009
I just emailed Adaptive Blue last week and asked for new widgets for this year's Newbery and Caldecott winners and the obliged so kindly!!! So I put them in my side bar and I'm sharing them with you all!! Thank you Adaptive Blue - you are AMAZING!!!
Newbery
Caldecott
By: Cynthia Reeg,
on 3/12/2009
The American Library Association has a short video interview with Newbery Honor author, Ingrid Law, talking about her wonderful book, SAVVY. To find out more about SAVVY, read my review of it along with another super fantasy story, THE GIRL WHO COULD FLY.
By: Marya Jansen-Gruber,
on 1/29/2009
This week the winners of several children's book awards were announced at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting. I was surprised to hear about some of the titles that were chosen and delighted by others. Here are some of the award announcements:
Newbery Honors: The Underneath by Kathi Appelt and illustrated by David Small; The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle; Savvy by Ingrid Law; and After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson. 
How I learn Geography by Uri Shulevitz; A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams" by Jen Bryant and illustrated by Melissa Sweet.
Coretta Scott King Award recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults (Author): We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball written and illustrated by Kadir Nelson
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By: Lori Calabrese,
on 1/15/2009
But in case you haven't...The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children of the American Library Association (ALA) to the author of the Outstanding American Children's Book. The award has been given since 1922. Together with the Caldecott Medal, it is considered the most prestigious award for children's literature in the United States and it's named for John Newbery, an 18th century publisher of juvenile books. But there's been A LOT of discussion lately on the winning books and whether or not they appeal to children.
Previous winners of the award are...
Bud, Not Buddy (Delacorte, 1999)
A Year Down Yonder (Dial, 2000)
A Single Shard (Clarion, 2001)
The Tale of Despereaux (Candlewick, 2003)
Kira-Kira (S & S, 2004)
Criss Cross (Greenwillow, 2005)
The Higher Power of Lucky (S & S, 2006)
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! (Candlewick, 2007)
Susan Patron, the author of The Higher Power of Lucky
Don't forget to mark your calendars for January 26th when ALA announces the new Newbery Award winner- a book you MIGHT want to read!
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By: Mary Cunningham,
on 1/7/2009
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By: Chris Rettstatt,
on 1/18/2008
When I was a child, I was obsessed with the Newbery Award. I was a reader, big time, and with so many books to choose from, I saw those gold and silver seals as holy stamps of official worthiness. I imagined the Newbery Committee as a circle of robed ancients in a windowless room, unchallengeable in their wisdom.
Since then, I’ve met folks who served on the Newbery Medal Selection Committee. You’d think that with the curtain raised I might be disappointed, but it’s quite the opposite. I’ve been nothing but impressed by their credentials, their zeal for quality children’s books, their realness, and their lack of hooded robes. The truth behind the curtain is much more exciting than the fantasy.
(Speaking of which, to get a real look at the Newbery process, read Monica Edinger’s excellent blog, Educating Alice.)
I’ve served on some judging committees myself now, including this year’s Cybils Award. And while I do tend to don a hooded robe, lock myself in a dark room, and bathe soberly in a pillar of light while I make my own deliberations, I suspect that I’m in the minority.
I was so excited this morning about the ALA awards. I'm truly a book nerd. People roll their eyes at me. It's okay, I'm proud to be a book nerd.
Here of some of the award and honor winners that I have previously reviewed:
Caldecott Honor Books:
Henry's Freedom Box (and I'm very excited--I'll get to see Kadir Nelson at the Virginia State Reading Association Conference in March)
First the Egg (also received a Geisel honor award)
I'm not sure how I managed not to review Knuffle Bunny Too, but I really did like the book. It made the Cybils fiction picture book shortlist.
Caldecott Winner:
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Winner:
Let it Shine
Schneider Family Book Award, Middle Grades Category:
Reaching for the Sun (my review is in The Edge of the Forest)
Pura Bulpre Award, Author Recipient
The Poet Slave of Cuba: A biography of Juan Francisco Manzano
I'm pretty pleased that I had reviews in many categories. While I read a lot of middle grade fiction, I don't always review it (I don't know why...). It was one of my New Year's Resolutions to review more middle grade fiction. I read the Newbery winner and two of the three honor books. I really liked the ones I read, but I didn't review them this year.
By: Beckyb,
on 1/14/2008
AND THE WINNERS ARE:
Newbery - Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! by Laura Amy Schlitz (author of one 
of my favorites - the Drowned Maiden's Hair) 
Erin Stead lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Still time! The deadline is October 17!