2013 Newbery - my opinions

The Newbery Award and Honor Books were presented a few weeks ago at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle. I just could not wait to see what was chosen since I have been reading so much. I was hoping to have read at least 3/4 of them, just as a point of pride. Indeed, I had read 3 of them and was in the process of reading the fourth when the announcement was made, so I was satisfied.

I completely subscribe to the Ranganathan's Five Laws, and here I am going to cite numbers 2 & 3: Every reader his/her book; To every book its reader. I didn't expect to completely agree with all of the committee's choices. Part of the fun is seeing what they pick and thinking about what I would pick. And I would always support young readers if they were passionate about a book that I did not enjoy. Yet another fabulous part of working with readers - encouraging to form and defend their own opinions!

Newbery's stated purpose is (copied from website): "To encourage original creative work in the field of books for children. To emphasize to the public that contributions to the literature for children deserve similar recognition to poetry, plays, or novels. To give those librarians, who make it their life work to serve children's reading interests, an opportunity to encourage good writing in this field." I will state that my personal opinion is that Newbery Award winners should be books about which kids (K-6) and librarians can be excited. They should be books that they want to talk about, books that they want to hear read aloud, and books that they want to suggest to their friends. Again, JUST my opinion.

All of that being said, here are my humble opinions on the 2013 Newbery Award winners.



Newbery Award - The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Which readers? Third grade and up

Ivan is a gorilla who lives a sad life as a roadside attraction in a mostly abandoned mall. When his best friend, Stella the Elephant, dies from untreated injuries and charges him with getting their new cellmate Ruby into a better situation. Ivan comes up with a way to bring attention to their plight and save Ruby. This book is somewhat based on fact, but many of the details are very much fictionalized.

This is a marvelous book that kids love. My son's 4th grade class did it as a read-aloud, and he came home talking about it several days in a row. They were also able to send a question to the author, which she answered on YouTube. What a fabulous author connection! One of my children's literature professors from TWU, Dr. Sylvia Vardell, feels that Ivan  is actually a book of poetry, and I tend to agree. From the moment I first opened it, I thought it read like poetry. I think that this was a good choice for the medal. Kids simply love Ivan.



Newbery Honor - Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz

I have put a link with the title so that readers can look up the synopsis. This is the book that I was reading when the award was announced. I did not finish it. I found it slow, creepy in an unpleasant way, and dark. It would not have been my choice.



Newbery Honor - Bomb by Steve Sheinkin
Which readers? 7th and up

This is the story of "the race to build - and steal - the world's most dangerous weapon." Of course, this is the story of the atomic bomb. In this narrative non-fiction, Sheinkin does an excellent job of giving a balanced account of the race between nations to build the atomic bomb. It is well-researched, the story races ahead like a runaway train, and there are many pictures from the archives.

This book has had a ton of buzz in the kidlit blogosphere. I have seen nothing but rave reviews. I agree with them somewhat - I thought it was a great book. I thoroughly enjoyed learning all the details of the espionage by the Russians as the US was trying to get the bomb built. I felt like I knew scientist Robert Oppenheimer by the end, and I was rooting for him. And I was thrilled that Sheinkin included details of the mixed feelings of the scientists when the bomb was dropped. Their hard work resulted in so many, many deaths, and we now have the threat of nuclear war hanging over us forever.

Do I think elementary kids will read it? I do not. Leo read the first chapter and quit. I think this book would be good for research purposes for a middle schooler or a high schooler, and it could be a good read aloud for 5th graders in the hands of a wonderful teacher who will build knowledge beforehand and explain at the end of each chapter. But I just do not think most elementary students will make it through this book independently.



Newbery Honor - Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
Which readers? Strong 4th grade readers and up

This is a Southern mystery novel that has it all. Humor, a little romance, murder, quirky Southern characters, and charm. It is also Turnage's first book.

This book is just plain fun. When I finished it, I had a touch of "meh," but I can get on board with a Newbery Honor for this one. I think kids will enjoy it, and I think they would enjoy hearing it read aloud. The dialogue is pretty funny, and I think an expressive teacher/librarian could really put on a show with this charmer. Miss Moses LoBeau has a lot of personality.

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OK, so what do I think is missing from the list? Wonder by Palacio. Wonder should have been on the list. Kids are SO passionate and excited about Wonder. It is a great little novel with a unique voice. It gets kids talking about differences in kids without being preachy or condescending. It is just plain cool. My son came home wanting to look up a picture of Auggie Pullman because he was just sure it was a true story. I have substituted in several classrooms where this was the current read-aloud, and the teachers leave me instructions to NOT read this while they are gone. Reading this story is a special experience between teacher and student, and the teachers don't want to miss one single paragraph. Just my opinion - Wonder SHOULD have been on this list.