Children's Lit: A ReCap of the Newbery Award Winners

Each January I look forward to hearing the ALA Award winners announced at the mid-winter meeting.  Someday I'd love to attend this event personally, but getting to watch it live on my computer is still exciting to me.  (And for the past several years I've done this from my own home since this event seems to correlate directly to snow days in Iowa).

I most look forward to the Caldecott, Newbery and Printz Award winners - along with the Coretta Scott King Award and the Pura Belpre Award, but the list of award winners is far longer than that.

Some years I try to predict what will be chosen, and while I may get some of their picks right, I am usually a little surprised.

This year I wasn't surprised by much of anything, and I was also pleasantly pleased with myself that I have been reading the Newbery award winner, Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina, for the past several weeks with Little Sister.  

I'll admit that I am enjoying this book more than my twelve-year-old daughter. It's a story that will stand the test of time (something Newbery winners do fairly well), and despite the fact that there isn't a lot of action or excitement, it's a sweet and believable look at one girl's middle school experience. There are friend issues, the beginnings of interest in boys, and an aging grandparent who has signs of dementia.  The protagonist is Latina and I'm glad that we are seeing more diversity in our books, that my daughter can read novels that show how despite different backgrounds, there are universal experiences we can all relate to.  

Two Newbery Honor books were named along with the winner.  This was somewhat disappointing to me.  I love books written for this age level, and the fact that only three books received Newbery attention makes me feel like they ignored a lot of really good books that deserved some love.

The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani - is a novel I read as an ARC and loved.  Set in India in 1947, this is a refugee story that is relevant to our world today.

The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock - I love most of this author's work. However, this is far out of the type of book I enjoy, and can't see myself picking up a medieval adventure anytime soon.  

Since we've been snowed in for a few days, I haven't had the chance to re-hash the awards with other librarian friends.  This post is already long, but at some point I will share my thoughts about some of the other award winners.

To see a complete list of this year's award winners, click here.