2024 Mock Newbery Suggestions by Heavy Medal/SLJ

Rules for Suggestions

SPS Library has purchased

cag has read

SPS purchased + cag read

Alexander -  (3) An American Story (Ill:  Coulter)  pictbk GR 4.69

Applegate - The One and Only Ruby

Bailey - (2) Henry Like Always beg chap bk GR 4.28

Baldwin - No Matter the Distance

Bow - (9) Simon Sort of Says midgr GR 4.37 Kindle 10.99 Aud 8.52

Brown - (2) That Flag pictbk GR 4.69

Cline-Ransome - For Lamb ya histfic lgbt GR 4.47

Cordell - Evergreen pict bk GR 4.37

Craft - School Trip

Dunlap - It Happened on Saturday mid/ya GR 4.61 Kindle 8.49

Echenique - Our Roof is Blue

Edinger & Younge - (2) Nearer My Freedom verse nonfict GR 4.28

Fogliano - (2) All the Beating Hearts pictbk midgr poetry GR  3.70

Giles - Not an Easy Win

Harris - My Head Has a Bellyache

Kemp - A Crown for Corina pictbk GR 4.30

Kline-Ransome - (2) For Lamb 

LaRocca - Mirror to Mirror

Leavitt - Buffalo Flats

Lerner - A Work in Progress

Lin & Messner - Once Upon a Book pictbk GR 4.29

Lowry - (2) The Windeby Puzzle mid/ya histfic GR 3.59  yuck - didn't read it all, but tried...

Marsh - The Lost Year

McDunn - When Sea Becomes Sky  midgr GR 4.46 Kindle 8.44 Aud 17.56

Mendez - Anina Del Mar Jumps In

Nayeri - (3) The Many Assasinations of Samir, The Seller of Dreams

Nickum - Superpod

O'Shaughnessy - Lasagna Means I Love You

Oh - (3) You Are Here: Connecting Flights midgr 12-AsianAm short stories GR 4.44 Kindle 11.99 Aud 22.35

Pennypacker - Leeva At Last midgr GR 4.16 Kindle 11.99 Aud 22.35

Pinkney - Just Jerry midgr memoir GR 4.33

Salazar - Jovita Wore Pants pictbk biog (gender) GR 4.31

Santat - (23 A First Time for Everything midgr GN GR 4.48

Selznick - Big Tree midgr Fant GN GR 4.48

Stein  - (2) Beaky Barnes; Egg on the Loose juv GN GR 3.35

Swinarski - (2) What Happened to Rachel Riley mid/ya myst GR 4.29 Kindle 9.99 Aud 22.35

Tyson - (2)  My Red, White, and Blue pictbk GR 4.02

Wallace - Love is Loud: How Diane Nash Led the Civil Rights Movement pictbk biog GR 4.38

Wynter - Nell Plants a Tree

Yoh & Chang - This Is Not My Home pictbk GR 4.43

2022 Newbery Possibilities

   purchased for school have read but not purchased  other info

AND = Anderson BkShp Mock Newbery (25)

HM = Heavy Medal Mock Newbery List/SLJ (15)

HrnBk = HornBook Fanfare/Best of the Year 

*Have Read Some or ALL

Albus, Kate - A Place to Hang the Moon (9 - 12 yrs.) [10.50 Aud]

*Alston, B. B. - Amari & the Night Brothers AND      own on Aud  

Appelt, Kathi - Once Upon a Camel AND (gr. 3-6)

Arnold, Alana K. - The House That Wasn't There [11.98 Aud]

Arnold, Marie - The Year I Flew Away [10.50 Aud]

Bauer, Marion Dane - Sunshine

Braden, Anne  - Flight of the Puffin  

Bruchac, Joseph - Peacemaker (9 - 12 yrs.) (SLJ gr. 5up)

Bruchac, Joseph - Rez Dogs  

Caprara, Rebecca - Worst-Case Collin

*Carr, Cathy - 365 Days to Alaska [no Aud]

Cuevas, Adriana - Cuba in My Pocket AND 

*Day, Christine - The Sea in Winter AND  (8 - 12 yrs) (SLJ gr. 4-6) started

*de la Pena, Matt - Milo Imagines the World HM 

diCamillo, Kate - Beatryce Prophecy AND HM HrnBk

Dobbs, Alda P. - Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna AND (Gr.5-8)

Ewing, Eve L. - Maya and the Robot AND  (gr. 3-(gr. 6)

*Faruqi, Reem - Unsettled AND 

Faruqi, Saadia - Yusuf Azeem is Not a Hero AND 

*Fipps, Lisa, Starfish AND  HM  (ages 10 - 13/SLJ gr. 5 up)  

Freeman - Alone

*Gratz, Alan - Ground Zero (9 - 12 yrs.) SLJ gr. 4-7  

Grimes, Nikki - Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance (10 - 14 yrs) SLJ gr. 7up

Guerro, Tanya - All You Knead is Love   

Haydu, Corey Ann - One Jar of Magic (8 - 12 yrs.) (SLJ gr. 4-7) [Aud. 13.68]

Higuera, Donna Barbra - The Last Cuentista AND HM 

*Holm, Jennifer L. - The Lion of Mars (8 - 12 yrs.) 

Ireland, Justina - Ophie's Ghosts  (HF) AND   [Aud.HM  13.68] (gr. 3-6)

Jenkins, Emily - Harry vs. the First 100 Days of School HM 

Johnson, Varian - Playing the Cards You're Dealt AND (gr. 3-6)

Kelly, Erin Entrada - Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey HrnBk(short book)

Khor, Shing Yin - The Legend of Auntie Po AND HM HrnBk (GN)

*Korman, Gordon - Linked AND 

*Korman, Gordon - Unplugged (8 - 12 yrs.) (SLJ gr 3-5)  

Lane - Pity Party HM 

*LaRocca, Rajani, Red, White, and Whole HM  (ages 8 - 12/SLJ gr. 5 up) 

*Levithan, David - The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as told to his brother) (8 - 12 yrs.) SLJ gr.5up) 

Li, Christine - Clues to the Universe   

Lucido, Aimee - Recipe for Disaster

*Lukoff, Kyle - Too Bright to See AND HM 

Mercado, Yehudi -  Chunky AND 

Milford, Kate - The Raconteur's Commonplace Book (8 - 12 yrs.-))

Murdock, Catherine Gilbert - DaVinci's Cat AND 

Oh, Ellen - Finding Junie Kim [Aud 15.40]

Oshiro, Mark - The Insiders AND 

Park Linda Sue - The One Thing You'd Save   HrnBk 

Paulsen, Gary - Gone to the Woods (SLJ gr. 7up)

Rivera, Kaela - Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls AND 

Royce, Eden - Root Magic [Aud 15.40]

Schlitz, Laura Amy - Amber & Clay HM HrnBk (10 - 14 yrs,)

Schmidt, Gary D. - Just Like That HM  (SLJ gr. 5-8) (Aud. 14.00)

Sheinkein,  Steve - Fallout HM 

Sloan, Holly Goldberg - The Elephant in the Room [Aud 12.60]

Smith, Cynthia Leitich - Ancestor Approved (8 - 12 yrs.) (SLJ gr. 3-6) 

Smith, Cynthia Leitich - Sisters of the Neversea AND 

Sonnenblick, Jordan - The Boy Who Failed Show and Tell  own on Aud

Stroker, Ali & Davidowitz - The Chance to Fly

Valenti, Karla Arenas - Loteria AND 

Venkatraman, Padma - Born Behind Bars AND 

*Wang, Andrea - Watercress HM 

Warga, Jasmine - The Shape of Thunder AND 

Weatherford, Carole Bolton - Unspeakable (SLJ gr 3-6)

Yelchin, Eugene - The Genius Under the Table HM 

Young, Brian - Healer of the Water Monster AND 

GoodReads Newbery Group:

What Book Should We Read in August?

    48/36.1%  Shape of Thunder - Warga

    26/19.5%  Finding Junie Kim - Oh

    26/19.5%  Alone - Freeman

    11/8.3%  Sisters of the Neversea - Smith

    10/7.5%  Amber & Clay - Schlitz

    8/6.0%  Pity Party - Lane

    2/1.2%  The Road to Wherever - Bradley

    2/1.2% Tune It Out (published 2020?)

Keeping Up With the Best of 2016

Newbery Award:
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (fantasy)

Newbery Honors:
Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan
The Inquisitor's Tale: Or the Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz
Wolf Hollow  by lauren Wolk

Caldecott Award:
Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat written and illustrated by Javaka Steptoe

Caldecott Honors:
Leave Me Alone written and illustrated by Vera Brosgol
Freedom in Congo Square by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
Du Iz Tak? written and illustrated by Carson Ellis
They All Saw a Cat written and illustrated by Brendan Wenzel

Printz Award:
March, Book Three written by John Lewis, illustrated by Nate Powell

Printz Honors
Asking for It by Louise O'Neill
The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry
Scythe (The Arc of a Scythe) by Neal Shusterman
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

STARS:
I love to have read a few of the contenders for the Printz, Newbery, and Caldecott Awards.  One of the lists of possibilities is found on Jen J's Booksheets, where she keeps tally of all the books with starred reviews.

Another place to keep watching is Heavy Medal, an SJL blog written by Jonathan Hunt and Sharon McKellar.

Here's the list:

6 Stars:
Alexie, Sherman (illust. Yuyi Morales) - Thunder Boy, Jr.   (GdRds 4.32 - 1293) 32 pgs.

Hardinge, Frances - The Lie Tree (GdRds 3.93 - 5648) 410 pgs.

Rex, Adam - School's First Day of School (GdRds 4.22 - 785) 40 pgs.

Orgill, Roxanne (illust Francis Vallejo) - Jazz Day, the Making of a Famous Photograph (GdRds 4.39 - 261) 66 pgs.

Sidman, Joyce - Before Morning (GdRds 4.02 - 629) 48pgs.

Sweet, Melissa - Some Writer! The Story of EB White (4.47 - 940) 176 pgs.

5 Stars:
Barnhill, Kelly - The Girl Who Drank the Moon (GdRds 4.23 - 1431) 388 pgs.

Berry, Julie - The Passion of Dolssa (GdRds 4.0 - 1088) 478 pgs.

Bryan, Ashley - Freedom Over Me, Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan (GdRds 4.51 - 241) 56 pgs.

DiCamillo, Kate - Raymie Nightingale (GdRds 3.97 - 5161) 272 pgs.

Donatiuh, Duncan - The Princess and the Warrior  (GdRds 4.28 - 50) 40 pgs.

Fogliano, Julie - Old Dog Baby Baby (illust. Chris Raschka) (GdRds 3.54 - 109) 32 pgs.

Freedman, Russell - We Will Not Be Silent:  The White Rose Student Resistance Movement That Defied Adolf Hitler (GdRds 4.34 - 229) 112 pgs.

Gidwitz, Adam - The Inquisitor's Tale (GdRds 4.24 - 855) 384 pgs.

King, A. S. - Still Life With Tornado (GdRds 3.92 - 1047)  295 pgs.

Klassen, Jon - We Found a Hat  (GdRds 4.21 - 1926) 56 pgs.

Lewis & Ayden - March: Book 3  (GdRds 4.73 - 1478) 246 pgs.

Lin, Grace - When the Sea Turned to Silver  (GdRds 4.37 - 521) 384 pgs.

Peck, Richard - The Best Man (GdRds 4.24 - 214) 240 pgs.

Perkins, Lynne Rae - Frank & Lucky Get Schooled (GdRds 3.98 - 197) 32 pgs.

Raczka, Bob - Wet Cement, A Mix of Concrete Poems (GdRds 4.35 - 244) 48 pgs.

Shusterman, Neal - Scythe  (GdRds 4.31 - 1481) 435 pgs.

Wolk, Lauren - Wolf Hollow (GdRds 4.37 - 2,002) 304 pgs.

Yoon, Nicola - The Sun is Also a Star   (GdRds 4.25 - 9010)  348 pgs.


Goodreads Listopia TOP 20 (plus a few more of personal interest) for Mock Newbery as of 10/5/17:
1 - Pax by Sara Pennypacker
2 - Wolf Hollow  by Lauren Wolk
3 - Raymie Nightingale by Kate diCamillo
4 - The Wild Robot by Peter Brown
5 - The Nine Lives of Jacob Tibbs by Cylin Busby
6 - Hour of the Bees - Lindsay Eagar
7 - Booked by Kwame Alexander
8 - Some Kind of Courage - Dan Gemeinhart
9 - Counting Thyme - Melanie Conklin
10 - When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for all Seasons by Julie Fogliano
11 - Maybe a Fox - Kathi Appelt
12 - Paper Wishes - Lois Sepahban
13 - The Key to Extraordinary - Natalie Lloyd
14 - All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook - Leslie Connor
15 - Samarai Rising: The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune - Pamela S. Turner
16 - Ghost - Jason Reynolds
17 - Summerlost - Allie Condie
18 - Ms. Bixby's Last Day - John David Anderson
19 - The Girl Who Drank the Moon - Kelly Barnhill
20 - Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph - Roxanne Orgill
21 - Mayday - Karen Harrington
22 - Full of Beans Jennifer L. Holm
25 - Save Me a Seat - Sarah Weeks
26 - Unbound - A Novel in Verse - Ann E. Burg
27.  Soar - Joan Bauer
32.  Makoons - Louise Erdrich
33.  As Brave as You - Jason Reynolds
36.  Grayling's Song - Karen Cushman
41.  The Best Man - Richard Peck
43.  Freedom Over Me - Eleven Slaves; Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life - Ashley Bryan
45.  Free Verse - Sarah Dooley
46.  Hundred Percent - Karen Romano Young

2014 Newbery Hopefuls - and Other 2013 Titles for Kids

I've got a whole stack of books here that I want to read.  I've been checking out reviews and hitting some of the Mock Newbery lists.  The Tucson Library system has almost all that I was looking for, so I've taken them from the library, planning to read some of them myself and try to entice some of my students to try some out. (Hmmmm....notice all the blue or bluish-tinged covers - and DARK covers, too.....)

The Boy on the Porch
Sharon Creech
Sept. 2013, Harper Collins
a very compact 160 pages
Goodreads rating: 3.84 (404 ratings)
Amazon says ages 8-12/Grades 3-7
SLJ says grades 4-6

Paperboy
Vince Vawter
May 2013, Delacorte Books for Young Readers
224 pages - set up weirdly/interestingly with double space between paragraphs
Goodreads rating: 3.97 (516 ratings)
Amazon says ages 10 and up/Grades 5 and up
SLJ says grades 6-9; Booklist says grades 6-8

Road Trip
Gary Paulsen & Jim Paulsen
January 2013, Wendy Lamb Books
114 pgs. - a slender book
Goodreads rating: 3.66 (286 ratings)
Amazon says ages 10 up/Grades 5 up
SLJ says grades 5-7; Booklist says grades 3-7

The Hidden Summer
Gin Phillips
June 2013, Dial
198 pages
Goodreads rating:  3.66 (61 ratings)
Amazon says ages 10 up/Grades 6 up
SLJ says grades 5-7; Booklist says grades 5-8

Hokey Pokey
Jerry Spinelli
January 2013, Knopf Books for Young Readers
286 pages, small-sized book
Goodreads rating:  3.30 (723 ratings)
Amazon says ages 10 up/Grades 5 up
SLJ says grades 5-7; Booklist says grades 7 - 12??

Sure Signs of Crazy
Karen Harrington
August 2013, Little Brown Books for Young Readers
280 pages, another smallish-sized book
Goodreads rating:  4.00 (221 ratings)
Amazon says ages 9 up/Grades 4 up
SLJ says grades 6-9; Booklist says grades 5-8

The Year of Billy Miller
Kevin Henkes
September 2013, Greenwillow Books
Goodreads rating:  3.92 (342 ratings)
229 pages with larger, well-spaced-out font
Amazon says ages 8-12/grades 3-7
SLJ says grades 1-3; Booklist says grades 3-7

Navigating Early
Clare Vanderpool (Newbery-winning author of Moon Over Manifest)
January 2013, Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Goodreads rating:  4.11 (1781 ratings)
306 pages
Amazon says ages 10 up/Grades 5 up
SLJ says grades 5-8; Booklist says grades 5-8, too...

Hold Fast
Blue Balliett
March 2013, Scholastic
288 pages (not yet in-hand, so have to check font, etc)
Goodreads rating:  3.78 (1152 reviews)
Amazon says ages 8-12/Grades 3-7
SLJ says grades 6-9; Booklist says grades 4-7

Doll Bones
Holly Black
May 2013, Margaret K. McIlderry Books
244 pages (not sure of size or font)
Goodreads rating:  3.78 (3725 reviews)
Amazon says ages 10-14 /Grades 5-9
SLJ says grades 4-7; Booklist says grades 5-8

The Water Castle
Megan Frazer Blakemore
January 2013, Walker Childrens
304 pages (not sure of size or font)
TAKES PLACE IN MAINE!!
Goodreads rating: 3.88  (416 reviews)
Amazon says ages 10-14/Grades 4-8
SLJ says grades 4-7; Booklist says grades 5-7

The Center of Everything
Linda Urban
March 2013, HMH Books for Young Readers
208 pages (not sure of size or font)
Goodreads rating:  3.78 (631 reviews)
Amazon says ages 9-12/Grades 4-7
SLJ says grades 4-6 ; Booklist says grades 4-6

Counting by 7s
Holly Goldberg Sloan
August 2013, Dell
384 pages (not sure of size or font)
Goodreads rating: 4.36   (1132 reviews)
Amazon says ages 10 up/Grades 5 up
SLJ says grades 7-10;  Booklist says grades 7-10

Far Far Away
Tom McNeal
June 2013, Knopf Books for Young Readers
384 pages (not sure of size or font)
Goodreads rating: 3.93  (912 reviews)
Amazon says ages 12 up/Grades 7 up
SLJ says grades 6 up ; Booklist says grades 7-10

Dead City (Dead City #1: Blue Moon)
James Ponti
October 2012 Simon & Schuster
328 pages
Goodreads rating:   4.19 (157 reviews)
Amazon says ages 9-13/Grades 4-8
SLJ and Booklist not included in Amazon review