Newbery Predictions Yet Again

So this here blog proves useful for recording ALA Youth Media Award Predictions, if nothing else.

Did I gloat last year for correctly rooting for upset/surprise winner Moon Over Manifest? No? Well, let's get that over with: Yeah! Woot! Almost makes up for dissing Neil Gaiman's work hours before the Graveyard Book won a few years ago.

Getting back to business: On the eve of the Award Announcements, perhaps even while the actual decisions are still taking place, I now make my humble predictions. While I read over 130 books eligible for either the Newbery or the Printz, I can't possible list them all here.

However, here are my Top 10 Newbery Picks, in order that I read them:

• Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
• Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt
• Hidden by Helen Frost
• The Princess Curse by Merrie Haskell
• Secrets at Sea by Richard Peck
• The Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine
• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
• The Summer of May by Cecilia Galante
• Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu
• The Cheshire Cheese Cat by Carmen Agra Deedy

Here are an additional 20 or so that I've read that I also see as Newbery contenders:

• Hurricane Dancers by Engle, Margarita
• Bless This Mouse by Lowry, Lois
• One Day & One Amazing Morning on Orange Street by Rocklin, Joanne
• Young Fredle by Voight, Cynthia
• The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Birdsall, Jeanne
• Horton Halfpott, or..... by Angleberger, Tom
• Tuesdays at the Castle by George, Jessica Day
• Wonderstruck by Selznick, Brian
• The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman by Wolitzer, Meg
• Pie by Weeks, Sarah
• Eight Keys by Lafleur, Suzanne M
• The Mostly True Story of Jack Barnhill, Kelly
• Dead End in Norvelt by Gantos, Jack
• Junonia by Henkes, Kevin
• Jefferson's Sons by Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker
• True (Sort of) by Hannigan,
• Mo Wren, Lost and Found by Springstubb, Tricia
• Amelia Lost by Fleming, Candace
• Heart and Soul by Nelson, Kadir
• The Trouble with May Amelia by Jennifer Holm

Some Newbery thoughts: Okay for Now is getting all the buzz, and is good (except for that strange ending). But Inside Out and Back Again won me over early in the year and has held up against the competition . However, IOaBA won the National Book Award, which statistically dooms it for the Newbery. My hope for a surprise win is for The Cheshire Cheese Cat or The Summer of May.

Many blogs are predicting Amelia Lost as a Newbery winner, but I don't see why. Sibert for sure, but it didn't give me that Newbery spark.


And now for Printz. I read a lot of titles this year, but simply have no idea what will/should win. Thus, I really only have a top 3:

• Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
• Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
• Where She Went by Gayle Foreman

And here are another 6 that I read that are, in either my opinion or of those of others on the internet, considered contenders:

• Toads and Diamonds by Tomlinson, Heather
• The Girl of Fire & Thorns by Carson, Rae
• The Scorpio Races by Steifvater, Maggie
• The Returning by Hinwood, Christine
• Glow by Ryan, Amy Kathleen
• Paper Covers Rock by Hubbard, Jenny
  

If it all went my way Between Shades of Gray will take home the medal (what a beautifully written story and a history lesson we all need to hear) and, as much as I don't personally agree with it's message/lessons, Beauty Queens is also a masterpiece, so an honor for Libba. Also, a couple of my Newbery picks (Dead End in Norvelt, for one) would also be nice as Printz winners...

As for Caldecott, I've looked at a lot of contenders this year, but for me there is only one book to mention:

Me... Jane by Patrick McDonnell


It's unique, beautiful, got all the details down and, well, it touches my heart, folks.


As for the Coretta Scott King awards - Kadir Nelson's Heart and Soul seems a no-brainer for one or both.
Geisel - Mo Willems and err.. Mo Willems?

Good Night and Good Luck to all!

Newbery 2011 Thoughts

Ok, So after joining Facebook, this little blogging experiment has, well, almost died. However, I will go ahead and, once again this year, post my Newbery thoughts before the big awards.

My Top 10 favorites for the 2011 Newbery Award

• Mirror, Mirror, Singer, Marilyn
• Moon over Manifest JF Vanderpool, Clare
• A Conspiracy of Kings, YA Turner, Megan Whalen
• One Crazy Summer, JF Williams-Garcia, Rita
• The Candymakers, JF Mass, Wendy
• Turtle in Paradise, JF Holm, Jenny
• Out of My Mind, Draper, Sharon
• Scumble, JF Law, Ingrid
• Drizzle, Van Cleve, Kathleen
• Woods Runner, Paulsen, Gary

With only a little bit of Mock Newbery buzz to its credit, Moon Over Manifest is my favorite for an upset, surprise win. One Crazy Summer is the current favorite among the kidlitosphere.

I will admit that I focused almost exclusively this year on fiction, so there is a decent chance that a NF title could win and upset all my efforts. And, if we are going on the trend, only broken last year, that the winner was an author I somehow unwittingly insulted over the past year - our winner will probably be The Night Fairy by Laura Schlitz, as I assisted her at a booksigning table earlier this year and yet didn't buy the book, even though I had read it.

Ok, in case anyone is (still) reading, while I read over 125 eligible titles, here are my Top 50 2010 books that I've read and think have at least a long-shot at the Newbery Award in January 2011, in order that I read them.

• Woods Runner, YA Paulsen, Gary
• The Death-Defying Pepper Roux, JF McCaughrean, Geraldine
• Out of My Mind, YA Draper, Sharon
• Mirror, Mirror, Singer, Marilyn
• Finally, JF Mass, Wendy
• A Conspiracy of Kings, Turner, Megan Whalen
  
• Star in the Forest, JF Resau, Laura
• The Dreamer, JF Ryan, Pam Munoz & Peter Sis
• Alchemy and Meggy Swann, JF Cushman, Karen
• One Crazy Summer, JF Williams-Garcia, Rita
• Crunch, YA Connor, Leslie
• The Cardturner, YA Sachar, Louis
• Scumble, JF Law, Ingrid
• The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, JF/YA Angelberger, Tom
• Turtle in Paradise, JF Holm, Jenny
• The Candymakers, JF Mass, Wendy
• Reckless, JF Funke, Cornelia
• The Night Fairy, JF Schlitz, Laura Amy
• Countdown, JF Wiles, Deborah
• As Simple as It Seems, JF Weeks, Sarah
• The Birthday Ball, JF Lowry, Lois
• Revolution, YA Donnelly, Jennifery (more Printz, but I loved it too much to leave off)
• Touch Blue, JF Lord, Cynthia
• Mockingbird, JF Erskine, Kathryn
• The Danger Box, JF Balliet, Blue
• After All, You're Callie Boone, JF Mack, Winnie
• Storyteller, JF Giff, Patricia Reilly
• Jake, JF Couloumbis, Audrey
• Drizzle, JF Van Cleve, Kathleen
• Penny Dreadful, YA Snyder, Laurel
• Keeper, JF Appelt, Kathy
• The Water Seeker, JF Holt, Kimberly Willis
• Falling In, JF Dowell, Frances O'Roarke
• As Easy as Falling Off the Earth, YA Perkins
• Palace Beautiful, YA Williams
• The Year Money Grew on Trees , JF Hawkins, Aaron
• The Wonder of Charlie Anne JF Fusco, Kimberly Newton
• Moon over Manifest JF Vanderpool, Clare
• A Nest for Celeste Cole, Henry
• The Memory Bank Coman, Carolyn
• SPHDZ Book #1! Scieszka, Jon
• What Happened on Fox Street Springstubb, Tricia
• This Means War Wittlinger, Ellen
• Kyle's Island Derby, Sally
• Best Friends Forever: A WWII Scrapbook Patt, Beverly
• Finding Family: a novel Bolden, Tonya
• The Kneebone Boy JF Potter, Ellen
• A Finders-Keepers Place Leal, Ann Haywood
• Magic Below Stairs JF Stevermer, Caroline
• Edison's Gold JF Watson, Geoff
• Zora and Me Jf Bond, Victoria and T.R. Simon
• The Other Half of My Heart JF Frazier, Sundee
• The War to End All Wars, Freedman, Russell

Other hopes:

• Caldecott - Bink & Gollie
• CSK Author -The Other Half of My Heart by Frazier
  
• CSK Illustrator - Dave the Potter illus. by Bryan Collier
  
• Printz - Revolution
• Sibert - Ubiquitus or The War to End All Wars
• Geisel - We Are In A Book

2010 Newbery Guesses

With just 2 minutes until the 2010 ALA youth media award announcements start, here are my picks:

Newbery:

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
Crossing Stones by Helen Frost
All the Broken Pieces by Ann E Burg
The Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice
Written in Bone by Sally Walker


I read over almost 100 eligible titles, so we will see!

Please?

I don't know if anyone out there wants to buy me a present, but I really really want Jerry Pinkney's new The Lion and the Mouse. This soon-to-be-classic tells the traditional fable in via a wordless book. The exceptional illustrations not only tell the original story, but add a lovely familial twist as you see the title characters' actions in light of their family obligations. Beautiful. My coworker and I took it out to a school visit last week and the kids were enthralled. (Great choice TH!) Absolutely my favorite picture book of the year. No contest.

I think that not only do I want a copy, but I want to give one to my Aunt and Uncle. You see, Mr. Pinkney reminds me a lot of my Uncle Nick. That's what surprised me the most when I met the great illustrator last year - he looked like Uncle Nick. Well, he did as much as an African-American artist can look like an Italian-American tech guy, I guess.

Oh, and when I'm ignoring my sensible remember-there-are-starving-children self, I also want a first edition of Hunger Games. Just so you know.

Review - Graceling by Kristin Cashore

While marketed to young adults, I think many grown adults will also share my love of this debut fantasy novel. Sixteen year-old Katsa lives in a world divided into seven kingdoms where some people are born with 'graces' or superhuman skill in a certain area. For some this grace may be mundane: cooking, tying knots or swimming. But for Katsa her grace is a matter of life and death. She killed a man for the first time at age eight, before anyone realized that her grace made her a born assassin. For the past several years, her uncle, the power-hungry ruler of her kingdom, has been using Katsa as as a strongarm and she's tired of it. The young graceling has assembled and runs a secret council that counteracts some of the evil effects of her uncle king. But as her underground rebellion grows, it becomes more and more dangerous.

When Katsa meets Po, a prince from another kingdom who's grace makes him the best fighter in the land, besides Katsa, her world changes. She finds not only a sparring partner to help her hone her gift, but a good friend who understands the curse of a dangerous grace. The graceling pair soon become the secret council's only hope to save the Kingdoms from a mysterious villain. Without spoiling the book, it is safe to say that things are not what they seem for Katsa and Po. And the adventure-laced journey to save the Kingdoms becomes for Katsa a journey of discovery and coming of age.

This review only begins to describe the contents of the 471-page tome. Please just trust me that Graceling is all that I look for in an adventure novel and since reading it almost a year ago, I've been recommending it to all of the adults that I can.


Additional Notes:

• There is enough sexual content that, in my humble opinion, if Graceling was a movie, it would probably be rated PG13.
• The Full Cast Audio team has done a superb job with the audio version of Graceling, capturing the characters just how I imagined them. Even though I'd read the book multiple times, the audio version seemed new and kept me looking for reasons to get in or stay in the car so I could listen longer. So definitely listen if you get a chance.
  
• I got to briefly meet Kristin Cashore at Book Expo America 2009 in May and I told her that not only did my female friends and relatives love the book, but my not-quite-senior-citizen father was a huge fan. She was pleased and replied that she actually strove to make her books appealing her own father, and not just her obvious audience of young women. Ms. Cashore has a very kind and approachable manner about her, both on her blog and in person.
  
• A prequel to Graceling comes out in October 2009. I have an extra ARC of such prequel, Fire, so feel free to ask for it! Some who have borrowed such ARC claim that the new title is better than the first. I disagree, but did enjoy it and have to marvel at Ms. Cashore's ingenuity!
  

Books for Boys

I took advantage of my library's staff summer reading game to work on my 'boy books.' Although by the end of the summer only about half (30) of the books read this summer met the criteria I set for myself of 'books attractive to or easily promoted to boys in grades 4-11,' I consider it a successful summer.

My favorites from this summer emphasis include:

Go Big or Go Home by Will Hobbs
My first summer attempt at boy books and a grand success. I've hand-sold it many times since reading it. It's an easy sell - extreme sports, meteors and a little sci-fi twist!


Football Genius by Tim Green
Great sports, very exciting. First in a series that I hope to finish.


Deadline by Chris Crutcher
For the upper end of the age spectrum I set, but a fascinating premise of a teen living out his last year with no regrets.


South by Southeast by Anthony Horowitz
Wow, I had no idea it would be so laugh-out-loud-funny when I picked it up.


Jolted: Newton Starker's Rules for Survival by Arthur Slade
I've already posted about this one, loved it, especially the pet pig.


Heat by Mike Lupica
I found myself looking for reasons to drive somewhere so I could keep listening to the audio version of this novel.

Mini reviews!

More Favorites of 2009

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
There's a lot of online buzz about this one, and deservedly so. I did figure out most of the twist/ending pretty early on, but there remained enough mystery to definitely keep me enthralled. And who wouldn't love a book whose heroine adores A Wrinkle In Time?



Born to Fly by Michael Ferrari
Just read this last night. A great WWII action adventure, complete with secret missions and spies - and a young female heroine who saves the day.






Jolted: Newton Starks Rules for Survival by Arthur G. Slade
Despite the fact that I have read many juvenile or young adult titles recently that are set in boarding schools and several that deal with lightning strikes, this one sticks out as unique and enjoyable. I love the pet pig. I desperately want a pet pig, and enjoyed this little aspect of the book immensly.




Alvin Ho Allergic to Camping, Hiking and other Natural Disasters by Lenore Look - This second Alvin Ho book made me laugh out loud on many occasions - and is perhaps even better than the first. I am a complete Alvin Ho fan now.





Captain Nobody by Dean Pitchford
When listening to this on audio, I thought perhaps that this was another poor negelected kid novel and that the very cute cover was deceptive, but I was wrong. The story turned nicely and I began to have more and more fun. The audio version is narrated by the author and well done.