book discussion

i have to say the giver and the dark is rising are my favorite newberrys. for two totally different reasons. the giver opened my eyes to the beauty of pain and joy. how i can not fully appreciate one without the other. and the dark is rising opened up my imagination and made me want to be as courageous as the main character.

I can't choose just one.

My favorites in no particular order:

Johnny Tremain
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Jacob Have I Loved
The Hero and the Crown
Thimble Summer
Julie of the Wolves

Each one was well-written and took me into the life of characters I found compelling and sympathetic, lives that were different from mine but resonated with me. The fact that some of the characters were rats, mice and wolves is fine with me.

i haven't heard of thimble summer or johnny tremain! now i have two more to read! what are those two abouti love newberry's. my goal is to read them all!

Thimble Summer is about a summer in a young girl's life - she finds a silver thimble, and it becomes a sign to her that it will be a special summer. The girl's name is Garnet, and when I was a kid I desperately wanted a name that was more out of the ordinary...so I liked that...she's a farm kid who raises animals and takes them to the state fair. It's just a sweet story about how life can be when you are a kid and you have nothing but time and more time.

You haven't read Johnny Tremain? Get thee to the library and check it out. It's about the Revolutionary War as seen through the eyes of young Johnny Tremain, an apprentice silversmith. He meets many of the great men of the time and has his own personal times of trial and tribulation.

why do you think these books have such impact on our lives?

I was a huge Johnny Tremain fan in 5th grade!

The Giver stands out above a lot of Newbery medalists. Some other favorites are The Tale of Despereaux, Bridge to Terabithia, Out of the Dust, From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, and Holes. I'm also a fan of this year's medalist, Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!

I'd have to say my fav is Bridge to Terabithia, and my reasoning behind it may help answer Faith's question. I first read BtT in 4th grade, and most of my reading up to that point was silly stories or fables in which a silly mix-up occurs or the story was meant to teach the reader a moral. Bridge to Terabithia was vastly different than anything I had previously read, and brought me to tears. It was the first book to teach me that books can have a deeply emotional inpact on our lives. I think that's why Newberry winners stay with us years after we first read them. I read a lot of books when I was growing up, but the ones that have stayed with me are those that taught me about the human condition.

i agree jennifer and could not have worded it better. there is something about the newberry winners that stay with you. i am constantly surprised at how much i dig into myself and learn with a childs book. i love it! the writing is so simple yet the meaning is so much more profound!

Hands down, my favorite Newberry book is Number the Stars. I first read this as a child in the fourth grade, and have reread it an unnumbered amount of times through the years. It still burns into my soul.