Final Round - 2020 Mock Newbery Award

[Stephanie]

1. Coyote Sunrise
2. Other Words for Home
3. Line Tender

[Carol]

1. Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise

[Barb]

Bridge Home
New Kid
Other Words for Home

[Magdalena]

1. The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
2. The Bridge Home
3. The Line Tender

[Pam]

1. The Bridge Home
2. The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
3. New Kid

[Poetic Soul]

1. The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
2. Beverly, Right Here

[Allison]

1. To Night Owl from Dogfish
2. The New Kid
3. Beverly, Right Here

[Jeane]

Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
Other Words for Home
From night owl to dogfish

[Chris]

The new kid
Other words for home
Bridge home

[Ms. B]

1. Bridge Home
2. The New Kid

[Kathy]

1. The Line Tender
2. Beverley, Right Now
3. My Jasper Jane

[Beth]

1. Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
2. Beverly, Right Here
3. My Jasper June

I will be pleased if any of our final round selections get a nod from the Newbery Committee. It's been a pleasure reading through them! Even though I'm not far from finishing it, I didn't think I should vote for Night Owl, but it's a real hoot (no pun intended)! :)

[Luke]

1. My Jasper June
2. Line Tender
3. Coyote Sunrise

Thank you Kristen for all the work you did this year. You did an excellent job!!!

[Mary HD]

I read The Line Tender, Coyote Sunrise, New Kid, and Night Owl, and did not feel that any of them were Newbery-worthy (even though I have enjoyed other books by these authors - particularly Mr. Gemeinhart).

I am sticking with Cynthia Kadohata's A Place to Belong and Deborah Heiligman's Torpedoed.

So, sorry, no points from me.

But I have very much enjoyed participating in this year's Mock Newbery and thank Kristen for her usual good job as moderator.

[Kristen]

Our Mock Newbery Final Rankings are:

The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart 66 Points

The Line Tender by Kate Allen 57 Points

The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman 56 Points

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga 51 Points

New Kid by Jerry Craft 41 Points

Beverly, Right Here by Kate DiCamillo 29 Points

My Jasper June by Laurel Snyder 23 Points

To Night Owl from Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan 22 Points

[Kristen]

The Mock Newbery Award goes to:
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunriseby Dan Gemeinhart

With Honors to:

The Line Tenderby Kate Allen

&

The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman

Thank you all for your participation and wonderful discussions this year!

[Kristen]

What do you think of our selections?

[Deanna]

1. The Line Tender
2. Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
3. New Kid

[Mary]

Keeping my fingers crossed for Coyote Sunrise since Dan Gemeinhart is visiting our school in February! It was a really good group of books this year, I thought.

[Brenda]

My students would like them very much!

[Shella]

Mary- that is wonderful- where does your school get the funding!!

[Sharon]

Thank you for all your work, Kristen! You have done an excellent job with the group. What do I think of the selections? I think there are always so many great titles in the running, and there may be a sleeper in the background. Personally, Coyote Sunrise and Line Tender have been in my "Favorites" list since the beginning, along with several others on our ballots, but I am waiting for the "Sleeper" to appear. On to 2021!

[David]

Coyote Sunrise was not my top choice, but it is a powerful story and is so well written. It would not surprise me if this group is spot on with this year's winner. This is my first year of participation in this discussion board. I have thoroughly enjoyed gaining insights from others. I have read some excellent books of 2019 as well as reading 77 past Newberry Award winners. It has been a fantastic experience. I look forward to this coming year - completing the 20 remaining awarding winning books, and discovering some of the best children's books of 2020.

[Josephine]

I’ve been participating in this group for nine years and while I think our predictions are top notch, that Newbery Committee continues to surprises me with their choice.

Especially the 2019 winner. We are hosting Meg Medina here in a March highlighting her Newbery winner, Marci Suraz Changes Gears, and while it never appeared on our watch list or at least I didn’t see it, gotten to know Marci and her family quite well.

[Laura]

Most of the selections were very good. It is time for the committee to take into account whether a child will enjoy the read. I am a New York bookseller who adores children's lit. A Newbery award is the highest honor. The gold and honor books will sell after the award announcements. The rest of the year it will be children's booksellers and librarians recommending the titles. I believe most of us won't recommend a book we don't think children will like. The committee knows if a child will or will not enjoy a book. Honoring a title because the text is written perfectly but will have a limited readership makes no sense. It doesn't help booksellers, librarians, publishers and it definitely doesn't help the children. Year after year I see the award winners not reordered or ordered as a single copy because no one is buying them. There is great literature available to children that will excite children and encourage them to read. Isn't that the goal of the awards? But they might not even get a nod. I hope the committee truly will do right by the children this year. They deserve only the best.

[Meg]

Thank you for organizing us! I am glad Coyote won; it is well written. I agree with Laura Harrison that not since Kwame Alexander won for Crossover has a book been both striking and popular with kids, and many before that weren’t winners with children. Here’s hoping for this year!
In contrast so thrilled to see Jason Reynolds as our children’s book laureate!

[Kidlitter]

New Kid
The Line Tender
The Bridge Home

[Shella]

It sounds like Coyote Sunrise is a popular prediction. I was amazed at how well the author created Coyote's unique character and voice. I enjoyed almost all of the story and it sure pulled at your heartstrings. My only drawback for this book was the ending. I won't say much as I don't want to spoil it for others. I think mental health- especially depression is so misunderstood and not dealt with properly for many reasons. I'm not sure this story's ending helped in that area. Can someone post the link for Monday's announcement like last year?

[Marcie]

http://ala.unikron.com

[Carol]

Well said! So true!

[Reving]

1. Night Owl
2. New Kid
3. Other Words

[Tina]

Laura wrote: "Most of the selections were very good. It is time for the committee to take into account whether a child will enjoy the read. I am a New York bookseller who adores children's lit. A Newbery award i..."

Amen, Laura! Honestly, I have gotten to the point that I tell my students I rarely agree with the committees because I feel like the selections are ones children will never, ever choose to pick up and read. They are not promoting reading....IDK what they are promoting. I can never follow the logic. It's time we get back to the business of actually promoting books children will read. Otherwise, they should change the award criteria.

[Tina]

So question. Does anyone have an issue with the content in this story? I really don't think I can promote this book or have it in my elementary library. I just can't get over taking any stranger into your car.

[Shella]

On the criteria page for Newbery, there is a note:”The award is not for didactic content or popularity.” From this note whether we agree or not- it is clear that this has never been about what book would be the most popular with children or that promotes your favorite cause. There are other lists for that where Diary of a Wimpy Kid type giants reign and other awards for platforms. I let my students know my thoughts on Newbery winners- give book talks on my predictions and have seen students fall in love with books like Crispin- that have also led them to Adam of the Road and Door in the Wall. None of these would have been read by them had they not had the medal. I think we all love it when the choice is highly popular with children- quite frankly it makes my job easier. But after rolling up my sleeves and digging in - taking a distinguished book that might not on the surface seem appealing to children and getting them connected and used as a springboard for other great books- nothing is more satisfying. So for example, if A Place to Belong wins over let’s say Coyote Sunrise- I have a much harder sell. That is my job as a 6th grade teacher- draw them in and help them navigate a book that might not have surface appeal, but is still quite distinguished. I’ve seen it happen. Newbery is not to drive platforms or a popularity contest.

[Marie]

I totally missed the vote this year! And I was able to read several of the books that we were discussing. But I loved The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise even though it might not have been my first choice. Haven't read the other two yet but I do have The Bridge Home on my bookshelf to read and my daughter loved it. (I was also excited to see that New Kid won the medal this year. I loved that book as well.) Excited to see what this year brings.