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John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature: Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos. Honors went to Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Li (which had already taken gold in the National Book Award Young People's Literature category this past fall) and Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin.
Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children: A Ball for Daisy, illustrated and written by Chris Raschka. There were three honors for the Caldecott: Blackout by John Rocco, Grandpa Green by Lane Smith, and Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell.
Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults: Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley. This also took the top prize for the Morris Award for a debut YA novel.
Coretta Scott King Award for authors went to Kadir Nelson for Heart and Soul, which also got an honor in the illustrator category. But the winner for illustrator went to Shane W. Evans for Underground.
There are many, many more winners and honors on the list, and depending on the needs of the young readers in your life (or just your own literary tastes), there are plenty of wonderful books to discover, sorted into neat little categories. Also of interest might be the Alex Award Winners, for adult books that could have special appeal to young adults.
If I were to sum up (and here I go), I would say that this year's list of winners and honors is a surprise, not so much for what's on the list, but for what's not. While there are very few books here that didn't get award buzz, the ones that were arguably getting the most buzz do not show up, or show up in unexpected places.
A few examples: I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen was among the most buzzed Caldecott candidates, along with Me...Jane and Grandpa Green, but it ended up appearing on the Theodor Seuss Geisel honor list for beginning readers. Many would have said the Newbery was for Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt (who has won several Newbery honors but never gold) to lose. The only place it appears is on the Odyssey honor list for best audio books. Amelia Lost and A Monster Calls, two very common picks of the higher-profile mock Newbery committees this year are nowhere to be found. And there are certainly many YA books I thought might show up on the Printz list that didn't, but I'm not sure which I would have expected to not be there instead.
So, friends? What were your favorite books for young readers in 2011? What are your kids loving? And do you see those books on this list?
Quick extra note about the Alex: I love The Night Circus for that list, but it couldn't be more different from ROOM, my last year's favorite YA-friendly adult book. The Night Circus is really NOT fast-paced at all. And yet my gut tells me people who love YA would love The Night Circus. I really can't quite put my finger on why. Other than that it's good and it's mostly about young people. Which I guess is nothing to sneeze at.
ReplyDeleteAs a school librarian, I enjoyed my late opening this morning (ice) while streaming the ALA awards. Wonderful choices, left and right. After 10 years of reading to children, here are my thoughts:
ReplyDeleteCan Kadir win an award for practically every book he writes or illustrates? There are other authors and illustrators out there--let's get out of the Kadir-can't-be-beat frame of mind.
Love, love, LOVE Norvelt. A great choice for Newbery.
A Ball for Daisy really didn't do much for me. In fact, I was able to fetch it right off the shelf today, where it has sat for a couple months since last being checked out. I thought Blackout was fantastic and would've liked that as the winner. The illustrations did more for me than Daisy. Grandpa Green is the typical children's-book-that's-really-for-adults fare that Lane Smith puts out; kids don't get the sentimentality of this one.
Mo Willems could seriously win for every single book he's ever written. He should have a lifetime appointment as winner of the Giesel Award. Who else is publishing this kind of book? Maybe Cynthia Rylant? But Mo's books are eighy-five times more enjoyable than Rylant's. Kids forget they're learning to read with his books. I lost track of the number of times my nephew and I read Mo's elephant and piggie books. We laughed and laughed every single time, anticipating the joy we knew was coming with every page turn.
Today was an exciting day, and I was so glad to find most of the winners in my collection already!
I loved Okay For Now, but I understood that it might not get anything, given the problems that others on the mock Newbery blog had with the improbabilities of the ending. But for me, the richness of the characters overcame all, and I found the plot very satisfying. My son, who loved Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars, only got partway through Okay For Now (he stopped in the bleaker parts -- I think if we'd gotten to where things start to turn around, he would like it more, but it didn't grab him the way Wednesday Wars did). His favorite this year was Wonderstruck, by the author of Hugo Cabret, which he strongly wanted to get the Newbery even though it might not meet the criteria (with one story being told entirely through pictures). He was glad to see it got the Schneider award for books about a disability experience. I also really enjoyed the YA book Close to Famous, which also got the Schneider. And I highly recommend Uma Krishnaswamy's The Grand Plan to Fix Everything, for a middle-grade romp in India, with a Bollywood plot filled with lovely coincidence and destiny, and also Tall Story (British and therefore not Newbery-eligible), with alternate chapters by told by basketball-loving half-siblings, one in London, one in the Philippines with a village that believes he's a legendary giant come to save them.
ReplyDeleteMo Willems' I Broke My Trunk and Emily Jenkins' Toys Came Home were the best easy reader / early chapter books I read this year.
Adam...I love the title of this post. Skippyjon Jones is one of my favorite books to read aloud to my kids. Holy Guacamole! It never gets old.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to peruse the list (and the comments to this post) with my older daughter (11), who is always on the hunt for a good YA novel.
Janice, I agree with you about Mo. He inspired my daughter all through first grade (she's now in third grade), and Pigeon was a fixture in her classroom. In fact, at end of the year, we presented the teacher with a "Don't Let the Pigeon Teach Miss Choe's Class" book--each kid submitted their own page of "Don't Let the Pigeon...". It was adorable. We have yet to find an equally inspiring character, though we are liking Abbie Hayes this week.
Hijack time! I have twin girls in 2nd grade. They are both devouring the Magic Tree House and My Crazy School series, and we are trying to move them to the next level of difficulty/sophistication without losing any of the joy they clearly have in reading these books. Our sense from teachers is that Twin A is at about a O-P on the A-Z scale and Twin B a P-Q.
ReplyDeleteAny suggestions from the best hive mind I know of things to turn them on to?
I can only tell you that my daughter is really enjoying The Secrets of Droon series (I think it spans a few levels, but she's currently reading one that is Level Q). She also likes Abbie Hayes, as I mentioned above.
ReplyDeleteWe also have enjoyed the Who Was...? series, if you haven't tried any of those. It's an endless collection of historical figures, sports figures, etc.
Best non-dystopian YA book I've read in forever: The Fault in our Stars by John Green (came out last week and is already all the rage in Hollywood). Warning: it will break your freaking heart, but is probably fine for young readers who you think can deal with a story about teens with cancer. It is just so so gorgeous and honest and awesome. Buy it now. You will not be disappointed.
ReplyDeleteSee my below note about The Fault in our Stars. There's one tastefully written racy-ish scene and overall there's, you know, the themes of death and illness, but it's something I would have read and loved at 11 (and read and loved 20 years later as well...).
ReplyDeleteCount me among the YA lit lovers who is enjoying The Night Circus which I'm currently reading. I love it because it's magical- not just the subject matter-- there is something simple and lovely about it.
ReplyDeleteOn the YA topic, I read (cried my way through) The Fault is in Our Stars on Sunday. Sisyphus is the best name for a hamster EVER!
Thanks bella wilfer...we happen to know a young person going through chemo, so this may be a good read. His prognosis is fairly good (Hodgkins). Is the outcome in the book terrible (you can spoil it for me...I won't tell)? If so, we'll put this one off.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
Loved The Fault is in Our Stars, even though I NEVER read books on that subject matter. And I somehow didn't think through Sisyphus as a name - you're right, absolutely perfect!
ReplyDeleteSPOILER
ReplyDeleteUm, yes. Done beautifully and gracefully, and I never read books with people with cancer, and lost two friends two cancer in the last two years -- but I couldn't have read this while my friend was having treatment.
The Ivy and Bean books (by Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall) are funny, early chapter books. Great series, highly recommended. I think the Clementine books are maybe the same level as Magic Tree House, and about a younger kid, but funnier and better written. Toys Go Out and the two sequels by Emily Jenkins are terrific early chapter books. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, out this year, is one of a series of knights books, funny and unexpected, very atypical for knight hero books. Ruby Lu, Brave and True (and sequels) by Lenore Look. Goony Bird Greene, by Lois Lowry (and sequels).
ReplyDeleteAll the Edward Eager books, especially Half Magic, Seven-Day Magic and Knight's Castle should be perfect, if they can go with a little old-fashionedness (these were around when I was a kid - set in the 40s, I think). A few things to say "attitudes of changed," but overall fast-paced magical adventure and funny sibling interactions, with amusingly imperfect kids. <span>"Katharine was the middle girl, of docile disposition and a </span><span>comfort</span><span> to her mother. She knew that she was a </span><span>comfort</span><span>, and docile, because she'd heard her mother say so. And the others knew she was too, by now, because ever since that day Katharine </span>would<span> keep boasting about what a </span><span>comfort</span><span> she was, and how docile, until </span><span>Jane </span><span>declared she would utter a piercing shriek and fall over dead if she heard another word about it. This will give you some idea of what </span><span>Jane</span><span> and Katharine were like."</span>
The Penderwicks series (three books so far) is terrific, for a full-out chapter book (longer than the early chapter books listed above). Family of four sisters, great character delineation, funny. Also Katy Kelly's Lucy Rose: Here's the Thing About Me (and sequels), and Joan Aiken's marvelous The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (and sequels), for terrific adventure with Dickensian villains, brave girls (and girls trying to be brave), and a dollop of humor.
If you're looking specifically for something where you know from the start the kid survives, Side Effects by Amy Goldman Koss might be a good choice. A few years old, and not as decorated as The Fault in Our Stars, but frank and funny and NOT scary except for the amount of nausea involved.
ReplyDeleteClose to Famous, by Joan Bauer, won the Schneider Award (along with Wonderstruck) and would be terrific for the 11-year-old. Great read, very satisfying.
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