18
Dec
Mocking It Up
It’s the time of year that puts me in the spirit of the season. And when I say “spirit of the season”, I’m not talking about Hannakah/Kwanzaa/Christmas/Eid/New Year’s. I’m talking about the Youth Media Awards. Librarians, teachers, and children’s book enthusiasts find they have an extra pep in their step as we countdown the days until the American Library Association announces their annual book awards on January 27th, 2014. Until then, while the official awards committees debate the winners in private, lists of favorite children’s books have been organized across the country to openly discuss probable winners of the awards. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this practice, these discussions and lists are referred to as “mock awards”. Yesterday, Betsy Bird posted a few mock lists on her blog and I found myself checking to see which titles were the most favorable listed. Specifically, I had my eye on the Newbery.
Now, here I’m going to let my nerd show.
I’ve complied a list of Mock Newbery nominations that were mentioned in Betsy’s post as well as a few others from various organizations that were not. Here are the goods…
Doll Bones is the clear favorite, followed by The Thing About Luck, Counting by 7’s, P.S. Be Eleven, and The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp.
I bet you’re wondering who the runner-ups are that just missed the Top 5 cut-off…
They are:
Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool (47%)
Once Came Home by Amy Timberlake (42%)
The Center of Everything by Linda Urban (42%)
Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo (42%)
The Water Castle by Megan Frazer Blakemore (37%)
Far, Far Away by Tom McNeal (37%)
These are the Mock Newbery lists I used to compile this info:
Mock Newbery lists highlighted on Fuse 8 Production:
Berkeley Carroll School Brooklyn Public Library Children’s Librarians Association of Suffolk County Dayton Metro Library Packer’s School Sacramento Public Library Saint Anne’s School St. George’s Independent School The Suffolk Cooperative Library SystemAdditional Mock Newbery lists:
Allen County Public Library Anderson’s Book Shop Daniel Boone Regional Library Eastern Shore Regional Library Global Mock Newbery Kansas City Public Library Michiana Mock Newbery Club Rhode Island Office of Library & Information Services San Diego County Office of Education South Central Kansas Library System Wake County Public Library (Eva Perry Mock Newbery)
How about you?
Do you mock?
Have any 2014 Newbery predictions?
Thank you so much for this! I’m glad you let your nerd show. I’ve always loved predicting the awards but only ever got one Newbery right (WHEN YOU REACH ME). This year, I’m hoping it’s COUNTING BY 7S.
Thank you! It’s going to be a tough choice this year… SO many wonderful titles!!