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Mock Newbery Award

Criteria | December Reading List | Print Version

Sharpen your book discussion and evaluation skills! Mock Newbery will meet on Thursday, December 3rd, 7:00 to 9:00 pm at the Barrington Public Library, Barrington. Register to attend this session.

The Newbery Medal is awarded annually to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children published in the United States during the preceding year. The Award is restricted to authors who are citizens or residents of the United States. Voting for the Rhode Island Mock Newbery winner uses the balloting procedures of the actual Newbery Medal committee and will take place at the January meeting. The official Newbery Medal will be awarded in January by the American Library Association.

Criteria

  • In identifying "Distinguished Writing" in a book for children, 
    1. Committee members need to consider the following: 
      • Interpretation of the theme or concept 
      • Presentation of information including accuracy, clarity, and organization 
      • Development of a plot 
      • Delineation of characters 
      • Delineation of setting 
      • Appropriateness of style

      Note: Because the literary qualities to be considered will vary depending on content, the committee need not expect to find excellence in each of the named elements. The book should, however, have distinguished qualities in all of the elements pertinent to it.

    2. Committee members must consider excellence of presentation for a child audience.

Reading List 2: December 3, 2009, Barrington Public Library

*bold titles are new additions to the list

Note:  For Rhode Island's Mock Newbery only fiction is considered even though distinguished writing in any genre could be recognized by the Newbery Award Committee. This is a starting list. Please feel free to send suggested titles to Cheryl Space.

Voting for a Rhode Island winner and honor books will take place on January 6, 2010 using the balloting procedures of the real committee.

  1. Baskin, Nora Raleigh. Anything But Typical. (Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, 3/09)
  2. Burg, Ann. All the Broken Pieces. (Scholastic Press, 4/09)
  3. Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. (Scholastic, 9/09)
  4. Dana, Barbara. Voice of Her Own: Becoming Emily Dickinson. (Harpercollins, 3/09)
  5. Dicamillo, Kate. The Magician’s Elephant (Candlewick, 9/09)
  6. Easton, Kelly. The Outlandish Adventures of Liberty Aimes. (Wendy Lamb, 6/09)
  7. Engle, Margarita. Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba. (Henry Holt, 3/09)
  8. Fitzmaurice, Kathryn. Year the Swallows Came Early. (Bowen Press, 2/09)
  9. Giff, Patricia Reilly. Wild Girl. (Delacorte Press, 8/09)
  10. Graff, Lisa. Umbrella Summer. (Laura Geringer, 6/09)
  11. Gratz, Alan. Brooklyn Nine: A Novel in Nine Innings. (Dial, 3/09)
  12. Hiaasen, Carl. Scat. (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1/09)
  13. Hoberman, Mary Ann. Strawberry Hill. (Little, Brown, 7/09)
  14. Holmes, Sara Lewis. Operation Yes. (Arthur A. Levine, 9/09)
  15. Kelly, Jacqueline. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. (Henry Holt & Co, 5/09)
  16. LaFleur, Suzanne. Love, Aubrey. (Wendy Lamb, 6/09)
  17. Lin, Grace. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. (Little Brown Young Readers, 7/09)
  18. Look, Lenore. Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking and Other Natural Disasters. (Schwartz & Wade, 6/09)
  19. Mass, Wendy. 11 Birthdays. (Scholastic Press, 1/09)
  20. Marino, Nan. Neil Armstrong is My Uncle and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me. (Roaring Book Press, 5/09)
  21. McDowell, Marilyn Taylor. Carolina Harmony. (Delacorte, 3/09)
  22. McKinnon, Hannah Roberts. Franny Parker. (Farrar Straus Giroux, 5/09)
  23. Mills, Claudia. How Oliver Olson Changed the World. (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 3/09)
  24. Oaks, J. Adams. Why I Fight. (Atheneum, 4/09)
  25. Parry, Rosanne. Heart of a Shepherd. (Random House, 1/09)
  26. Paterson, Katherine. The Day of the Pelican. (Houghton Mifflin, 10/09)
  27. Peck, Richard. A Season of Gifts. (Dial, 9/09)
  28. Philbrick, Rodman. The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. (Blue Sky Press, 1/09)
  29. Potter, Ellen. Slob. (Philomel, 5/09)
  30. Slayton, Fran. When the Whistle Blows. (Philomel, 6/09)
  31. Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. (Lamb/Random House, 7/09)
  32. Yee, Lisa. Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally). (Arthur A. Levine, 9/09)

Dropped on October 27, 2009:

  1. Hannigan, Katherine. Emmaline and the Bunny. (Greenwillow Books, 2/24/2009)
  2. Woodson, Jacqueline. Peace, Locomotion. (Putnam Juvenile, 1/22/2009)

Final session:

Mock Newbery Discussion #3 (voting meeting!)
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Oaklawn Branch Library, Cranston
7:00 PM. – 9:00 PM.

Directions to Barrington Public Library:

The Barrington Public Library is located at 281 County Rd (Rte 114) in Barrington, Rhode Island.

From Rte 95:

• Take Rte 95 (north or south) to Rte 195 east.
• Take exit 7 off Rte 195 (114 South, Barrington, Seekonk). Stay to the right off the exit.
• Follow Rte 114 South about 6.5 miles to the second traffic light (First light is at the White Church)
• Turn left at the traffic light, up the hill into the Government Center. Library is on the right, Town Hall on the left.

From Rte 114 heading north (Warren, Bristol)

• Follow Rte 114 north over the Warren/Barrington river bridges.
• At the fourth stoplight, turn right into the Government Center.

Previous Mock Newbery Winners

Office of Library and Information Services, One Capitol Hill, Providence RI 02908-5803, (401)574-9300; Fax: (401)574-9320

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