February 17, 2013

So Long, Farewell . . .

So Long, Farewell . . .

IT’S TIME TO SAY GOODBYE As we wrap up another season of Heavy Medal, we’d like to thank all of our readers for their contributions.  It’s always hard to recognize only a small handful of books every year, but I always feel like we are able to celebrate many more worthy titles here, titles which [...]

2013 Newbery Medal and Honors

2013 Newbery Medal and Honors

Newbery Medal THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN Newbery Honors SPLENDORS AND GLOOMS BOMB THREE TIMES LUCKY Can I just say how pleased I am with this committee?  Really, I think these are awesome choices.  As I mentioned on Battle of the Kids’ Books, I think no other book this year has the combination of accessibility [...]

Last Words

Last Words

The anticipation of Monday’s announcements is making me giddy and restless.  It’s also making me lose my blogging mojo.  I wrote about potential Newbery books for a third grade audience, but wasn’t happy with it.  Then I wrote about second-guessing the Newbery committee, but decided that wasn’t quite right either. So I’ll just mention that my top four choices are BOMB, CHICKADEE, [...]

The Virtual Mock Supercommittee Has Spoken!

The Virtual Mock Supercommittee Has Spoken!

With 59 voters, we have the following results . . . BOMB . . . 14 (1st) + 12 (2nd) + 5 (3rd) = 125 SPLENDORS AND GLOOMS . . . 9 (1st) + 6 (2nd) + 9 (3rd) = 68 STARRY RIVER OF THE SKY . . . 3 (1st) + 11 (2nd) + [...]

Ready! Set! Vote!

Ready!  Set!  Vote!

I know we said we were not doing an online ballot this year, but since we’ve been doing mock nominations throughout the year, the natural and logical conclusion is to vote.  Now keeping in mind that we’ve had just over 30 people participate in each round of voting, we would probably need a single book to [...]

Mock Newbery Results!

20 people (19 voters) gathered together yesterday afternoon at the Rockridge branch of the Oakland Public Library to discuss our shortlist with the following results. NEWBERY MEDAL           NEWBERY HONORS                     During the discussion, I thought BOMB and SPLENDORS AND GLOOMS emerged [...]

More Bomb

More Bomb

JONATHAN HUNT: Before we have another go at BOMB–I’ve finished reading it again–I want to address two of the other concerns that were raised on previous discussion threads.  First, the epilogue–well, not the whole epilogue, really–the last page where Sheinkin breaks the fourth wall and addresses the reader directly.  On rereading, I didn’t find this [...]

2012 Best Books Outliers

Consensus among best books lists is not necessarily the best indicator of Newbery recognition, and we’re now going to take a look at some books that made just a single list.  Last year, this excercise yielded a Newbery Honor book, BREAKING STALIN’S NOSE, which the Horn Book called and allowed us to save face.  Maybe one [...]

Starry River of the Sky

This is essentially a mystery novel, and while the central mystery is what happened to the moon, Lin delivers up little mysteries along the way: Why did Rendi run away from home?  Where did the innkeeper’s son run away to?  Why can no one else hear the moon wailing?  Why are Madame Chang and Mr. [...]

2012 Best Books Overlap

2012 Best Books Overlap

The Bulletin Blue Ribbons are here which means that we have a full complement of best books lists.  Here’s what the overlap looks like . . . 6 lists– THIS IS NOT MY HAT THE FAULT IN OUR STARS CODE NAME VERITY 5 lists– LIAR & SPY AND THEN IT’S SPRING Z IS FOR MOOSE MOONBIRD [...]

Peter Sieruta

Peter Sieruta

I first became acquainted with Peter Sieruta about a dozen years ago on the child_lit listserv. We shared a love of children’s books, young adult books, and theater. And we developed a daily correspondence over the next several years that allowed me to appreciate Peter’s wit and wisdom on a wide range of topics, both [...]

Moonbird

Upon rereading MOONBIRD, it remains firmly entrenched in my top three.  It doesn’t have the buzz that BOMB does, but I think it’s just as good in its own way.  Take plot, for instance, a criterion that most people would give to BOMB in a head-to-head comparison.  To be sure, the tension and suspense of BOMB [...]

Moonbird

Upon rereading MOONBIRD, it remains firmly entrenched in my top three.  It doesn’t have the buzz that BOMB does, but I think it’s just as good in its own way.  Take plot, for instance, a criterion that most people would give to BOMB in a head-to-head comparison.  To be sure, the tension and suspense of BOMB [...]

December Nominations

December Nominations

It’s time for our final two nominations.  32 of you played our little game in the last round, and this is what we came up with. (17) LIAR & SPY (16) BOMB (16) SPLENDORS AND GLOOMS (8) NO CRYSTAL STAIR (8) THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN (7) SUMMER OF THE GYPSY MOTHS (7) WONDER (6) [...]

Documentation

Documentation

Documention has evolved–perhaps is still evolving–in nonfiction books for children and young adults, and as such, it is a bit of a moving target.  Jim Murphy said as much on a recent thread. About the sourcing for The Great Fire. That book was done a long time ago (as far as publishing goes) and sourcing [...]

What You Might Have Been

When Nina introduced this book way back in September, her biggest quibble was with Ivan’s voice, particularly the rich metaphorical language that dominates the first 50 pages or so.  This didn’t bother me because, like many of you, I made a distinction between his thinking voice and his speaking voice.  However, I do still find that first section [...]

What You Might Have Been

When Nina introduced this book way back in September, her biggest quibble was with Ivan’s voice, particularly the rich metaphorical language that dominates the first 50 pages or so.  This didn’t bother me because, like many of you, I made a distinction between his thinking voice and his speaking voice.  However, I do still find that first section [...]

What You Might Have Been

When Nina introduced this book way back in September, her biggest quibble was with Ivan’s voice, particularly the rich metaphorical language that dominates the first 50 pages or so.  This didn’t bother me because, like many of you, I made a distinction between his thinking voice and his speaking voice.  However, I do still find that first section [...]

Disasters and Hoaxes

We’ve already spent quite a bit of time obsessing over BOMB–and with good reason–but there are a handful of other worthy narrative nonfiction books that deserve our attention.  Each writer, to one degree or another, has structured the plots of their books to take full advantage of the suspense of their stories.  The book you [...]

Disasters and Hoaxes

We’ve already spent quite a bit of time obsessing over BOMB–and with good reason–but there are a handful of other worthy narrative nonfiction books that deserve our attention.  Each writer, to one degree or another, has structured the plots of their books to take full advantage of the suspense of their stories. 
The book you are [...]