I spent Monday presenting a Common Core seminar to elementary school librarians in Knoxville, TN.  Our YMA feed stopped working properly during the Belpre Awards, so I had to wait until our morning break to see the full results.  While the Newbery picks surprised me, all the books did get great reviews, and will now find even more readers than they otherwise would have.

Now we turn our attention to this coming year, and if Jen J’s spreadsheet is any indication, there are some possible treasures waiting for us.

THE GHOSTS OF TUPELO LANDING by Sheila Turnage (4 stars)

ANGEL ISLAND by Russell Freedman (4 stars)

A SNICKER OF MAGIC by Natalie Lloyd (3 stars)

SEARCHING FOR SARAH RECTOR by Tonya Bolden (3 stars)

THE PORT CHICAGO 50 by Steve Sheinkin (2 stars)

FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, NATE! by Tim Federle (2 stars)

HOW I DISCOVERED POETRY by Marilyn Nelson (2 stars)

ZANE AND THE HURRICANE by Rodman Philbrick (2 stars)

JOSEPHINE by Patricia Hruby Powell (2 stars)

If you know of some forthcoming 2014 books that you are excited about then please let us know about them in the comments.  Personally, I’m looking forward to NUTS TO YOU! by Lynne Rae Perkins.