Final Reading List for 2011 Mock Newbery

Here is the final reading list for this year's Mock Newbery program at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We continue to encourage comments on all of the books on this blog, but the books on this final list will be 'brought to the table' to be discussed in more depth at our Mock Newbery Discussion and Election on Saturday, December 11, 2010.

The five titles in bold will also be discussed at the Kids' Mock Newbery on Sunday, December 12th. If you are in 3rd through 6th grade, are in the Fort Wayne area, and would like to participate in the kids' discussion and election, you can register here.

1. Alchemy and Meggy Swann by Karen Cushman
   
2. As Simple As It Seems by Sarah Weeks
   
3. Best Friends Forever by Beverly Patt
4. Countdown by Deborah Wiles
5. Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman
   
6. Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan and Peter Sis
7. Finding Family by Tanya Bolden
   
8. Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson
   
9. Keeper by Kathi Appelt
10. Million Shades of Gray by Cynthia Kadohata
11. Mirror Mirror - A Book of Reversible Verse by Marilyn Singer
12. Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
13. Nest for Celeste by Henry Cole
14. Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz
    
15. Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes
    
16. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
17. Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
18. Scumble by Ingrid Law
    
19. They Called Themselves the K.K.K. - The Birth of an American Terrorist Group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
20. The War to End All Wars - World War I by Russell Freedman
    
21. Water Seeker by Kimberly Willis Holt
22. Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen

We welcome continued online discussion through this blog and invite you to register for our "in person" discussion to be held on December 11, 2010 at our Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

ACPL Mock Newbery (for Adults)

For our in-person discussion and Mock Newbery Election on December 11th, we will work off a short list of suggested titles. But we still don't have our final reading list! (The year just seems to be flying by, doesn't it???)

We know we want to include the books from our initial reading list compiled this summer. And we know we want to include the books the kids will be reading for their Mock Newbery. Are there other books which you would like to see included? Do you have any favorite titles that have been missed?

If you would like to suggest a book for this final list, send me an email or leave a comment here.

Our deadline for the creation of the short list is Tuesday, November 16th. We will post our final reading list for the ACPL Mock Newbery on Wednesday, November 17th.

If you would like to register for the ACPL Mock Newbery, to be held from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm on Saturday, December 11th at the downtown Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, click here.

2011 Mock Newbery for Kids

Hey, kids -- have you ever wished the grown-ups would ask YOU which books should win the big book awards each year? Well, here's your chance to be heard! Join the

Mock Newbery Election for Kids,
coming up on Sunday, December 12, 2010
from 2:00 to 4:00 at the Main Library

Children in grades 3 through 6 are invited to attend. Simply read the books from the list below, add your comments to the Mock Newbery Blog, and attend the program on December 12 to discuss which book was the best children's book of the year! Advance registration is required.

Here is this year's reading list:

• A Nest for Celeste by Henry Cole
• The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz
• Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman
• Mirror, Mirror by Marilyn Singer
• Countdown by Deborah Wiles

We'll have refreshments, door prizes, and a great discussion! We hope you can join us! Click here to register.

Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman

"To all of you who crawl and creep,
who buzz and chirp and hoot and peep,
who wake at dusk and throw off sleep:
Welcome to the night."


Summary: A collection of poems that celebrate the wonder, mystery, and danger of the night and describes the many things that hide in the dark.


Illustrated by Rick Allen

Houghton Mifflin; 32 pages

The Danger Box by Blue Balliett

"Twelve words were painted in gold ink on the wall of an office in Dearborn, Michigan:

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST IS A DEADLY GAME. WHO CAN WIN FOREVER?"

The summary is hidden because it may contain spoilers. If you would like to read the full summary, simply use your cursor to highlight the next few lines and it will magically appear.

Summary: In small-town Michigan, twelve-year-old Zoomy and his new friend Lorrol investigate the journal found inside a mysterious box and find family secrets and a more valuable treasure, while a dangerous stranger watches and waits.

Scholastic Press; 306 pages

Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord

"The ferry's coming!"

The summary is hidden because it may contain spoilers. If you would like to read the full summary, simply use your cursor to highlight the next few lines and it will magically appear.

Summary: When the state of Maine threatens to shut down their island's one-room schoolhouse because of dwindling enrollment, eleven-year-old Tess, a strong believer in luck, and her family take in a trumpet-playing foster child, to increase the school's population.

Publisher: Scholastic; 186 pages

Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson

"Can you walk?" someone asked me.

The summary is hidden because it may contain spoilers. If you would like to read the full summary, simply use your cursor to highlight the next few lines and it will magically appear.

Summary: Separated from his friend Isabel after their daring escape from slavery, fifteen-year-old Curzon serves as a free man in the Continental Army at Valley Forge until he and Isabel are thrown together again, as slaves once more.

Publisher: Atheneum; 297 pages

Palace Beautiful by Sarah DeFord Williams

"My sister Zuzu says no one can remember the day they were born, but I do."

The summary is hidden because it may contain spoilers. If you would like to read the full summary, simply use your cursor to highlight the next few lines and it will magically appear.

After her move in 1985 to Salt Lake City, thirteen-year-old Sadie finds a journal in a hidey-hole in the attic, and along with her sister and new friend she reads about the influenza epidemic of 1918.

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Group, 232 pages

Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes

"They say I was born with a caul, a skin netting covering my face like a glove."

The summary is hidden because it may contain spoilers. If you would like to read the full summary, simply use your cursor to highlight the next few lines and it will magically appear.

Summary: In New Orleans' Ninth Ward, twelve-year-old Lanesha, who can see spirits, and her adopted grandmother have no choice but to stay and weather the storm as Hurricane Katrina bears down upon them.

Publisher: Little Brown; 217 pages