Final Mock Newbery Reading List for 2010

Here (at long last) is Reading List 4 - the last reading list for our 2010 Allen County Public Library Mock Newbery:

• The Great and Only Barnum - The Tremendous Stupendous Life of P. T. Barnum by Candace Fleming
  

• Road to Tater Hill by Edith Hemingway
  

• Claudette Colvin - Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose

• The Small Adventures of Popeye and Elvis by Barbara O'Connor

Click here for a complete, printable list of all 45 of this year's "Short List" nominees; these are the books we will be discussing in January.

Here, in no particular order, are pictures of the covers of all the books we'll be discussing on January 9th:

If you would like to register for the ACPL Mock Newbery, click here. (Remember that if you are a Indiana Librarian, you will earn one LEU by attending.)

If you would like to register for the ACPL Mock Newbery for kids in grades 3 to 6, click here. (If you'd like to see the short list for the kids, click here.)

If you'd like to jump right in to the discussion and comment online about any of the titles on our lists, just click on the title - over there on the right - and comment away! All comments will be reviewed at our Mock Discussion in January.

Creating FINAL Reading List

For our in-person discussion on January 9th, we will work off a short list of suggested titles. The complete list of books already on our reading list can be found here. Are there other books which you would like to see included? Do you have any 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: Friday, December 4.

If you would like to register for the ACPL Mock Newbery, click here.

Short List Four -- Last Reading List for 2009!

Here (at long last) is Reading List 4 - the last reading list for our ACPL Mock Newbery 2009:

• Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

• Grow - A Novel in Verse by Juanita Havill

• Adventurous Deeds of Deadwood Jones by Helen Hemphill

• Jessie's Mountain by Kerry Madden

• Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass

• Jimmy's Stars by Mary Ann Rodman

• Knucklehead - Tall Tales & Mostly True Stories About Growing Up Scieszka by Jon Scieszka
  

Click 2009 ACPL Mock Newbery Nominees for a complete, printable list of all 40 of this year's "Short List" Nominees; these are the books we will be discussing in January.

If you would like to register for the ACPL Mock Newbery for Adults, click here.

If you would like to register for the ACPL Mock Newbery for kids in grades 3 to 6, click here.

If you'd like to jump right in to the discussion and comment online about any of the titles on our lists, just click on the title - over there on the right - and comment away! All comments will be reviewed at our Mock Discussion in January.

It's almost time for the last reading list!

The year is drawing to a close, and it is almost time to post our 4^th and final reading list for the ACPL Mock Newbery 2009. I'm looking for YOUR suggestions, help, and guidance! What have you read that you think is a strong Newbery contender this year? Which books do you think would be great fun to discuss at our Mock Newbery discussion in January 2009? Which books are missing from our list that you thought were spectacularly good this year?

If you have suggestions of titles to add for our final list, please email the title or post your suggestion in the comments section here. I am hoping to post the final reading list next week.

If you have something to say about a title already on this blog, just add your comments to the blog post for that title. A complete list of all the titles under discussion should be over there on the right; just click on the title and comment to your heart's content!

Short List Three

This is the third of four "short lists" we will prepare for this year's Mock Newbery at the Allen County Public Library.

Short List Number 3:

• The Postcard by Tony Abbott

• Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

• Magic Half by Annie Barrows

• Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

• Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech

• Brooklyn Bridge by Karen Hesse

• My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath

• Clementine's Letter by Sara Pennypacker

• Keeping the Night Watch by Hope Anita Smith

• Little Audrey by Ruth White

Click here to see our 1st reading list of the year which was published in June. Click here to see our 2nd reading list of the year which was published in August. Click here to access all three lists in a printable format.

While we will continue to discuss a wide variety of books on our blog -- and we encourage comments on all of them -- we believe the books on the short lists are particularly strong. They are also destined to be "brought to the table" to be discussed in more depth at our Mock Newbery Election discussion to be held on Saturday, January 19, 2009.

If you'd like to suggest a book for the next (and last) list, just send me an email or leave a comment.

Happy Reading!

It's Almost Time for Short List Three! - Suggestions WELCOME

Can you believe it's almost time for us to post our third reading list for the ACPL Mock Newbery 2009? I'm looking for YOUR suggestions, help, and guidance! What have you read that you think is a strong Newbery contender this year? Which books do you think would be great fun to discuss at our Mock Newbery discussion in January 2009?

I've been looking at some other blogs discussing Newbery 2009; here are several which list some interesting Newbery ideas:

• Anderson's Book Shop -- A great short list of title! This site includes an opportunity for your class or library to read and participate in their Mock Election Vote.

• SJCPL Mock Newbery Club -- The St. Joseph County Public Library offers a fun club for kids ages 9 to 14 to get in on the Mock Newbery action.

• BCCLS Mock Awards -- Here you'll find a discussion of a variety of books which could be considered for awards this year; discussions of titles for mock Printz, mock Caldecott & mock Newbery are all included.

• The Cybils -- The Children's and Young Adults Bloggers Literary Awards offer "the premier Web awards for children's literature.... You, the public, nominate the books. Then we, the bloggers, read them and hand out prizes." (Important reminder: Nominations for the 3rd annual Cybils close tonite at 11:59 pm Pacific time)
  

If you want to suggest a book for discussion on THIS blog, just email the title or post your suggestion in the comments section here.

If you have something to say about a title already on this blog, just add your comments to the blog post for that title. A complete list of all the titles under discussion should be over there on the right -->
Just click on the title and comment to your heart's content!

Short List Number Two!

This is the second of four "short lists" we will prepare for this year's Mock Newbery at the Allen County Public Library. (Click here to see our 1st reading list of the year which was published in June.)

While we will continue to discuss a wide variety of books on our blog -- and we encourage comments on all of them -- we believe the books on the short lists are particularly strong. They are also destined to be "brought to the table" to be discussed in more depth at our Mock Newbery Election discussion to be held on Saturday, January 19, 2009.

Short List # 2:

• Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things by Lenore Look

• Graceling by Kristin Cashore

• Jeremy Cabbage and the Living Museum of Human Oddballs and Quadruped Delights by David Elliott

• Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall

• Red-Headed Princess by Ann Rinaldi

• Seer of Shadows by Avi

• Six Innings by James Preller

• Thousand Never Evers by Shana Burg

• Trouble Begins at 8 -- A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West by Sid Fleischman

• Underneath by Kathi Appelt

We'd love to hear what you think about these books! Click on the book title above to be directed to the blog post about it. Please leave comments about each title on its individual blog post.

If you'd like to suggest a book for the next list, just send me an email or leave a comment.

Happy Reading!

Our second reading list will be coming out soon

It's almost time -- believe it or not -- for us to post our second reading list for the ACPL Mock Newbery 2009. I'm looking for your suggestions, help, and guidance! What have you read that you think is a strong Newbery contender this year? Which books do you think would be great fun to discuss at our Mock Newbery discussion in January 2009?

I've been looking at some other blogs discussing Newbery 2009; here are three which list some interesting Newbery ideas:

• Fuse 8 has a great, annotated, "Summer Edition" of Newbery preditions

• The Anokaberry 2009 Short List was posted at the beginning of Summer. I can't wait to see if Nan Hoekstra posts another list this Fall!

• The Wake County Public Library encourages kids to participate in the Eva Perry Mock Newbery Book Club; check out their first short list of the year.

If you want to suggest a book for discussion on this blog, just email the title or post your suggestion in the comments section here.

If you have something to say about a title already on this blog, just add your comments to the blog post for that title. A complete list of all the titles under discussion should be over there -->
... on the the right.

Short List Number One!

This is the first of four "short lists" we will prepare for this year's Mock Newbery at the Allen County Public Library. What does this mean to you? Basically, it means that while we will continue to discuss a wide variety of books on our blog -- and we encourage comments on all of them -- the books on this list are now destined to be 'brought to the table' to (hopefully) be discussed in more depth at our Mock Newbery Election discussion in January 2009. It also means that we think these books are particularly strong.

Short List # 1:

1. Bird Lake Moon by Kevin Henkes

2. Diamond Willow by Helen Frost

3. Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff

4. Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park

5. Love Me Tender by Audrey Couloumbis

6. Outside Beauty by Cynthia Kadohata

7. Savvy by Ingrid Law

8. Shooting the Moon by Frances O’Roark Dowell

9. Tennyson by Lesley M.M. Blume

10. The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry

11. Trouble by Gary Schmidt

12. Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor

13. We Are the Ship – The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson

We'd love to hear what you think about these books! Please leave comments about each title on the blog post about it. Click on the book title above to be directed to the blog post about it. If you'd like to suggest a book for the next list, just send me an email or leave a comment.

Happy Reading!

Long List.... Short Lists

I’ve had several questions about whether all the titles posted on this blog will be on the reading list for our 2009 Mock Newbery. I think it’s easiest if you consider all the titles posted on this blog a “long list.” All interested readers are encouraged to post their comments about these books.

We will have four “short lists” posted during the year. These short list titles will be selected from the titles already posted on the blog based on the comments and discussion here. Our actual discussion in January will focus on titles on the four short lists.

If you want to suggest a book for discussion on this blog, just email the title or post your suggestion here.

If you live in the Fort Wayne area and are interested in participating more actively in our Mock Newbery process, you are welcome to visit the ACPL Children’s Services department and ask about the ARCs (Advanced Readers Copies) of soon-to-be published books we have available. Borrow one of these books and use the blog to let us know what you think of it.

Next week we will post the first “official” reading list for our Mock Newbery.