Kids discussing what they are reading for their own Mock Newbery Awards
Comments authors made on our blog for the 2009 Newberys
Summary: The power of the Creator God is dead. His pendant lies dormant, forgotten inside the altar of a hearthen temple dedicated to worshiping statues and demons. Ayla, a human child raised by dwarfs, must solve the mystery of the pendant before a spoiled prince and devious priestess crush a kindom’s hopes forever. 244 p., Comfort Publishing.
Summary: In 1850s Pittsburgh, thirteen-year-old Owen leaves his younger brother and sneaks aboard a circus housed in a riverboat, where he befriends a freed slave, learns to work with elephants, and finally comes to terms with the choices he has made in his difficult life. 198 p., Bloomsbury Children’s Books.
Summary: Twelve-year-old Samantha struggles with how to best help her artistic older brother and parents who will not have him tested for a learning disability. 245 p., Holiday House.
We discussed Snow Falling in Spring by Moying Li with Xiaoke Chen (pink polo shirt), a staff member at Eva Perry Library, at our last meeting. Xiaoke grew up in Bejing during the same period as Moying Li. It was interesting to hear about the Cultural Revolution first hand and ask questions about that time period. Everyone in our club is encouraged to read this book! It was on our first short list.
Summary: Lucy, a milkmaid, and her best friend Wynston, a reluctant prince, go in search of information about Lucy’s missing mother–even though Wynston is supposed to be searching for a proper princess to marry. 208 p., Random House.
Note: You may also want to take a look at our Second Short List from August 22, or our Third Short List from October 24, but here is the post from our first short list which we made way back in June.
We made our first short list of the year at our last meeting! Each of the books on the list is the current favorite of at least one of our club members. Now everyone in the club will try to read these books so we can decide whether they will stay or go when we make our next short list in a few months. Some of these titles might even be part of our final five in January!
P.S. At our next meeting, we added a few others, thanks to those kids who couldn’t make our first Lock-In.
The List
Summary: In spite of a busy life on the family pumpkin and watermelon farm in Jubilee, Georgia, twelve-year-old March Anne Tanner feels that something is missing, and when Grenna, the grandmother who has helped raise her since her mother died when she was three, also passes on, March Anne finds that she must act on her feelings of loss. 243 p., Farrar, Straus, & Giroux.
