Medals are in golden yellow; honors are in gray.
CALDECOTT
A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka
Blackout by John Rocco
Grandpa Green by Lane Smith
Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell
This list is not at all unexpected. A Ball for Daisy was all over the place. People loved it. It's sweet and nicely done, and a dog book. If you love dogs, I think its safe to say you will love this book. .
Blackout was also very good. There's a blackout in NYC and so a boy and his family discover the stars and playing in the streets and playing games by candlelight. Really nice.
As you know, I love Me...Jane.
Grandpa Green I figured would get something, but I think it's undeserved. Nice concept poorly executed in my opinion. The illustrations are great, but as I mentioned before, it's confusing; it has pronoun problems (antecedent rule).
NEWBERY
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Yelchin
I had heard of everything except Breaking Stalin's Nose. I'm in the middle of Inside Out and Back Again (also the winner of a National Book Award), a novel in verse about moving from Vietnam to America during the war. So far, quite good. Happy to see the overrated Breadcrumbs did not get anything.
PRINTZ
Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
Why We Broke Up by David Handler
The Returning by Christine Hinwood
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Nothing for Chime, surprisingly (though I can't say I'm disappointed).
So those are the big categories. Some of the smaller categories are worth looking at too.
GEISEL (for easy readers)
Tales for Very Picky Eaters by Josh Schneider
I Broke My Trunk by Mo Willems
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
See Me Run by Paul Meisel
For those of you who don't know, the easy/independent/beginning reader is a very specific genre meant for children learning to read on their own. They use a simple vocabulary, a large typeface, and short sentences. Did you ever read the Frog and Toad books? Those are easy readers. So it's a particular challenge to come up with a fun, entertaining, story with such limitations. There is a lot of boring stuff out there, so it's fun to see who is honored in this category. I checked out Tales for Very Picky Eaters today and it's a lot of fun, but I think I Want My Hat Back is better--in its originality, story and illustrations (so, everything). Mo Willems is the king of the easy reader (and one of the most popular children's author/illustrators today--I've read 32 of his 36 books, they're all good if not excellent). He's won the medal twice and been honored twice in this category. His Elephant & Piggie books are hilarious and delightful, and I Broke My Trunk is no exception.
William C. MORRIS Award for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens
Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard
Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
So here's where we find Between Shades of Gray (happy to see it got something) and Girl of Fire and Thorns. I've almost finished Girl of Fire and Thorns--a really good fantasy story.
Now I have one question
Where on earth is A Monster Calls????!!!!!
It seems like a crime that it wasn't honored or medaled anywhere in these awards. (Does it not qualify?) I can acknowledge that though I loved Between Shades of Gray and Imaginary Girls, they had their flaws. But this book was excellent on every level. It's creative, well-crafted, meaningful, artistic, loved, critically acclaimed. How could it not win anything? Maybe I don't know their criteria well enough. Read it, and see if you understand what I mean (or if you disagree).
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