Let's Talk Books- It's Newbery Week

As a middle-grade Library Media Specialist, I am blessed to be surrounded daily by amazing books.

I have spent the last few weeks sharing Newbery award-winning books with my students in preparation of tomorrow's Newbery 2019 announcement. There are many awards given tomorrow through the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards, but for the age of my students, I focus predominately on the Newbery award.

I thought today that I would share two of my favorite Newbery books from previous years.

2013 Newbery Winner

I love The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. I think my love for this fantasy story comes from the fact that I remember reading an article in the newspaper about the real Ivan in the mid to late 1990s. Applegate read a similar article and did research on the real Ivan as a jumping off point for writing this book. In her story, she makes her Ivan into the protector he never got to be in real life.

As an experienced reader, animal books are so hard for me because I know that many times the animals in the story die and I struggle with that.

Here is the book trailer for The One and Only Ivan:

I think Gary D. Schmidt, the author of Wednesday Wars and Okay for Now, said it best "The One and Only Ivan will break your heart --and then, against all odds, mend it again."

I have a deep love for this book and for the real Ivan, who luckily got to live the remaining ten years of his life at Zoo Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia.

Here is a link to Zoo Atlanta's page about the real Ivan: Ivan the Gorilla.

I think this book is appropriate for readers 8-12 years of age. I give it a solid 5 stars, even as an animal book where an animal dies.

2016 Newbery Honor Book

Another favorite of mine is The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.

I  don't think I have ever been upset by what the Newbery committee chooses as a winner, but in 2016 I was dumb-founded. A picture book beat out The War that Saved My Life and I was not happy. I rarely reread anything, because my to-read list is forever long. I have read this one twice and will probably reread it again before I read the sequel- The War I Finally Won.

The War that Saved my Life is historical fiction and takes place during WWII as European parents began evacuating their children out into the countryside to keep them safe from what they feared would be bombings of the larger cities.

Here is a good book trailer for The War that Saved My Life:

Never in my life have I championed a character from the beginning until the very end of the book. I found myself encouraging & cheering for Ada on every page. I also have never despised a character as quickly and as thoroughly as I did Ada's mother from page one, till the very end of the story.

Here again, I give this one a solid 5 stars and I recommend it for children 10-14 years old.

 I have a long list of Newbery books that I am interested in reading and at the top of my list is Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo & The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.

I am hoping tomorrow's award announcements add new and amazing books to my Newbery award reading list.