And the Award Goes to: Reading the Newbery and Other Award Winners
The Newbery Medal turned 100 in 2022. Here are some of the winners. (Image borrowed from the American Library Association)
As a writer who’d love to win a Newbery someday (who wouldn’t?!), I like to see what books for kids and teens win awards from the American Library Association each year (see the 2024 list of winners and honor books).
It’s kind of like reading the list of Oscar-nominated movies—have I seen any of those movies? (Yes to Oppenheimer, no to Barbie.)
Have I read any of these award-winning books yet? In 2023, I read three of them:
Elf Dog and Owl Head by M. T. Anderson
Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow
The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn by Sally J. Pla
Both Elf Dog and Owl Head and Simon Sort of Says were named Newbery honor books.
M. T. Anderson is a masterful writer, but this particular novel, a contemporary fantasy, didn’t speak to me. I wonder what made it compelling enough to the Newbery committee to name it an honor book. I’d love to hear from someone who enjoyed it and what they liked about it.
I recommended Simon Sort of Says last spring. In addition to being named a Newbery honor, it was also named a middle grade honor book for the Schneider Family Book Award. This award is “for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience.” One of the secondary characters is on the autism spectrum and she is a great character.
The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn won the middle grade Schneider Family Book Award. This is a contemporary realistic story in first person from the point of view of a 14-year-old girl on the autism spectrum. She has mannerisms like hand fluttering that annoy people, especially her mom and her new stepfather, and she takes a little longer to process things.
At the beginning of the story, Maudie and her father, with whom she spends each summer, have to quickly relocate to southern California because of a wildfire that ends up consuming their home. They live near the beach and Maudie learns to surf. The surfing scenes were some of my favorites.
Most of the story is in present tense, but Pla weaves in flashbacks in past tense so effectively. They shed light on Maudie’s relationship with her mom and the secret Maudie’s keeping. A compelling read!
The novel’s author, Sally J. Pla, is on the spectrum, and has said this book is close to her heart. I interviewed her about an earlier novel, Stanley Will Probably Be Fine. (See Part 1 and Part 2 of our interview.)
The winner of the 2024 Newbery is a title I hadn’t heard of: The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers. I recognize the author’s name, but haven’t read any of his work.
I’ll be reading it soon. I found out that the main character and first-person narrator of this novel is a dog—albeit a living dog, not a dead one like my character.
I immediately wondered if this would make agents and editors more interested in animal POV stories. So I emailed Kathleen Schmidt of Publishing Confidential, a Substack newsletter written by an experienced publicist in the world of publishing.
She replied, “Book awards make editors and agents more interested in the author who wins awards—not necessarily similar novels.”
That’s a bummer.
I also asked what impact book awards have on sales.
She said, “A very small percentage of books see a meaningful spike in sales due to awards. I’d say books that win the National Book Award probably experience the biggest spike in sales.”
Another bummer.
Schmidt is not an expert in the kid lit world, however, so things may be a bit different. She works on adult novels and non-fiction.
What good are awards then? Surely the publicity helps more people hear about a book and ultimately it finds its way into more readers’ hands.
Which of the 2024 winners and honor books have you read or want to read? And which do you recommend?