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Do you remember Newbery medal books when you were a kid? When I think of them I recall that round medal on the front, knowing that it was supposed to be a "good book" and that I was supposed to like it. I recall reading them, or being forced to read them as a class, and thinking that they weren't very fun. I was firmly of the mind, and still am, that reading should be fun and interesting and when not fun it should at least have the decency to be interesting. Newbery books didn't always cut it for me. Now more often than not it seems that when the medal winner is announced my reactions is, "Neat! Who's that? I've never heard of that book." Not so this year. This year when the winner was announced I gasped. It was someone I recognized. It was someone that a lot of people recognized. Someone who was well, pretty darned cool. This year the Newbery went to Neil Gaiman for The Graveyard Book.
Just months ago the Guardian was asking if the Newbery judges were out of touch with readers and charged them with that awful thing called "elitism". Back in October 2008 the Washington Post looked at a claim that the Newbery books are too challenging to readers. The response has been that the Newbery isn't about popularity, it's about quality. It's usually then followed with a comparison to adult literature prizes like the Booker and how many people don't like or read those choices either.
Fair enough to a point, but adults aren't forced to read Booker prize winners the way many children are forced to read Newbery winners. When I look back at the list of medal winners and honor books I see books that I read as a child, both on my own and as demanded by various teachers. I know we read Patricia MacLachlan's Sarah, Plain and Tall, of which I have no real memory aside from the fact that I found it rather dull while a friend found it rather hard. We were also forced to read Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell. In fact, I think we were given a double-dose of this one as a teacher read it to us a year or two before we had to read it on our own for another class. It was one of those heavily pushed books that had me running in the other direction and I was a child that loved to read.
Of course there are books that I read from the list that I enjoyed. I remember being enthralled by Cynthia Voight's Dicey's Song and thought that Dicey was unbelievably strong and brave. Beverley Cleary's Ramona Quimby, Age 8 was a honour book, which to be honest I didn't know until I read this list. I gobbled up the Ramona books when I was young. I read Madelaine L'Engle's A Wrinkle In Time when I was in junior high and was fascinated by it because it was my first foray into fantasy and science fiction. A few years ago I read Shannon Hales' The Princess Academy and loved it so much that I forced it and another one of her books on a friend of mine (I very rarely force books upon people). I have to read Holes because everyone says I must and Hattie Big Sky has been on my To Be Read pile for the better part of a year.
The Newbery does pick good books but more often than not in recent years I've never heard of them before. I have no doubt that they are "of quality" but I have to side with Allison Ellis when she wonders if the committee has ever asked kids what they think about the finalists before they make their selections. Karen Vanuska is a teacher and writer and in a post that on whether or not there is a problem with the Newbery or with leveling the books says that while the Newbery can't be blamed for children's lack of interest in reader, there is a heavy emphasis on having teachers assign those books to children to read. Quality is fantastic but can't we have quality, relevance and fun all rolled up into a selection of books? Or at least the medal winner?
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