Mock Newbery 2026 discussion

The Winners have been announced!

Honors:
Doll Bones by Holly Black
The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes
One Came Home by Amy Timberlake
Paperboy by Vince Vawter

Newbery Medal Award:

Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo

Can't believe Counting By Sevens left off, It really is the next Wonder. I hope like Wonder it still is read by many!

I am SO excited about these books! My students cheered this morning when Doll Bones and Flora and Ulysses were announced! I have not yet introduced them to One Came Home (will be doing that when I get it from Scholastic (February 5th grade form for teachers and parents out there)). I love that the books are accessible to kids and will be ones that they want to read! I loved Billy Miller, too.

Yay! I am so happy about Flora and Ulysses and Doll Bones and Billy Miller. I love it when I'm on the same page as the committee!

Anyone know the reading level of the year of Billy miller? I want to nominate it for NC's elementary battle go the books.

Yes! Doll Bones marked as Newbery Honor!

I did not like Flora and Ulysses but I understand why kids would enjoy it. I liked Doll Bones and am glad it got recognized. I'm disappointed True Blue Scouts did not get recognised.

I was hoping Hold Fast would get an award. There were too many good books. Not a bad thing.

I think billy miller is in second grade so I believe it's 2-3 reading level. Am I wrong those who have read it?

My happiness at doll bones getting an honor is making my day. Loved the book. Love holly black.

Nice to see, although surprised that Navigating Early was recognized for the Printz award and not Newbery. It did straddle the age divide. Did not agree with most of the Newbery choices.

Billy miller is all about his year in second grade. It's a great read about for a first grade teacher as the students look toward second grade.

I think that's a pretty good track record for this group that our group reads included 3/5 total books getting Newbery recognition . . .

I was so glad to see that all of the Newbery selections, Honors and Award, ran towards the younger end of the spectrum. Instead of a bunch of books for teens, these books seem to be geared more towards elementary/middle school.

Beverly wrote: "I was so glad to see that all of the Newbery selections, Honors and Award, ran towards the younger end of the spectrum. Instead of a bunch of books for teens, these books seem to be geared more tow..."

Beverly, I ditto your remark. It seems that in recent years many of the Newbery awards and honors went to books for an older audience. I appreciate the committee trying to keep reading and interest levels separate for the awards. Let those older books receive the Printz. :)

So Flora and Ulysses was not on my prediction list, but out of all the books I've had laying around the house, this the only one both my husband and son picked up by themselves, read, and loved. I think Flora is a book that a wide range of readers will be drawn to and enjoy. This is such a delightful pick! I am also suprised an tickled to see Navigating Early take a Printz Honor. I was floored not see it with at least a Newbery Honor, but then I read further. :) I simply cannot get over the absence of The Thing About Luck! That was my Ivan!

I loved The Thing about Luck as well, but it is not without recognition, thankfully. The National Book Award and Newbery do not seem to overlap at all. I read 4/5 of the award winners and enjoyed them all so even though my favorites are shut out, I'm not too disappointed. The timing of Kate DiCamillo's win is certainly interesting, considering her recent appointment.

I just finished Hold Fast. I think it's her best book so far and it didn't even get a mention I don't think. A great mystery with a real world connection as well as eye opening into the world of the homeless.

I was equally disappointed and agree with Leigh and Marcie that True Blue Scouts and Counting by 7's should have gotten an honor at least. Pouting!

I'm with you on the pouting, Julie. True Blue Scouts and Counting by 7s were my top choices, too. Arrrrgggghhh! Sometimes it is so hard to know what they are looking for.

Sure Signs of Crazy knocked my socks off- an unforgettable narrator, gorgeous (and delightfully weird) diction, and such ballsy subject matter!

Also, Better Nate than Ever manages to be both nonstop fun (so. fun!) and sooo substantial. It's the most progressive thing I've read in ages.

Both (I feel) are ridiculously original and terribly special.

Carol wrote: "I'm with you on the pouting, Julie. True Blue Scouts and Counting by 7s were my top choices, too. Arrrrgggghhh! Sometimes it is so hard to know what they are looking for."

I have never served on the Newbery, so I'm only guessing here but I think they are trying to avoid the slump they had a few years ago, with dry dull books that kids hated. Also, since Gaiman's book was such a popular win, Doll Bones reflects that. It was probably a very tough call, since there were plenty of excellent books to select from. I would not have chosen Flora and Ulysses but I think they were trying to pick something with strong kid appeal.

Mack wrote: "Sure Signs of Crazy knocked my socks off- an unforgettable narrator, gorgeous (and delightfully weird) diction, and such ballsy subject matter!

Also, Better Nate than Ever manages to be both no..."

Mack, I loved Better Nate than Never, too. Have you read Five, Six, Seven, Nate yet? Just as fun I'll have to add Sure Signs of Crazy to my TBR pile, I actually had not heard of it before now. I'm sure the Newbury team's decision was tough, but as of yet, I have not been able to get one student interested in Flora and Ulysses, and yet I have six copies of The True Blue Scouts and they are borrowed again and again. Who can figure??

It has an AR value of 4.2. I'm going to find it hard to sell.

Kristine wrote: "I think billy miller is in second grade so I believe it's 2-3 reading level. Am I wrong those who have read it?"

I think Billy Miller is primarily going to be a read aloud, especially in second grade. But it also answers an issue that some second grade teachers have - students who are reading above grade level. This is a perfect book for those kids. The themes and ideas are perfect for the second grader, but it is written at a level above the typical early chapter book. I wish this book had been published a couple of years ago when I was teaching second grade.

Has anyone looked at SLJ's Battle of the Books? I love to watch how that unfolds. The titles are here:
ALL THE TRUTH THAT’S IN ME by Julie Berry
THE ANIMAL BOOK by Steve Jenkins
BOXERS AND SAINTS by Gene Yang
A CORNER OF WHITE by Jaclyn Moriarty
DOLL BONES by Holly Black
ELEANOR AND PARK by Rainbow Rowell
FAR FAR AWAY by Tom McNeal
FLORA & ULYSSES by Kate DiCamillo
HOKEY POKEY by Jerry Spinelli
MARCH BOOK ONE by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
MIDWINTERBLOOD by Marcus Sedgwick
P.S. BE ELEVEN by Rita Williams-Garcia
ROSE UNDER FIRE by Elizabeth Wein
THE THING ABOUT LUCK by Cynthia Kadohata
TRUE BLUE SCOUTS OF SUGAR MAN SWAMP by Kathi Appelt
WHAT THE HEART KNOWS by Joyce Sidman
and the website is:
http://www.slj.com/2014/01/awards/slj...

Diana wrote: "Has anyone looked at SLJ's Battle of the Books? I love to watch how that unfolds. The titles are here:
ALL THE TRUTH THAT’S IN ME by Julie Berry
THE ANIMAL BOOK by Steve Jenkins
BOXERS AND SAINTS..."

Yes, I have been keeping up with BOB since SLJ sends me "Extra Helping" regularly to my email.

Yay --- do follow SLJ's Battle of the Kids' Books (http://blogs.slj.com/battleofthebooks/) come March! We've not only got awesome contenders, but amazing writer judges too.

We make our selections at the beginning of December and so always wonder if we will end up with the Newbery winner. We've done pretty well -- over the six years of our existence the only year we didn't have the medalist was 2011. That said, there is the so-called "Newbery Curse" as thus far no medalist has made it out of the first round; maybe this year will be different --- come see! (If you want to take a stab at predicting this year's first round wins, we've got a little contest going on the site.)

There are so many books for children about differences and accepting differences. I was not looking forward to reading Paperboy, but once I started reading I read it cover to cover. The main character's struggle to live with his disability was very real. I also loved the way the author let us see that stuttering was not the only issue the main character had to deal with. By the time I finished the book, I was telling myself that this is really a book about growing up - taking that first step toward mature thinking.

The main character encountered other characters in the story that influenced his thinking. Mr. Spiro was my favorite. He was different - the way he talked, his interests, his life experiences and the pieces of the puzzle that he created all gave the main character food for thought about what is really important in life.

There was one big turn off for me in this book, and that was the violence in the bar. It was a shock! Maybe that is what the author intended because that may have been what he felt when he lived this part of the story/biography. I appreciate the little history lesson that the author included here, but for me it was too much. Because of this part of the story, I would recommend it to parents with a caution.

I recently had Vince Vawter speak to my school (Middle School group, grades 6-8) and he mentioned that as he wrote the book, he did not specifically write it as a Middle Grade novel. He just wanted to tell the story the best way that he could. I think that explains some of his choices as far as storytelling, particularly the bar scene. I loved the book, by the way, and am happy that he told the story authentically.

Monica wrote: "Yay --- do follow SLJ's Battle of the Kids' Books (http://blogs.slj.com/battleofthebooks/) come March! We've not only got awesome contenders, but amazing writer judges too.

We make our selections..."

Monica wrote: "Yay --- do follow SLJ's Battle of the Kids' Books (http://blogs.slj.com/battleofthebooks/) come March! We've not only got awesome contenders, but amazing writer judges too.

We make our selections..."

Monica wrote: "Yay --- do follow SLJ's Battle of the Kids' Books (http://blogs.slj.com/battleofthebooks/) come March! We've not only got awesome contenders, but amazing writer judges too.

We make our selections..."

Well I think the curse still stands. Flora andUlysses is about my least favorit of the BOB contenders. I love the author judges and reading through their prcess of selection.

Yes, the curse still stands. Flora & Ulysses lost in the first round to another contender that got quite a bit of Newbery buzz last year. Check out the decision here: http://blogs.slj.com/battleofthebooks...

But as Diana notes, it is really about what the judges have to say as much as it is about which book moves forward. They've been awesome this year.