Interesting article, “Has the Newbery Lost its Way?” From 2008 so there may be some later exceptions to its idea that the newer winners aren’t popular.
http://www.slj.com/2008/10/industry-news/has-the-newbery-lost-its-way/
I bought a copy of* A Visit to William Blake’s Inn* because I enjoyed it so much. I loved the foreward, where the author describes hearing “Tiger, Tiger” for the first time from a sitter, and later getting a book of Blake’s poems, probably from her, although she notes the book was “signed” by William Blake.
Quoting myself because, whadayaknow, I’m reading it again with 6th graders. Not advanced readers, just a mixed bag of all reading levels.
Home run, Grand Slam, the most fun book to read with kids. I’m lucky to be using it in an enrichment class, meaning that it is a “fun” class that is still academic.
I have the envelope labeled “If I’m found dead in bed” with the team envelopes of clues on my table at work. Kids are begging me to find out what is in the envelope(we just started the book).
It’s a lot of fun and the best Newberry I’ve read by a mile.
That is interesting, and it’s a bit gratifying to see my own tastes backed up: three of my read-alouds each year (Holes; Bud, Not Buddy; and The Tale of Despereaux) are mentioned as good recent Newberies there.
Since that article was written, the only Newbery winner that I think was really extra-strong was The Graveyard Book. (I think I snarked a bit about it earlier in this thread, but on rereading it with my daughter earlier this year I realized how excellent it was).
Huh. I only ever thought that book was OK.
Some books are great fun read silently but terrible read-alouds. This one was just fine read silently, but as a read-aloud it was awesome. (I’m finding more and more that I enjoy Gaiman’s works more when read aloud, actually). Also, the sequence with the ghouls kidnapping Nobody is incredibly good.
The recent winners that strike me as popular are Flora and Ulysses and The One and Only Ivan They’re not particular favorites of mine but Ivan is very highly rated on Goodreads and Flora and Ulysses seems to have very devoted fans, both on Goodreads and in the favorite Newbery thread from earlier this year.
I have mixed feelings about The Graveyard Book, part of me says it’s a great, wonderfully written book but another part of me says it’s too violent and scary.
I’m trendy as hell! Love it!
Those were definitely two of my favorites from my reads in this club so far, especially Flora and Ulysses.
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz is one that I liked and would recommend. The concept was interesting: 20+ poems each spoken by a young medieval villager. It reminded me a little of Karen Cushman’s Catherine Called Birdy and The Midwife’s Apprentice in that it pictures medieval life as bleak but also having its fun and hopeful moments.
There are a couple of deaths mentioned but not major characters and not as tearjerkers.
However it’s one of the books that the “Has the Newbery Lost Its Way” article linked above rates as “particularly disappointing” and not of interest to kids.
The Cat Who Went to Heaven (1931), by Elizabeth Coatsworth. Very placid and sweet fable. I don’t know if it’s accurate in its depiction of various accepted stories in the lives of the Buddha, but it’s rather lovely. Very quick read. I didn’t mind the sad-ish ending, given the tone.
Recommendation: I’d recommend it as it’s very quick and a different feel from most Newbery winners.
Interesting. I forget if I already talked about The One and Only Ivan (edit: yep, made basically the some complaint on the first page of this thread back in March! :D). I thought it was well-written, but as a read-aloud to my first-grader, it failed miserably, for the reason that anyone who’s read it can guess. The “big death in the middle of the book or near the end that leads to character growth” is not something I’m crazy about in the least.
Flora and Ulysses was my first-grader’s favorite book for a long time. It’s probably my least favorite by Di Camillio: the fantasy part feels tacked on, and Di Camillio’s stilted, formal, artificial language patterns that worked so well in Despereaux and Edward Tulane felt way too twee in this book. Still and all, I know that plenty of people adore it. [edit: and I made much the same comments back in June, and gkster made them even earlier in the thread.]
At the end of the summer I saw a friend’s daughter (probably a 3rd grader?) reading Flora and Ulysses but didn’t get to ask her whether she was reading it because she liked it or because she was assigned it.
After reading half of Shen of the Sea, the 1926 winner, I gave up. It’s a collection of short stories written by Arthur Bowie Chrisman, in a folksy, faux-oriental style; they’re about topics like the (accidental) invention of the printing press, and a king and some ocean fairies (the Shen of the title). I have to wonder whether Chrisman was influenced by Ernest Bramah, whose Kai Lung stories were very popular at the time Ernest Bramah - Wikipedia. (I tried reading the Kai Lung stories since they’re praised in one of my favorite books, Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers, but tastes have changed and I gave up on them too)
I’m celebrating a streak 
A few days ago, looking at the list of winners I found that I’d read all the medalists from 1948 to 2017 except for 2: Amos Fortune, Free Man (1951) and Summer of the Swans (1982). I got hold of them and read them–they’re both relatively short.
Summer of the Swans: recommended. Not much happens, it’s gentle and low-key, but it’s reflective and honest too. And nobody dies! (The protagonist’s mother dies 6 years before the book begins but she’s hardly mentioned).
I’m not sure about Amos Fortune, Free Man. I like the fact that part of it is based on actual documents from the 1700s that deal with the life of Amos (he was a real person) but the opening chapters (his life in Africa before he was captured, the Middle Passage and his early years in Colonial America) somehow don’t feel realistic to me.
And I just finished a 2016 Newbery Honor, The Inquisitor’s Tale. I’ll have to sit with it a bit, too, but I think it’s gonna blow The Girl Who Drank the Moon out of the water in terms of staying power.
It’s structured like Canterbury Tales: a bunch of travelers are sitting around a 13th-century French tavern swapping stories, and each chapter is another traveler’s story (or the continuation of a story). But the stories center around three children with miraculous powers, as well as their saintly dog. There’s far more gore in it than you’d expect in a children’s book, far more people talking about their ass, far more historical accuracy coupled with bizarre medieval legends.
It’s hilarious and gross and wonderful, and if you like this kind of thing, find it!
Call in Courage (1941), by Armstrong Sperry. Bleh. Ai, noble savage conquers fears and ridiculous hurdles really easily and wins the day.
Recommendation: Skip it. Bleh.
Call in Courage (1941), by Armstrong Sperry. Bleh. Ai, noble savage conquers fears and ridiculous hurdles really easily and wins the day.
Recommendation: Skip it. Bleh.
My streak is not complete after all 
Somehow I missed one on the list and didn’t realize it until I found a book with the Newbery Medal on the cover at the thrift shop last week. It’s M C Higgins the Great which was mentioned upthread as a book that wonky hated. So I’m not particularly enthusiastic about reading it but will give it a try.
Have you and I had similar tastes? Do give it a try. I’m hardly the world’s arbiter of great books! 
I’m having a tough time reading MC Higgins the Great. I keep cringing–partly because of the setting. 1970s Appalachia and coal-mining, and I know that there’s been much more destructive mining since then. And also because of how clueless MC is…and MC’s “witchy” friend…and a scene that makes my fear of heights really kick in. I’m on p. 77 of 278 and wondering whether it will ever get less cringeworthy.
Did you ever finish? I gave up on that one.
The Bronze Bow, by Elizabeth George Speare. It’s written well. I was pretty bored at the beginning, but it picked up about 1/3 of the way in. Most was better than I was initially giving credit for. I don’t like books with special guest appearances, and this was definitely of that ilk. At the end, I felt like I was being proselytized, and that irritated me.
Recommendation: It’s a slow read and the payoff wasn’t really worth much to me. I’d skip unless the subject matter is compelling.
King of the Wind, by Marguerite Henry. This is a re-read. One of my favorite books from childhood when I was a horse fiend. It’s still very readable, but it’s extremely problematic in many ways. I remember is a child wishing to understand Agba’s story better, and reading it as an adult makes Agba’s status all the more frustrating and troubling. From my own experience, I’d say this is a book that kids might want to read, and I think it would be good for adults to know that there are some elements that kids might not pick up on that should be discussed. The entire idea of what feels like a disposable slave boy is pretty awful, and the over the top description of Morocco (I think it was Morocco) was very off.
Recommendation: It’s quick and very readable. But I don’t think it’s extremely rewarding for an adult.