Folks, I’m working on a secret project that requires your help. Every year Mock Newberys, Mock Caldecotts, and even the occasional Mock Printz meet to cast their votes about what they deem to be the best books of the year. There is no single source collecting these Mocks, however, so the only way a person might hear about it is if the Mock group has a blog or posts their results on listservs like child_lit and ccbc-net.
I aim to change that. Friends, ‘mericans, countrymen, lend me your Mocks. If you’ve a Mock committee out there that you know of, please send me the results when you hear of them. You can post ‘em here or email me (my email is found my clicking my my name at the start of this post). I shall duly collect them and maybe even make a nice collected list for this blog, posting the results. It’s just fun to see what folks around the country feel about the “contenders”, don’t you think?
Mock me!
Since I'm in the middle of my Committee Year, I haven't gotten to read as much middle grade as I've wanted. It's never too early to start thinking about the Newbery and I'm curious to know what books have been gaining buzz and what you think will be showing up on Mock Newbery lists this Fall. I have a few that I have my eye on!
-I'm part of a group on Facebook called the Centurians and this one has gotten some award buzz from fellow librarians in the group!
-I've heard lots of early buzz around this one!
-She's a previous Newbery winner and a fantastic writer!
-So many people have been buzzing about this book. I think it's a better fit for the Schneider Family Book Award than it is for Newbery.
Anything else to add to the Mock Newbery List?
Albert Whitman & Company has been located in the Chicago area for most of its 90-plus years in business. As such, we’ve been blessed – both professionally and personally – with a wonderful assortment of independent bookseller for decades. Happily, this remains true today. In a semi-regular blog series, we will visit “Chicagoland Indies” for your information and enjoyment.
I walked into Anderson’s Bookshop on a sunny, summer Friday afternoon – and the children’s section was hopping! Kids and parents were perusing the shelves, playing together, reading, and having fun.
After checking out the Boxcar shelf (my first stop in every store), I met up with Jan Dundon, Anderson’s Children’s Coordinator.
Jan has been with Anderson’s for many years and has produced some of the best children’s book events in the country. Among her big projects is their Mock Newbery program – schools from all over the area participate. We exchanged thoughts on this year’s crop of contenders – which I can’t share with you, but the list is looking pretty good.
Which brings me to my favorite part of talking to booksellers – the recommendations. The staff read as much as they possibly can before the books hit the shelves, so they can do more than just hand you the latest bestseller (although they’ll do that too). Jan made a point of telling me that ALL of the staff members really just work there to feed their book habits.
That’s when I asked her the tough question: What are you favorite Albert Whitman books to handsell? Jan immediately answered, “MISS FOX! I love her.” She also mentioned The Buddy Files and Zapato Power, our two new early chapter book series.
I rarely (well, really, almost ne
This is something very cool.
The Sky Village was nominated for the Wake County Public LIbraries Eva Perry Mock Newbery Award (that’s a mouthful).
And then it was shortlisted.
Book clubs like this are a real inspiration. Here’s a bit about the book club:
The Eva Perry Mock Newbery Club is a group of about 25 6th-9th graders who read newly written books, some of them donated to the club as advance reader copies. We read books from April through January, listing and discussing our favorites in our blog, and nominating the very best for our own Mock Newbery Awards. We select our winners just before the official winners are announced by the ALA each year. We have also traveled to ALA conferences and been visited by local authors.
Our club was started in 1998 by Teresa Young Brantley, an official member of the 1999 Newbery committee that chose Holes by Louis Sachar as its winner
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This is the first one I have picked up of Shayne’s Wings of the Night series. It tells the story of Reaper and his band of misfits that he picks up. Reaper is a vampire bounty hunter essentially and has been sent to kill a rogue vampire. Along the way he picks up Seth, one of The Chosen, who is nearly beaten to death before Reaper swoops in to save him. The duo is then joined by Roxy, another of The Chosen (btw The Chosen are people who have a rare antigen in their blood that allows them to eventually become vampires) and finally Topaz, a beauty bent on revenge. 
You are a true mocking Bird.
And this particular shoe shaped bruise is courtesy of Sergio Ruzzier who came up with what my title SHOULD HAVE BEEN. Well played, sir.