The Conundrum of Newbery Honor Books

5/18/2017

How does the Newbery committee decide which book should win the award, and which should be the "runner-up"s? The number of Honor books has varied over the years, from none (for a few years at the beginning) to as many as eight (in 1931 and 1934 - now that is difficulty making a decision). It's obviously hard enough to decide which (and how many) books should be recognized in the first place. But then how do they decide which of those books is the winner of the actual Newbery Award?

I'm asking because I've actually read three of the four Newbery books for this year - The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (the Newbery Award winner); The Inquisitor's Tale by Adam Gidwitz and Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk (both Newbery Honor books). And in my humble opinion, the two Honor books blew the winner out of the water.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon was a wonderful fantasy story, but it didn't stand out to me as different or better than many of the other fantasy stories published today. But The Inquisitor's Tale provided a unique storytelling method (reminiscent of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales), a unique format ("illuminated" text), and a great way to learn about life in medieval times. Wolf Hollow has been compared by many to To Kill a Mockingbird, and the comparisons really do hold up, in its tone, atmosphere, and coming of age story that will touch your heart - and potentially have a profound effect on its readers, especially if that reader is a middle schooler. In my opinion, either of those books deserved to win the award.

Has anyone else felt similarly about this year's books, or any past Newbery winners/honor books?

4 Comments

Jenna @ Falling Letters link

5/18/2017 09:53:49 pm

I haven't yet read The Inquisitor's Tale (but it sounds like something I would enjoy!) so I can't comment on that but personally, I loved The Girl Who Drank the Moon. Wolf Hollow was not at all to my taste. However, from a Newbery perspective, I think I agree with you. The Girl is a great fantasy, but it doesn't quite have that spark of excellence or something unique that you might expect in a book that's won such a notable award. I've also thought the Newbery has a reputation towards darker books, so I would have been less surprised if Wolf Hollow had won out over Girl (pardon me if I'm off base; I don't usually pay close attention to awards).

Julie @ Smiling Shelves link

5/21/2017 03:41:06 pm

I really enjoyed The Girl Who Drank the Moon, too, but I think you put it well - it doesn't have the spark of excellence you would expect from an award winner. I haven't necessarily noticed "darker" as a theme among Newbery winners, but I think you could say they tend toward books that take on serious themes, rather than ones that just tell a good story.

I hope you pick up The Inquisitor's Tale sometime. It was so good! :)

Christine @Buckling Bookshelves link

5/19/2017 08:32:42 pm

From what I've read about the Newbery and Caldecott Awards, it does seem to me there is quite a bit of subjectivity, even though there needs to be agreement among the committee members and certain voting requirements met for a book to win. With so many books published each year, it amazes me they even can narrow it down and come to an agreement at all!

I think the only year I've read all the books is 2015 -- The Crossover (medal) and Brown Girl Dreaming and El Deafo (honors). I thought they were all excellent and would have had a hard time picking a winner myself, even though I think Crossover was deserving.

As awesomely fun as it sounds to be on the committee, I imagine you could get a bit burnt out reading so many children's books in that limited time period to evaluate them for an award. I imagine reading such volume like that also affects how books are viewed. "Regular" readers tend to read them at our leisure and likely after the awards are given out -- which seems a completely different experience -- and expectations are sooo high by that point too.

Julie @ Smiling Shelves link

5/21/2017 03:44:35 pm

You make a really good point in your last paragraph, Christine. That would be hard to read so many books in order to judge them. It seems like they would start to blur together after a while, and it would be hard to view them objectively.

It is amazing that a committee can decide a narrowed down list, let alone one winner. Wouldn't it be fun to be a fly on the wall for those discussions? :)

The Conundrum of Newbery Honor Books

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