Newbery Medal The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
2015 Newbery Medal:
Alexander, Kwame. The Crossover. (JUV ALEXA) Fourteen-year-old twin basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health.
2015 Honor books:
Bell, Cece. El Deafo. (JUV GN BELL) Going to school and making new friends can be tough. But going to school and making new friends while wearing a bulky hearing aid strapped to your chest? That requires superpowers! Bell chronicles her hearing loss at a young age and her subsequent experiences with the Phonic Ear, a very powerful--and very awkward--hearing aid. She really just wants to fit in and find a true friend, someone who appreciates her as she is.
Woodson, Jacqueline. Brown Girl Dreaming. (JUV BIO WOODS) The author shares her childhood memories and reveals the first sparks that ignited her writing career in free-verse poems about growing up in the North and South.
2014 Newbery Medal:
DiCamillo, Kate. Flora & Ulysses: the illuminated adventures. (JUV FAN DICAM) Rescuing a squirrel after an accident with a vacuum, comic-reading cynic Flora is astonished when the squirrel, Ulysses, demonstrates astonishing powers of strength and flight after being revived.
2014 Honor books:
Black, Holly. Doll Bones. (JUV FAN BLACK) Zach, Alice, and Poppy, friends who have enjoyed acting out imaginary adventures with dolls and action figures, embark on a real-life quest to bury a doll made from the ashes of a dead girl.
Henkes, Kevin. The Year of Billy Miller. (JUV HENKE) Billy Miller starts second grade with a lot of worries, but by the end of the year he has developed good relationships with his teacher, his little sister, and his parents and learned many important lessons.
Timberlake, Amy. One Came Home. (JUV TIMBE) In 1871 Wisconsin, Georgia sets out to find her sister Agatha, presumed dead when remains are found wearing the dress she was last seen in, and before the end of the year gains fame as a sharpshooter and foiler of counterfeiters.
Vawter, Vince. Paperboy. (JUV VAWTE) When an eleven-year-old boy takes over a friend’s newspaper route in July, 1959, in Memphis, his debilitating stutter makes for a memorable month.
2013 Newbery Medal:
Applegate, Katherine. The One and Only Ivan. (JUV APPLE) Ivan, a gorilla who has lived for years in a down-and-out circus-themed mall, meets Ruby, a baby elephant. When Ruby is abused, he decides that he must find her a better life.
2013 Honor books:
Schlitz, Laura Amy. Splendors and Glooms. (JUV FAN SCHLI) 1860: When Clara vanishes after the puppeteer Grisini and two orphaned assistants were at her birthday party, they flee from London and soon the orphans are caught in a trap set by Grisini’s rival.
Sheinkin, Steve. Bomb: the race to build—and steal—the world’s most dangerous weapon. (Juv 623.451 SHEIN) Recounts the scientific discoveries that enabled atom splitting, the military intelligence operations that occurred in rival countries, and the work of brilliant scientists hidden at Los Alamos.
Turnage, Shelia. Three Times Lucky. (JUV MYS TURNA) Washed ashore as a baby in tiny Tupelo Landing, Mo, and Dale turn detective when the amnesiac Colonel, owner of a café and co-parent of Mo with his cook, seem implicated in a murder.
2012 Newbery Medal:
Gantos, Jack. Dead End in Norvelt. (JUV GANTO) In the historic town of Norvelt, Pennsylvania, Jack Gantos spends the summer of 1962 grounded until he is assigned to help an elderly neighbor with a most unusual chore.
2012 Honor books:
Lai, Thanhha. Inside Out & Back Again. (JUV LAI) A young girl chronicles the life-changing year of 1975, when she, her mother, and her brothers leave Vietnam for America.
Yelchin, Eugene. Breaking Stalin’s Nose. (JUV YELCH) In the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union, Sasha idolizes his father, a devoted Communist, but when police take his father away, he is forced to examine his own perceptions, values, and beliefs.
2011 Newbery Medal:
Vanderpool, Clare. Moon over Manifest. (JUV VANDE) Abilene is the daughter of a drifter who, in the summer of 1936, sends her to stay with an old friend in Manifest, Kansas, where he grew up, and where she hopes to find out things about his past.
2011 Honor books:
Holm, Jennifer L. Turtle in Paradise. (JUV HOLM) In 1935, when her mother gets a job housekeeping for a woman who does not like children, eleven-year-old Turtle is sent to stay with relatives she has never met in faraway Key West, Florida.
Preus, Margi. Heart of a Samurai. (JUV PREUS) In 1841, rescued by an American whaler after a terrible shipwreck, Manjiro, who dreams of being a samurai, learns laws and customs as he becomes the first Japanese person in the U.S.
Sidman, Joyce. Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night. (Juv 811.54 SIDMA) Twelve poems about nocturnal life in the forest are illustrated by linoleum relief prints colored in gouache. With factual sidebars, that describes the many things that hide in the dark.
Williams-Garcia, Rita. One Crazy Summer. (JUV WILLI) 1968: after traveling to be with the mother they barely know, Delphine arrives and discovers their mother is resentful of the intrusion and puts them in a nearby Black Panther summer camp.
2010 Newbery Medal:
Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. (JUV SCIFI STEAD) As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the television game show, a New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes that seems to defy the laws of time and space.
2010 Honor books:
Hoose, Phillip. Claudette Colvin: twice toward justice. A teenager, fed up with segregation, refused to give her seat to a white woman. Instead of being celebrated, Claudette found herself shunned by her classmates and dismissed by community leaders
Kelly, Jacqueline. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. (JUV KELLY) 1899, Callie is instructed to be a lady by her mother, learns about love from her older brothers, and studies the world with her grandfather, the latter of which leads to an important discovery.
Lin, Grace. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. (JUV FAN LIN) Minli, a girl from a poor village, buys a magical goldfish, and then joins a dragon on a quest to find the Old Man of the Moon in hopes of bringing life to Fruitless Mountain and freshness to Jade River.
Philbrick, Rodman. The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. (JUV PHILB) Twelve-year-old Homer, a poor but clever orphan, has extraordinary adventures after running away from his evil uncle to rescue his brother, who has been sold into service in the Civil War.
2009 Newbery Medal:
Gaiman, Neil. The Graveyard Book. (JUV FAN GAIMA) Nobody Owens is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead.
2009 Honor books:
Appelt, Kathi. The Underneath. (JUV FAN APPEL) An old hound that has been chained up at his hateful owner’s shack, and two kittens born underneath the house, endure separation and danger in their quest to be reunited and free.
Engle, Margarita. The Surrender Tree: poems of Cuba’s struggle for freedom. (Juv 811.54 ENGLE) Cuba has fought three wars for independence, and still she is not free. This history in verse creates a lyrical portrait of Cuba.
Law, Ingrid. Savvy. (JUV FAN LAW) Recounts the adventures of Mibs, whose thirteenth birthday has revealed her “savvy”--a magical power unique to each member of her family--just as her father is injured in a terrible accident.
Woodson, Jacqueline. After Tupac & D Foster. In the New York City borough of Queens in 1996, three girls bond over their shared love of Tupac Shakur’s music, as together they try to make sense of the unpredictable world in which they live.
KW 01/2015