We love discussing books here at Redeemed Reader! We also love “prognosticating the awards”: discussing potential Newbery Medal candidates (these are potentials to us; the actual awards discussions are always super secret) and weighing their pros and cons. While the annual Newbery awards have already been awarded for most of the years referenced below, we hope the virtual discussions will help you better understand a given title and also promote further discussion. You can also see how well we had a finger on the pulse of a given year.
Wondering why we care about the Newbery? See Betsy’s post “What’s the Big Deal with the Newbery Medal” for more information!
We’ve linked the winning titles to reviews (or Newbery Buzz discussions) at Redeemed Reader. The “discussion” titles are linked to our Newbery Buzz discussions of those titles.
2024 Newbery Buzz Discussions
We’ll update actual winners/honors once awards are announced (January 22).
- #1: A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat
- #2: Nothing Else But Miracles by Kate Albus
- #3: The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiCamillo
- #4: Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow
- #5: Hope in the Valley by Mitali Perkins
- #6: The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri (note: Janie and Betsy discussed this in the spring, but if we hadn’t already talked about it, we would certainly discuss it for this series. So we’re including it!)
2023 Newbery Buzz Discussions
Actual Winners and Honors: Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson (winner); honors: Iveliz Explains It All by Andrea Beatriz Arango; The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat; and Maizy Chen’s Last Chance by Lisa Yee.
- #1: A Rover’s Story by Jasmine Warga
- #2: The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander
- #3: Northwind by Gary Paulsen
- #4: Jack Zulu by S. D. Smith and J. C. Smith
- #5: I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys
- Roundup #1: Freestyle, Swim Team, and Maizy Chen’s Last Chance (Janie got one right! Maizy Chen earned an honor.)
- Roundup #2: Frizzy, How to Build a Human, and Attack of the Black Rectangles
2022 Newbery Buzz Discussions
Actual Winners and Honors: The Last Cuentista (winner); honors (all reviewed together): Red, White, and Whole; A Snake Falls to Earth; Watercress; Too Bright to See
- #1: The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo
- #2: The One Thing You’d Save by Linda Sue Park
- #3: Gone to the Woods by Gary Paulsen
- #4: Fallout by Steve Sheinkin
- #5: Cuba in My Pocket by Adrianna Cuevas
- Roundup #1: DaVinci’s Cat by Catherine Gilbert Murdoch, Playing the Cards You’re Dealt by Varian Johnson, Harry Versus the First 100 Days of School by Emily Jenkins, and Black Boy Joy by Kwame Mbalia
- Roundup #2: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson, Starfish by Lisa Flips, Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff, and The Legend of Auntie Po by Shing Yin Khor
2021 Newbery Buzz Discussions
Actual Winners and Honors: When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller (winner); All Thirteen: The Incredible Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat (honor); BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford (honor); Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (honor); We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly (honor); A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat (honor)
**In our predictions, Janie got one title right! And, one of our team favorites, Everything Sad Is Untrue, won the Printz award!
- #1: King of the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender
- #2: Chirp by Kate Messner and The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead
- #3: Skunk and Badger by Amy Timberlake
- #4: Everything Sad Is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri
- #5: Stamped by Jason Reynolds
- Roundup #1: Rick by Alex Gino, Clean Getaway by Nic Stone, and A Game of Fox and Squirrels by Jenn Reese
- Roundup #2: When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller, Efren Divided by Ernesto Cisneros, The Magnificent Monsters of Cedar Street by Lauren Oliver
2020 Newbery Buzz Discussions
Actual Winners: New Kid by Jerry Craft (winner); The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander and illustrated by Kadir Nelson (honor); Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay and illustrated by Junyi Wu (honor); Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga (honor); Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams (honor)
**We discussed two of the winners in our Newbery Buzz discussion series this year!**
- #1: Beverly, Right Here by Kate DiCamillo and The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart
- #2: New Kid by Jerry Craft and Guts by Raina Telgemeier
- #3: The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander and A Place to Land by Barry Wittenstein
- #4: My Jasper June by Laurel Snyder and Pay Attention, Carter Jones by Gary D. Schmidt
- #5: Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds
2019 Newbery Buzz Discussions
Actual Winners: Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina (winner), The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani (honor), The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (honor).
**We discussed two of the winners in our Newbery Buzz discussion series this year! And, nearly every book we discussed earned some awards-love for something this year!**
- #1: The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon (a Coretta Scot King Author Honor!)
- #2: The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (a Newbery honor!)
- #3: Sweep by Jonathan Auxier (the Sidney-Taylor Middle Grades winner)
- #4: The Faithful Spy by John Hendrix (a YALSA Nonfiction honor book!)
- #5: The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson (an Odyssey Award honor title)
- #6: Cardboard Kingdom by Chad Sell
- #7: The Girl Who Drew Butterflies by Joyce Sidman (a Sibert Medal winner!)
- Newbery Round-Up: The Books We Didn’t Love, part 1 (not one of our traditional discussions, but a round-up of books we’ve heard buzz about and, well, didn’t love) **This round-up includes Front Desk which was the Asian Pacific winner this year; it also includes Finding Langston, a Coretta Scot King author honor title.
- Newbery Round-Up: The Books We Didn’t Love, part 2
- (We discussed the Newbery winner in part 2 of “Books We Didn’t Love.” Also in that same post, we discussed The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle which was the Middle School Schneider Book Award title this year.)
2018 Newbery Buzz Discussions
Actual Winners: Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly (winner), Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes, Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson
Our Discussions:
- Tumble & Blue by Cassie Beasley
- Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder
- Refugee by Adam Gratz
- I’m Just No Good At Rhyming by Chris Harris and One Last Word by Nikki Grimes
- All’s Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson and Real Friends by Shannon Hale
2017 Newbery Buzz Discussions
Actual Winners: The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill; honors went to Freedom Over Me by Ashley Bryan, The Inquisitor’s Tale by Adam Gidwitz, and Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk
Our Discussions: **we discussed one of the winners!**
- Pax by Sara Pennypacker discussed with Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk
- Ghost by Jason Reynolds discussed with Booked by Kwame Alexander
- Some Writer! by Melissa Sweet discussed with Snow White by Matt Phelan
2016 Newbery Buzz Discussions (totally struck out this year!)
Actual winners: Last Stop on Market Street (winner), The War That Saved My Life, Roller Girl, Echo
Our Discussions….
- Most Dangerous by Steve Sheinkin
- The Nest by Kenneth Oppel
- The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin
- Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia
- Drowned City by Don Brown
- Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt
2015 Newbery Buzz Discussions
Actual Winners: The Crossover (winner), El Deafo, Brown Girl Dreaming
- this was the first year we helped launch the World Magazine Children’s Books of the Year awards, so we focused our energies there. Notably, we chose The Crossover for our book of the year before it won the Newbery!
2014 Newbery Buzz Discussions
Actual Winners: Flora & Ulysses (winner), The Year of Billy Miller, Doll Bones, One Came Home
Our Discussions:
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