My Mini-Newbery Challenge

Book Love (2012) author Penny Kittle told us what separates readers from non-readers: plans. Readers have plans of what they are going to read next. My reading plans usually take three forms--lists of titles in a journal, books I’ve added to my “Want to Read” list on Goodreads, and my To Be Read (TBR) stacks of books. During summer, with seemingly endless time to read, my TBR stacks take on a life of their own.

As I was looking over my TBR stacks, I noticed that there were several Newbery Award winners, just waiting to be picked. So, I decided to set a mini-challenge for myself to read these three books in succession. The first acclaimed book that I chose to read was just crowned as the 2014 Newbery winning book—Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo.

Flora Belle rescues squirrel Ulysses after he has an unfortunate mishap with a vacuum cleaner. Flora, a comic book lover, is convinced that Ulysses is a superhero squirrel. She spends the remainder of the book trying to save Ulysses from his arch-nemesis. This book was a quick, fast-paced read. Fans of DiCamillo (and I’m one of them) will recognize her style which challenges and supports younger readers with her use of an expansive, grand vocabulary.

Today, I began reading The Giver (the 1994 Newbery winner) by Lois Lowry. A friend recently asked me how I’d managed to never previously read this book. I’m not sure why that is, but I’m only about five pages into Jonas’s story, and I’m already hooked!

Next on my summer Newbery expedition will be 2010’s winner, When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead. I know that this book takes place in New York City. It was recommended highly by several friends on Twitter, and it has great reviews on Goodreads.

Just when I thought my Newbery reading plan for the summer was complete, I saw that my son had another winner in his haul from the library, the 1992 medalist, Shiloh. I think I’ve read this book by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor previously, but I’m not entirely sure. Either way, I look forward to reading this book with him.

Over the years, I’ve read and enjoyed many Newbery winners and Newbery Honor books. Several of the books that I still cherish on that list include Walk Two Moons, Holes, Missing May, Number the Stars, Bridge to Terabithia, and Sarah, Plain and Tall. If you haven’t read any Newbery books lately, I challenge you to do so. Let me know what you think, and I’ll keep you posted on my own thoughts. Happy Newbery reading!