This past fall, the Columbia Public Library hosted its fifth season of the Heavy Medal Mock Newbery program. Youth in grades 4-8 were invited to join us twice per month to discuss possible Newbery Award contenders for 2016. At these interactive sessions, we discussed six Newbery contender books, and kids were able to defend the book they felt deserved the Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Award.
This year we read the following books:
- “Some Kind of Courage” by Dan Gemeinhart
- “Freedom Over Me” by Ashley Bryan
- “Pax” by Sara Pennypacker
- “The Wild Robot” by Peter Brown
- “The Key to Extraordinary” by Natalie Lloyd
- “Hour of the Bees” by Lindsay Eagar
Our group looked at criteria similar to those used by the Newbery Award Committee members when considering top book selections.
- Was the book well organized?
- Did it have a clear beginning, middle and end?
- Is the book well rounded?
- Are the characters well described? Are they 3D or flat?
- Are you able to imagine what they look like?
- Is the style of writing consistent throughout the book?
The winners for the 2016 Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Award are…
1st Place
“Hour of the Bees”
Lindsay Eagar
2nd Place
“The Key to Extraordinary”
Natalie Lloyd
3rd Place (tie)
“Some Kind of Courage”
Dan Gemeinhart
“The Wild Robot”
Peter Brown
The American Library Association will announce this year’s official Newbery Medal winner during the ALA Youth Media Awards on Monday January 23 at 7 a.m. (CT). To view the awards live, visit ALA’s website.
