As we all sit back and enjoy the award shows on television this January, I thought that you might also be interested in the 2010 Newbery Medal for excellence in children's literature, and the Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature winners this year. I always look forward each year to seeing those books that the committees choose as the best of the year, sometimes I agree and sometime I don't. This year, I loved the Newbery choice (again!) but I have yet to read the Printz book. I am going to read it this week, and I will get back to you with my review. So without further delay the Newbery winner is... "When You Reach Me" by Rebecca Stead. The book is a great mix of science fiction, mystery, and adventure. I will include a summary below, but I think that you will find it a great book that will leave you thinking about global warming, and the very nature of friendship.
For a complete list of all the winners this year visit http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/index.cfm Also, the book display next month will have copies of many of the award winning books!
Review:
From School Library Journal
Starred Review. Grade 5-8–Sixth-grader Miranda lives in 1978 New York City with her mother, and her life compass is Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. When she receives a series of enigmatic notes that claim to want to save her life, she comes to believe that they are from someone who knows the future. Miranda spends considerable time observing a raving vagrant who her mother calls the laughing man and trying to find the connection between the notes and her everyday life. Discerning readers will realize the ties between Miranda's mystery and L'Engle's plot, but will enjoy hints of fantasy and descriptions of middle school dynamics. Stead's novel is as much about character as story. Miranda's voice rings true with its faltering attempts at maturity and observation. The story builds slowly, emerging naturally from a sturdy premise. As Miranda reminisces, the time sequencing is somewhat challenging, but in an intriguing way. The setting is consistently strong. The stores and even the streets–in Miranda's neighborhood act as physical entities and impact the plot in tangible ways. This unusual, thought-provoking mystery will appeal to several types of readers.–Caitlin Augusta, The Darien Library, CT
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