The announcement for this year’s ALA’s Youth Media Awards is this coming Monday, January 11th and as is true every year there are a large number of potential and worthy honorees, some having received more public scrutiny and attention than others. Having served on the 2008 Newbery committee I know how hard the members of all of this year’s committees will have worked — not just those days coming up that they will be spending together making their selections, but all year long — reading, rereading, thinking, considering, and learning. Whether I end up agreeing with them on Monday, I will respect completely their choices knowing the care, thought, and time they took to reach them. (See this post I wrote a few years ago for more about the Newbery criteria and process.)
As for what might get some ALA sticker-love this time around, the field seems wide open this year. I’m especially excited at the possibility of more boundary-breaking selections like last year’s This One Summer and El Deafo while still wondering what is possible given the current Newbery criteria. Happily, recent discussions are really helping me, especially the comments here.
So here you are, among the many eligible titles I liked, twenty special favorites:
Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer by Kelly Jones. My thoughts here.
The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. My thoughts here.
educating alice 
So many books to add to my list! I loved The War that Saved My Life (despite seriously disliking that cover) and read it, as you say, in one cozy afternoon. But my personal list has Echo on it, too. I was left wanting what felt like the missing two-thirds of each of those three stories, but I was pulled into each new thread so fast I never had long to be grumpy about the jolt between each tale.
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Reblogged this on Home of the Benjamin McTish Series.
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