Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Predictions

I don't have any new books to review--I finished one more Newbery book (it was okay) and am almost finished with another (which I'm looking forward to telling you about; I'm really enjoying it, even though I was hesitant about it). So, in the interest of having something to blog about, I thought I would give my Newbery/Caldecott predictions. Note that I don't have the best track record for predicting these things, so it will be interesting to look back and see how well I did this year!


Newbery





I really don't have a strong handle for the Newbery this year.  However, I think that there are several strong possibilities: The One and Only Ivan, Wonder, and The Mighty Miss Malone.  The Crystal Stair has also been bandied about.  I must pick one, however, so my pick is The One and Only Ivan. It's a magnificent book, and Katherine Applegate is a terrific author. Anyone who can write a smash series like Animorphs, YA sci fi (she and husband Michael Grant collaborated on this!), and thoughtful children's novels is pretty awesome.



Caldecott






This is definitely a Caldecott year for me. I have quite a few that I would be thrilled if they won.  If you've been reading this blog, though, you already know that my pick is Baby Bear Sees Blue.  If you haven't read it, you are missing out! 


Sibert






The Sibert Medal is given to "the most distinguished informational book."  This is very hard to predict, because this can be a biography, history, science book--basically, anything that's nonfiction. It can be a picture book or a longer informational book.  That being said, I think there are three strong choices: Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance to the Holocaust, Temple Grandin: The Girl Who Loved Cows and Changed the World, and Titanic: Voices From the Disaster. My personal pick is Beyond Courage.







Schneider Family Book Award

The Schneider award is a lesser-known award, but it's one of my favorites.  The award "honors an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences." There are three categories: Teen, Middle School, and Children's. The committee is not required to name three books (last year, they declined to name a title for the Children's category). I would be very surprised if Wonder and Temple Grandin: The Girl Who Loved Cows and Changed the World are not named. Unfortunately, I think both would be in the middle category, so they both might not make it!











Coretta Scott King Award

The Coretta Scott King Award is given to "outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values." There are separate awards for authors and illustrators.  Kadir Nelson's stunning illustrations for I Have a Dream should win the illustrator award (the book also has a CD of Martin Luther King's speech). For author, I'm predicting Vaunda Micheaux Nelson (No Crystal Stair).








Printz Award

The Printz must have the shortest description of any ALA Youth Media Award: it is given to "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit, each year." It also specifically names four honor books; to my knowledge, no other award has a specific number for honor books.  This is a tremendously difficult award to predict.  That being said, I'm picking Code Name Verity.




Laura Ingalls Wilder Award

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Award is given to "an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children."  How about Jane Yolen for this year? Here's a list of past winners.



Margaret Edwards Award

The Margaret A. Edwards Award "honors an author, as well as a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature." Past winners are here.  Shouldn't Mary Downing Hahn win the award one of these years? As you can tell from past winners, several authors straddle the children's/YA divide. 


OK--I'm on the record with my picks! Let's see how well/terrible I did on January 28th.


















2 comments:

Playing by the book said...

ha! I've just come from Fuse 8's predictions and so it's very interesting to see yours too.

Jennifer Schultz said...

Thank you! Exactly one week away--looking forward to it.