Bank Street Mock Newbery Awards
On Tuesday, we reported on the voting for the Mock Printz awards by the kids at the Bank Street College of Education’s School for Children. We feared that the East Coast blizzard might affect the Mock Newbery program, but even snow and sleet couldn’t stop them.
Allie Bruce, Bank Street’s children’s librarian and Jennifer Brown, Director of the Center for Children’s Literature are excited that a fiction book — The Real Boy — and an information book — Wild Boy — tied as the winner. The honor book was Doll Bones.
Below, Allie and Jenny report the highlights of the discussions:
Winners – It’s a Tie!
The Real Boy, Anne Ursu, Erin McGuire, (HarperCollins/Walden Pond)
“There was one point where I forgot to breathe for awhile.”
“I liked that it showed how uncomfortable he was with people, and how that tied in to the plot of the book.”
“It started slow but by the end I was not stopping.”
Wild Boy: The Real Life of the Savage of Aveyron, Mary Losure, Timothy Basil Ering, (Candlewick)
“It was really real. Lots of detail and it moved along quickly.”
“It tugged at my emotions.”
“I liked the illustrations.”
“You’re getting transported to all these places over 38 years.”
“It was really interesting all the things they were willing to do to get him to talk.”
“It grabbed your attention almost as if you were in his position.”
Honor Book:
Doll Bones, Holly Black, Eliza Wheeler, (S&S/Margaret K. McElderry)
“I’ve never read anything like it. It was so creepy, like when the Queen’s eyelids were fluttering like she was waking up.”
“The characters were interesting. It was cool how they all played together. The author made it like when they played with the dolls and the action figures, it was like they were real.”
“A nice subtle build-up and then it gets more exciting.”
“It was really hard to put down. I was up for 3 hours after my bedtime.”