Newbery News

The 2011 Newbery Medal winner and the four honor winners have been announced. Of special interest to me is the fact that the winner and three of the four honor books are historical fiction:

2011 Newbery Medal Winner

Moon Over Manifest

by Clare Vanderpool
Twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker is the daughter of a drifter who, in the summer of 1936, sends her to stay with an old friend in Manifest, Kansas, where he grew up, and where she hopes to find out some things about his past.

Ages 9-12



2011 Newbery Honors

Heart of a Samurai 
by Margi Preus
In 1841, rescued by an American whaler after a terrible shipwreck leaves him and his four companions castaways on a remote island, fourteen-year-old Manjiro, who dreams of becoming a samurai, learns new laws and customs as he becomes the first Japanese person to set foot in the United States.

Ages 12 and up

Manjiro’s life story is f a s c i n a t i n g. I reviewed another book about him here.

One Crazy Summer
By Rita Williams-Garcia

In the summer of 1968, after traveling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.

Ages 9-12

I noticed over at The Fourth Musketeer that this author is so committed to literature for young people that she offers her own short story contest to encourage and reward young people's writing. Open to kids from 12-19, the winner receives a check for $100, a certificate, and a personal critique by Rita Williams-Garcia!

Turtle in Paradise
By Jennifer L. Holm

In 1935, when her mother gets a job housekeeping for a woman who does not like children, eleven-year-old Turtle is sent to stay with relatives she has never met in far away Key West, Florida.

Ages 9-12

The other Newbery Honor book this year is Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman. It is a collection of twelve poems that celebrate the wonder, mystery, and danger of the night and describes the many things that hide in the dark.

The Newberry Medal is awarded to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children as decided by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association. Given since 1922, it is named after John Newbery, an eighteenth-century English publisher of children’s books. It was the first children’s literary award in the world.

FIRST LADY WEEK: Eleanor Roosevelt

TITLE: Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery

AUTHOR: Russell Freedman

WHAT WAS HER BACKGROUND? Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the first child born to wealthy socialites in New York in 1884. Her father was President Teddy Roosevelt’s younger brother. Gawky and glum as a child, her mother died from diphtheria when she was only eight. Her dad, an alcoholic, died less than two years later. Eleanor and her younger brother were raised by her maternal grandmother, whose hands were already full with four unruly grown children.

HOW DID SHE AND THE FUTURE PRESIDENT MEET? They first met at a gathering for children from prominent families. Eleanor was fourteen and feeling unattractive, unfashionable and generally miserable when Franklin, her fifth cousin, asked her to dance. Three years later they met again by chance on a train and continued to run into each other at various parties, including the New Year’s Eve soiree of the recently elected Teddy Roosevelt.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Eleanor had a busy life. She raised five children, was a teacher, and a delegate to the United Nations. Unique to her time and position, she earned her own money by writing columns, lecturing and broadcasting, usually topping the president's salary. She gave most of this income to charity. She thrived being among the suffering masses and bringing their plight into the spotlight.

This is a well told account of a very interesting and influential woman.

Awards: Newbery Honor Book

Ages: 9-12

◊◊◊◊

Activity: Here is an Eleanor Roosevelt crossword puzzle.

An American Plague

Over at the World Health Organization website there is an article about N1H1. Last year 209 countries reported cases of the disease resulting in 14,142 deaths worldwide. 216 years ago in just one city a third of that number died from another scourge, as chronicled in An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. At that time, the plagued city was the capital of a brand new country. Philadelphia was filled with important people like oh, President George Washington for instance. It was also filled with refugees from Saint-Domingue fleeing the slave uprisings, mounds of rotting coffee, stagnant water and open sewers.

Jim Murphy tells what the streets were like, how the disease began and then spread, how it affected those who succumbed to it and how doctors, government officials and everyday citizens reacted. But perhaps most interesting of all was the significant part played by The Free African Society. Thinking they were immune to the diesease because they were black, they kept the city going when so many deserted it.

This attractive and interesting book is filled with etchings and newspaper articles from those terrible weeks.

Awards: Newbery Honor Book

Ages 9-12
◊◊◊◊

Activity: Yellow Fever has not been the only killer spread by mosquitoes. Malaria and West Nile Virus and others are too. For $5 an insecticide treated bed net can be supplied to protect a person living in a high risk area. You can make a donation here.

King of the Wind

Sea Biscuit, Man o’ War and War Admiral were all extraordinary race horses that could trace their sire line back to one special stallion. That stallion is the origin of the Thoroughbred. Marguerite Henry tells a romanticized version of his life in King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian.

Sham, one of the Moroccan Sultan's many fine horses, is sent as a gift to the king of France with his mute Muslim stable boy and five other prized Arabians. When they arrive in Paris, they aren't much to look at after being starved by a cruel ship captain and then enduring a grueling overland trek. To add insult to injury, King Louis XV mocks the Arabians small size, as the preferred breeds in Europe were much larger. More misfortunes ensue for both horse and boy, including cart pulling for the horse, prison time for the boy, and exile for them both after Sham makes time with a beautiful mare, Lady Roxana, who was intended for a prize stallion at The Earl of Godolphin's Estate. But close to two years later Sham's offspring wins every race imaginable. So Sham and the boy, Agba, are retrieved from their swamp home and Sham is finally prized for the rest of his days. This is an enjoyable story for anyone, but is a must read for all horse lovers.

Awards: 1949 Newbery Medal Winner

Ages 9-12

◊◊◊◊◊

Activity: Can you match the breed of horse to their country of origin? To make your own poster, print this link (two legal size horizontal pages), and with color pencils, color the name of the horse breed the same color as it's place of origin. Color all of the horses and the map and cut everything out and glue on poster board. Shannon used a half sheet of standard poster board.

Here is Shannon's poster.

Shannon made the words Shetland Pony yellow and that
breed's country of origin, Scotland, yellow as well.

As stated earlier, the Godolphin Arabian is on Seabiscuit’s pedigree. And speaking of Seabiscuit, what a fabulous movie! It is an incredible yet true horse racing story that happened during the Great Depression. A down on their luck horse, jockey, trainer and owner came together to form an unbeatable team and provide inspiration to a down on their luck nation. Full of heart. I highly recommend it!

Midwife Crisis

When you wake up homeless, penniless, nameless, cold, hungry and alone in a dung heap I guess it's safe to say there is no where to go but up. That's the situation in which the main character in The Midwife's Apprentice found herself. She eventually names herself Alyce and eventually makes her way in the world, but not before being discovered by the unpleasant village midwife who bestows on her the name Beetle (as in dung beetle), and eeks all the assistance out of her she can. On top of that Alyce is subjected to much belittling and bullying by all manner of villagers.

I really enjoyed two things about this book. One was the metamorphosis of Alyce from a weakling into a confident young woman. And the other was Karen Cushman's portrayal of medieval life. For an older child (heed my warning below) studying the middle ages this will provide interesting reading.

Awards: 1996 Newbery Award Winner

Warning: Contains references to adultery and an unmarried young couple's tryst.

Ages 12 and up
◊◊◊◊

Activity: Here's your chance to play Medieval Midwife. Can you match the herb to the correct labor symptom and pick the best pre-delivery position for the baby?