Comments on: Will Lightning Strike Twice?

By: Sara Ralph

Sara Ralph — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 00:41:18 +0000

Loving The Mighty Miss Malone!

Not going to make it through Son before the announcement, but I adore that series. If it happens, it would be Lowry’s third win.

By: Nadine Poper

Nadine Poper — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 00:52:57 +0000

The One and Only Ivan is a beautiful story! Would LOVE to see a gold or silver sticker on it.

By: Mr. H

Mr. H — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 18:11:46 +0000

Jonathan, I’m so excited. You’ve included two of my top three here! JAKE & LILY and THE GREAT UNEXPECTED.

I think I’m so into these two titles this year, because I haven’t been able to read as much for enjoyment, so I’ve resorted to returning to comfort food type authors. Authors I know I enjoy. It just so happened that two of them turned out incredible books.

I’m finding more and more time to read as I get my feet settled in grad school, so hopefully, I’ll be able to start weighing in more often.

Have you read JAKE & LILY? What’d you think?

By: Brandy

Brandy — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 23:44:00 +0000

THE GREAT UNEXPECTED didn’t work for me. I loved the typical Creechness of it, but the vague magical realism was irritating. I was so annoyed at the end. I made a contemptuous noise that expressed my annoyance and my husband looked over and said, “That book’s not getting a very good review. I know that noise.” (My review wasn’t that bad.)

JAKE AND LILY was good, but not great. I gave it an okay review and added it to my book report list. (My daughter is reading it now.) But I can’t really get excited over it.

I am not reading SON. I have ignored all of the books that followed THE GIVER because I loved the ending so much I don’t want it spoiled.

By: Jonathan Hunt

Jonathan Hunt — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 14:04:01 +0000

PW had 40 titles on their list. Only 4 of them are nonfiction. This includes not just the nonfiction that we have been discussing here (see it’s Written in the Stars for an updated list), but the excellent picture book nonfiction this year such as ISLAND by Jason Chin, ELECTRIC BEN by Robert Byrd, THE BEETLE BOOK by Steve Jenkins, and LIFE IN THE OCEAN by Claire Nivola, to name just a few. While I am a fan of many things about PW’s list, given the excellent nonfiction books this year, their fiction/nonfiction ratio threatens to seriously undermine their authority. And then when you leave things off like BOMB or MOONBIRD in favor of OLIVIA AND THE FAIRY PRINCESSES, well, you just embarrassed yourselves, PW!

By: TeenReader

TeenReader — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 00:40:04 +0000

The fiction on the PW list is expected, but no BOMB or ABRAHAM LINCOLN & FREDERICK DOUGLASS on the nonfiction list is a glaring oversight.

By: Jonathan Hunt

Jonathan Hunt — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 16:40:31 +0000

SON made the PW Best Books list. See which other Newbery contenders did.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2012/childrens-fiction#book/book-1

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2012/childrens-nonfiction#book/book-1

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2012/childrens-picture#book/book-1

By: Sam Eddington

Sam Eddington — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:11:55 +0000

It’s a longshot — and it didn’t make our semifinal list — but I can envision a committee that would pick THE GREAT UNEXPECTED. I enjoyed it, and I have precious little tolerance for “magical realism about orphaned girls” books — the writing was enough to win me over, as was the beautifully half-open ending. I have some structural concerns about the book, but it does have a lot of merit.

Rachael gave a decent review to JAKE & LILY, and a tepid at best one to KINDRED SOULS. For the reasons of YA-ness and stand-alone-ness, we elected not to cover SON. A win by any of those three would greatly surprise me. I haven’t read SOPHIA’S WAR either.

Also, although I don’t think it’s a winner, LINCOLN & DOUGLASS was really, really good. It could easily show up on the Siebert list.

By: Sandy D.

Sandy D. — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 13:27:22 +0000

I’ll hold my comments on Lincoln & Douglass a bit!

By: Wendy

Wendy — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 04:57:23 +0000

I like KINDRED SOULS for the Newbery. I need to reread, because it struck me hard on an emotional level, but I agree with the good things you say about the writing; I would add that, while it is a quiet book, it has a lot of fun and/or interesting details and anecdotes that many kids will enjoy. The process of building a sod house, for instance, works the same way Little House in the Big Woods works for kids. (I didn’t think it ridiculous at all; you and I probably inhabit different worlds.) This book has a lot of depth for the length, and works on many levels.

I found JAKE & LILY so refreshing after WONDER and other realistic fiction I’ve read this year. I thought it told a much more “real” story about bullying (and a challenging one, too, though I haven’t read EACH KINDNESS yet). I noticed also that it does an excellent job of making the kids the true protagonists, the ones who take action; several books I’ve read lately have the adults stepping in at crucial moments in ways that make me either yawn or roll my eyes. I disliked MANIAC MAGEE, so I didn’t come to this with any preconceived notions about Spinelli.

These are both really solid, kid-oriented books, not the most exciting or provocative of the year, but of high quality. And both are in my Newbery top ten.