< Newbery Medal and Honor Books
Given the Newbery Award's prestige it would be easy to assume that the award winners are all excellent books for children. The Biblioguides Team has not found this to be the case. We always want to provide parents with the information they need to make the best book decisions for their families. With that goal in mind, we've put together a complete list of all medal winners and honor books since inception, and the Biblioguides Review Team is working together to read our way through the winners and to provide a review. Where we have not yet reviewed a book, a description directly from the dust jacket or from the publisher has been provided. In some cases, we have shared a brief synopsis from The Newbery and Caldecott Awards: A Guide to the Medal and Honor Books (1999).
Reviews are the thoughts and opinions of the particular reviewer and do not necessarily represent all members of the team. Reviews will continue to be added as the team reads more of the Newbery books. We hope this list will help you familiarize yourself with the various winners and provide the necessary information to determine which books would be a good fit for your family!
Shiloh
By: Phyllis Reynolds
Medal Winner
Reviewed by: Sara Masarik
There are so many things to love about this book, but there are some big moral hiccups. If I am reading Naylor correctly, this story asserts that the life of an animal is more or less equal to that of a human. There are a number of places where she tempts us into believing that the act of saving an abused dog is a virtue that trumps the moral concessions that Marty has to make to accomplish his mission. Naylor is an excellent storyteller. Her writing is easy to get lost in, she creates characters who pique our curiosity, and she builds in sufficient suspense to propel the reader forward. Because this story is so well written and has a great foundation of Christian values, this strange plot point affords us the opportunity to teach our children through their reading.
I am glad to have this story in my imagination, but I am sad that it is marred by the poor decision-making. Because of the dual nature of this book, I think that it will be an excellent parent-child book club book. A book like this has the power to teach young readers how to become discerning independent readers. If properly mentored, a young reader can develop the necessary skills to spot another book with a great story and flawed morals.
Nothing But The Truth: A Documentary Novel
By: Avi
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
In this thought-provoking examination of freedom, patriotism, and respect, ninth-grader Philip Malloy is kept from joining the track team by his failing grades in English class. Convinced that the teacher just doesn't like him, Philip concocts a plan to get transferred out of her class.
But he gets more than he bargained for when he breaks the school's policy of silence during the national anthem. By humming along, he creates a crisis that becomes the focus of the nation's attention.
From the publisher
The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane
By: Russell Freedman
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
This engaging narrative account of Orville and Wilbur Wright, two men with little formal schooling but a knack for solving problems, follows their interest from a young age in the developing field of aeronautics. Russell Freedman’s writing brings the brothers’ personalities to life, enhancing the record of events with excerpts from the brothers’ writing and correspondence, and accounts of those who knew them.
Chronicling their lives from their early mechanical work on toys and bicycles through the development of several flyers, The Wright Brothers follows the siblings through their achievements—not only the first powered, sustained, controlled airplane flight, but the numerous improvements and enhancements that followed, their revolutionary airplane business, and the long legacy of that first brief flight.
Illustrated with numerous historical photographs—many taken by the Wright brothers themselves—this is a concise, extremely reader-friendly introduction to these important American inventors.
Includes a note on the Wright brothers’ photographs, as well as recommendation for further reading and learning.
From the publisher
