Magic Tree House Series Review Part 1 (Rank 68 - 61)

I decided to challenge myself to reading all the books in the Magic Tree House series (as of September 2022). One of my favorite things to do with a list is to create a ranking, but with so many entries with many similarities I needed a good way to rate them that took several factors into account. Enter the CAWPILE system, this rating system looks at: Character, Atmosphere, Writing Style, Plot, Intrigue, Logic, and Enjoyment. I chose to view this as much as possible taking the target age range into consideration. I also added another category, Education, since so many people use these books in the classroom and as jumping off points for non-fiction studies. (I do understand the educational value of mythology but have chosen to strictly focus on the non-fiction angle since it is a major selling point of the series.)

I created a guide that I used as a baseline for my ratings, sometimes I shift things up or down. A brief explanation of what my ratings mean:

Characters

5 = Annoying Jack and/or Annie

6 = Basic J and A

7 = J and A at top of game

8 = Basic side characters 

9 = Interesting side characters

10 = Really Vibing with J/A and side characters 

Atmosphere

1 or 2 - basic, not particularly exciting 

3 or 4 - premise is more interesting than the execution 

5 or 6 - execution is better than the premise 

7 or 8 - Decent execution and premise

9 or 10 - Truly captures the imagination 

Writing Style 

Doesn’t vary much generally 8

Plot

1 or 2 - J/A just doing stuff

3 or 4 - J/A just doing interesting stuff 

5 or 6 - J/A with a plot line

7 or 8 - J/A with a good premise

9 or 10 - Conflict and Resolution are both satisfying 

Intrigue

1 or 2 - premise didn’t excite (and probably wouldn’t excite many kids) me read out of duty

3 or 4 - premise has niche interest

5 or 6 - premise initially good, bad execution 

7 or 8 - good premise with wide appeal

9 or 10 - kids generally love the premise and it carries through the story

Logic

1 or 2 - disregards history and general rules of a story

3 or 4 - PARADOXES / doesn’t really make sense

5 or 6 - puts J/A too much into a specific historical event / makes some sense but not totally 

7 or more 8 - history adjacent / mostly makes realistic animal/ story choices

9 or 10 - choices made make sense/ involved in history without affecting events

Education 

1 or 2 - based primarily in myth and legend 

3 or 4 - relies heavily on stereotypes/ doesn’t present many facts about subject

5 or 6 - portrays historical people and events with heavy mythology influence (or animals in unrealistic fashion)

7 or 8 - light fantasy influence or mostly realistic animals 

9 or 10 - well-represented historical people and events, facts woven into story

68. Thanksgiving on Thursday

Honesty in all things... I went into this book pretty sure I wasn't going to like it. I was right. I am not a fan of first Thanksgiving stories which this story leans right into. Easily the lowest rank on the CAWPILEE list this ended up being the only 2-star book in the entire series. There are other books I wouldn't recommend, but this is the only one I have a hard time thinking of redeeming qualities.
Annie is annoying with her insistence that she won't go clamming because the clams live a long time. Then Jack and Annie proceed to continue lying and mess up several tasks. They meet Squanto (Tisquantum), who tells them that he was captured and taken to Europe as a slave and lost his people. Later when reflecting on their adventure they talk about how sad it must have been for the Pilgrims to lose their family and friends... but no mention of Squanto or the Wampanoag's hardships. None of the side characters really brought anything satisfying to the table either.

Character - 5 

Atmosphere - 4

Writing Style - 6 - Relies too heavily on the jokes of Pilgrims not understanding modern lingo and Jack and Annie failing at every task they attempt. Rehashes an old story to boot.

Plot - 5

Intrigue - 3 - I'm sure there must be some people who find the concept interesting. I'm not one, and surely only some incredibly holiday-centric children are interested.

Logic - 5

Enjoyment - 2 - I knew I wouldn't like this. But I did like that one of the special magics was the 'magic of community', so a point for that.

Education - 3 

Final Score: 4.125

67. Polar Bears Past Bedtime

Perhaps best denoted by the phrase, I'm not mad - I'm just disappointed. (Except, yes, I'm a little mad.) Teaching in the Arctic, on an island surrounded by polar bears, my students were naturally curious to hear this one. There were a couple lines that I either omitted or edited during read-aloud. Most egregious was Annie being upset about the Inuit hunting seals (and presumably other animals), she brings this up multiple times and is told to 'not worry about it'. I'd rather she was properly educated on the fact that historically, and today, people relied on hunting for food and clothing. And it isn't as though Annie is vegetarian, she talks about hot dogs and spaghetti and meatballs with nary a worry. Also frustrating is the wording of this book making it seem like Inuit were only in the past (an implied distant past), I used to update the text when reading to say things like, 'in the past and today', 'hunters used sled dogs, today many use snow machines', and other easy edits like that.

Character - 6

Atmosphere - 5 - The Arctic is admittedly not for everyone, but I kind of love it. This book only half-captures that though.

Writing Style - 6

Plot - 4 

Intrigue - 5

Logic - 6

Enjoyment - 4

Education - 5

Final Score: 5.125

66. Shadow of the Shark

It isn't the nineties anymore, surely, we are beyond the time of oddly quaint stereotypes of Native Americans. A character (based on a real person) is known as Heart-of-the-Wind, a semi-translation of her name... but why not at least have her introduce herself by her real name? (Hint: It doesn't sound very Native American.) This character easily communes with nature - straight up talking to a jaguar and getting his permission to walk in the forest. When Annie or other characters do this, it is implied to be a sort of fantasy magic, but here it is just something that Native Americans do sometimes. Oh, and Jack is chosen as next king of the Mayans because he has a... travel brochure. Adding insult to injury, at 130 pages this is the second longest book after the special edition title.

Character - 7

Atmosphere - 4

Writing Style - 6

Plot - 4

Intrigue - 6 - Pick a lane! Sharks or Mayan either would have been interesting, but I can see a kid picking this up for the shark aspect and then feeling mighty let down. 

Logic - 5

Enjoyment - 5

Education - 6 - in the end I totally did learn something, I never knew about Yohl Ik'nal and her being the first female ruler of the Mayan, but MPO couldn't resist the urge to give us the Native Americans = Captain Planet trope and we ended up with animals behaving unrealistically/ mythology influenced.

Final Score: 5.375

65. Dark Day in the Deep Sea

This one isn't slightly offensive - just boring. (Yay!) I really have very little to say about it - the solution to saving the giant octopus made me laugh, but I don't think that was the intention. Solidified a trend of the ocean books having more potential than actual enjoyment.

Character - 6

Atmosphere - 4

Writing Style - 8

Plot - 3

Intrigue - 5

Logic - 6

Enjoyment - 5

Education - 6

Final Score: 5.375

64. Buffalo Before Breakfast

This book came closer to being an okay depiction of Native Americans, this time a Lakota community. I like how Jack and Annie's interactions went with Black Hawk (although I would have at least liked a first mention of how his name looks in Lakota: Čhetáŋ Sápa') and his grandmother. What I am not a fan of is Jack and Annie being given Lakota names right off the get-go. Also, Annie being the only one who gets to see the White Buffalo Woman feels off to me.

Character - 8 - Genuinely enjoyable side characters are the redeeming feature of this particular entry. 

Atmosphere - 4

Writing Style - 6

Plot - 4

Intrigue - 5

Logic - 7

Enjoyment - 5

Education - 5

Final Score: 5.5

63. Tigers at Twilight

No matter how many times I read this one it comes across pretty dull, the more boring version of Afternoon on the Amazon if you will. The first couple chapters are dedicated to setting the scene well enough. The middle continues setting the scene. Then the end has no conflict or resolution, and we meet an Indian hermit that lives in the jungle, meditates on how all is connected, and is also blind. His character was a bit too paint by number for my taste.

Character - 6 - Decent enough Jack and Annie brought down by the hermit they meet at the end being SUCH a stock character.

Atmosphere - 4

Writing Style - 7

Plot - 3 - 

Intrigue - 5

Logic - 7

Enjoyment - 5

Education - 7

Final Score: 5.5

62. To the Future, Ben Franklin!

Ummmmmm.... So, I thought that the future in the title was referring to some of Franklin's ideas or inventions in a metaphorical sense. No, it is 100% literal - so far this is the only time Jack and Annie have transported someone else in the tree house and that makes the book stick out. It's the paradoxes that bring it down for me. Suggesting that Franklin only signed the Constitution after seeing the future thanks to Jack and Annie.

Character - 7 - Frankin is enjoyable enough, Jack and Annie are starting to wear a bit thin by this point.

Atmosphere - 5

Writing Style - 8

Plot - 4 - Even with this bonkers premise, there fails to be a plot beyond just kind of bouncing from one place to another.

Intrigue - 3

Logic - 4 

Enjoyment - 5 - I like the idea of Ben Franklin in a MTH book but would have preferred it be more about his science/ inventions or founding the first public library or the post office.

Education - 9 - Easily weaves facts into the narrative better than many other books (especially some of these late in the game titles).

Final Score: 5.625

61. Dolphins at Daybreak

I want to like this one. The idea has so much potential, but I cannot get into it, no matter how often I read it. I'm not sure it is really a favorite of kids either - they will often gravitate towards several of the books read in class, but this isn't one of them.

Character - 6

Atmosphere - 4 - Sort of the hallmark of the premise is better than the execution. 

Writing Style - 8

Plot - 3 - Admittedly using a submarine is interesting, that's all that's keeping this from being a 2.

Intrigue - 5

Logic - 7

Enjoyment - 5

Education - 7

Final Score: 5.625

2010 Newbery Honors

 Ooof. I was in the process of moving while reading these and the writing of the post got put off a couple weeks. I had varying opinions on this batch, but was pleased overall.

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose

I had briefly heard about Claudette a few years back probably shortly after this book was published or during the 60 year anniversary of the bus boycott. Unfortunately I had heard some of the lies Claudette mentions in the book (she was unruly, she was a delinquent, and she was pregnant at the time have all been said - but none reflect reality). This book has such an easy and informative writing style, it weaves together first-person accounts and historical narrative with ease. This book illustrates very strongly the impact of young people doing small things to address injustice. In Claudette's case her small thing snowballed into her having to appear in court several times and working with early leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. 

I highly recommend this book to all students about to begin their studies on the Civil Rights Movement.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

You know what sub-genre the ALA seems to really enjoy? Spunky 1800s girls that don't conform to societal norms. I suppose this is a decent entry into that field but I'm a little worn on families that just don't understand the protagonist with the exception of one mentor. In this case the mentor is Calpurnia's Grand-daddy Tate, they have such a happy and real connection that I can only say that it feels like they have been close for years and years - instead it is very clearly established that the Tate children are afraid of their grandfather and Calpurnia has only gotten to know him over the past six months or so.

Grand-daddy is a member of the National Geographic Society and a contemporary of Darwin. Calpurnia is observant and questions the natural world, creating hypotheses based on deductive reasoning. This is the foundation of their relationship. I must say it was nice to see that Calpurnia was devoted to biology and that was what brought about her dislike for 'womanly duties' - they simply take away from her time observing nature. 

Some common tropes but just enough fresh spice to make this read fairly enjoyable.

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick

MOOD. WHIPLASH. This book starts out pretty close to how you'd expect based on the cover (though I never did figure out which bits of Homer's story is not true). I went through most of the book thinking about how oddly jaunty it was considering that Homer is journeying to free his brother from illegal military service. There are lots of misadventures but they are always a little 'chipper' (especially jarring when he encounters people making their way to freedom on the underground railroad). The whole ludicrous journey reaches its apex when the travelling circus Homer was touring with as a Pig-Boy is arrested because the leader is a spy - but Homer steals a Union balloon and manages to crash behind Confederate lines. He is briefly arrested and here is where we take a sharp turn from over-the-top-amusement to... the Battle of Gettysburg. Gettysburg is depicted in all its blood and anguish. From the Confederate barn where the living are sorted from the dead and treated to emergency amputations, to bodies littering the battlefield, to soldiers despairing about never returning home. Just a couple chapters of hardcore reality to end this weirdly disconnected tale.

Not really my favorite but sure beats Rifles for Watie.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

A tale that takes the fairy tale novel formula but instead of European influences, it draws from Chinese mythologies and folktales. I really enjoy these sort of stories because you can see the kinds of tropes that seem to exist worldwide -while also introducing new and exciting elements. Of course it may be possible that the most recognizable tropes arise because of Lin's background growing up in the US as a child of Taiwanese immigrants. No matter the case the story is familiar enough to take me into the coziness of a fairy tale - yet new enough to make it exciting!

Highly recommended for young fantasy fans - especially fans of fairy tales!

In the end I'm still a big fan of the official winner When You Reach Me just because of how well that book developed its plot. However I can see the obvious appeal for these honors and was truly pleased by two books.

2011 Newbery Honors

Another! I can't imagine plowing through the Honor Books as quickly as possible but I am on roll! These are the 2011 books and they are all worthy. That's part of the reason for my current speed - these books are generally very good. 

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

I spent a good portion of the book thinking this was by the author of The Egypt Game... oops. It was my first Williams-Garcia book and I quite enjoyed it. I'm not sure if I'll be delving into her other works but who knows. This one is particularly interesting because it happens along the edge of The Black Panther movement in 1968 Oakland. I'm familiar with the Civil Rights Movement as a whole, but more-so with Martin Luther King Jr. than The Black Panther members. This book makes me want to learn more about the history - and in the end I think the author wanted that.

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm

This has the feel of a much older book. It really reminds me of the Bobbsey Twins and The Boxcar Children. It takes place in the 30s so I think the author may have been purposefully emulating the tropes and styles of the early decades of the 1900s - if this is the case she nailed it. Everything from the setting (pre-tourism Florida Keys) to the climax (treasure hunt!) speaks to an earlier era. If I had any problems with the story it was the ending - this author pulled a Hans years before the movie Frozen was ever a thing. It was a twist - but it just wasn't a very good one.

Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman

Joyce Sidman had a string of poetry books in the first decade of the century with 12 books published between 1999 and 2011, then.... a big gap. It looks like there may be one or two newer publications. The audiobook put me in mind of an episode of Reading Rainbow (high praise). I think this would be an interesting book to have a hard copy of - the poems are fun and educational - but there are also non-fiction explanations accompanying each poem. I'd definitely recommend her poems for the classroom. 

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

I loved this one! Remember how I said that Carry On, Mr. Bowditch appealed to my nerdy heart? Well... this one is in the same vein, but even better! (Huh - do I have an unacknowledged love of sailing books?) This is the fictionalized story of Manjiro Nakahama (renamed John Mung) one of the earliest Japanese to come to America. He was shipwrecked in the Pacific and picked up by a whaling vessel. What follows over the next decades cements his place and importance in history. I'd never heard of this man and his impact on Japanese Isolationism but I'm glad the author discovered him and was able to bring us this story so that more people can hear about him.

In the end I'm torn. Heart of a Samurai was ah-maz-ing... but so was Moon Over Manifest. In the end I'm fine with the committee's decision... but maybe, just maybe, I'd have been even happier to see the gold on Samurai's cover.

The 2012 Newbery Honors

I looked over the list of 2011 children's books and honestly the pickings were pretty slim. There were some good sequels on the list, but unless a book really really hits Rockstar status I'm going to shy away from praising sequels, and unless I've heard lots and lots of buzz surrounding a book, if I haven't read it I won't be commenting on it. The two honor books from this year were exceedingly short, but very good.

Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin

A fast peek behind the Iron Curtain. Sasha is completely dedicated to the Communist cause and idolizes his hero Stalin. One day everything changes and we are along for the ride as Sasha begins to realize that maybe Stalin isn't who he believed and maybe there are more shades of grey than he believed. The thing that really ground my gears was how his teacher was depicted. Bad teachers are always such a turn-off and Sasha's teacher has major 1984 vibes going on. Overall a great introduction to life under Stalin and the early days of Communist Russia.

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

The story of the fall of Saigon and one Vietnamese family resettling in the USA. The story is told similar to a diary following the course of one year. The fast pace of the story makes it a great introductory text, but I found myself wanting the details and emotions fleshed out more. The narrator is very much the focus of the story and we aren't privy to the thoughts and feelings of anyone else in her family. Still, for its length, it packs a punch and delivers the perfect jumping off place to learn more about this period of American history.

Hmmmm....

Honestly I find these both to be as enjoyable as Dead End in Norvelt. I'm fine with Norvelt winning but I would have been fine with either of these as the winner too.

The 2013 Newbery Honors

 Many, maaaany years ago I toyed with the idea of reading all the Newbery winners AND honors. Since 2014 I've read the honors alongside the winners so it only seems right that I continue with more of the honors. One important note is that some of the older ones are proving difficult to find and as big a collector as I am... I have to know when to say no! 

Working backwards the first stop was 2013 - with three honor winners.

Bomb: The Race to Build - and Steal - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

I didn't really find this one my cup of tea. WWII weaponry isn't generally my cup of tea and this book focuses hardcore on that area. I'd also read a MUCH more interesting account of the history of the creation of the atomic bomb from one of my favorite authors, Sam Kean. If you are an adult or young adult looking for a great read on this subject I'd pick up The Bastard Brigade by Sam Kean - he writes by stringing a series of anecdotes into a cohesive and enjoyable narrative. I learned so much from that book that the dryer delivery of pretty much the same facts in this book negatively impacted my opinion. Perhaps good for students newly interested in the topic who don't mind the textbook delivery - but for me it is a definite pass.

Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage

Another mystery - these don't seem to pop up too often and this one was a fair addition, even if flawed. We have all the ingredients - small quirky town (a Southern one to boot!), a spunky protagonist, a murder/ robbery plot, and cops that can't solve a case faster than a couple kids on bicycles; for extra flavoring we have the small-town diner, amnesia, missing parents, and an approaching storm. You need to bring a heavy dose of suspension of disbelief with you to this book. I've always been sort of forgiving when it comes to kid investigators - but Mo and Dale are up against a genuine detective on the search for a murderer, to me it seems like all the adults in town should find this more concerning. However, the writing pulls the book along nicely - for all the kookiness of the characters we never get any absolute hijinks to endure. There are only a couple instances that could be cut from the story without issue. Even the twists seem well-earned and fresh - sure, I saw them coming but they were well set-up and paid-off.

Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz

So many people really love this book. I didn't. I felt that about half the text was fluff - and not even enjoyable fluff. This story is dreary and never really jumps the gap to creepy-town I feel required by the kiddie horror genre. Things that SHOULD be creepy are not quite written that way. I think if the author had trimmed 100 - 150 pages and pushed the creepy factor this would have been up there with Doll Bones and Coraline in the genre. I'm particularly saddened by my disappointment with this book since I loved her winning novel Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! so much. Oh well.

Soooooo.....
I felt that The One and Only Ivan beats any of these books to be the winner. I almost never hear these honor books mentioned around the internet, but Ivan is still going strong - showing up on many best of lists. In fairness Three Times Lucky spawned a series now four books strong. 

Did any other books come out that year that hindsight tells us should have been honored? Glancing over the Wikipedia page of children's books published in 2012 two immediately jump out at me. The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis and Wonder by R.J. Palacio. Wonder especially has proven its staying power over the past nine years. Still, I feel that Ivan is a fine choice for the win.

The Tenth (And Final) Round-Up

This will be my last Newbery round-up. What a wild-ride it has been folks! I'm pretty awful at project follow-through so I'm so amazed that I made it this far (there was a really rocky section there a few years back). We've reached the end of the trail, forded the last river, and are headed into the sunset...

Let's have a celebratory song:

 

Gay-Neck  - A surprise hit! I loved this story of a homing pigeon from India that served in World War ! and was then able to return to the boy who raised him. It was a surprisingly spiritual and introspective tale that was a nice book to read during the holiday season.

The Grey King - A great entry into children's fantasy. This book cranked the Arthurian ties up to 11 and really propelled The Dark is Rising books into lasting classics. It finally brought the main character to a stage where I actually liked him.

The Bronze Bow - On paper this doesn't sound like a Newbery book. It sounds extremely niche and I imagine if it was published today it wouldn't be as popular - rather it would end up being sold in Christian bookstores around Easter and Christmas.

A Single Shard - A good book that managed to subvert my expectations and teach me something along the way. I really loved the setting being something different and the fact that it was a fictional story tied to a historic artifact, similar to one of my favorite movies, The Secret of Kells.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - A classic that is as loved decades later as when it was first published. I've read this book a couple times now and it always strikes me how timeless most of it is but a few things just get more and more dated (especially now that I'm an adult).

To Trap a Tiger - A good idea for a story that felt a little half-cooked to me. I'd really have liked the characters or plot to be more developed, unfortunately everything felt too forced for me.

Invincible Louisa - A nice way to follow-up Little Women, it is fascinating how much of that book was inspired by Louisa May Alcott's life.

Hitty: Her First Hundred Years - The great-great-great-grandmother to Toy Story. A book with a decent concept and execution that fell into tropes that fueled racism. Overall fell into a small niche of doll books that don't really interest me.

Roller Skates - This book's biggest sin came in being a highly episodic book that never really wanted to conclude anything, there is a sequel... but it takes place in a completely different location so I wouldn't get any wrap ups I wanted anyway...

Waterless Mountain - A book that I think was written with the best of intentions but missed the mark. Sadly, it was just a little too dull for me to give it much in the way of forgiveness.

1. A Wrinkle in Time
2. Number the Stars
3. Crispin: Cross of Lead
4. Island of the Blue Dolphins
5. Julie of the Wolves
6. Maniac Magee
7. Bud, Not Buddy
8. King of the Wind
9. The Trumpeter of Krakow
10. Out of the Dust
11. When You Reach Me
12. Crossover
13. Merci Suárez Changes Gears
14. ...And Now Miguel
15. The Tale of Despereaux
16. The Door in the Wall
17. Holes
18. Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon
19. Caddie Woodlawn
20. The Grey King
21. Kira-Kira
22. Sounder
23. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village
24. The Giver
25. The High King
26. The Westing Game
27. Bridge to Terebithia
28. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
29. The View from Saturday
30. Sarah, Plain and Tall
31. Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices
32. Call It Courage
33. The Bronze Bow
34. Miracles on Maple Hill
35. Moon Over Manifest
36. A Single Shard
37. Carry On Mr. Bowditch
38. The Wheel on the School
39. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
40. The Cat Who Went to Heaven
41. The One and Only Ivan
42. The Midwife's Apprentice
43. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
44. The Twenty-One Balloons
45. The Hero and the Crown
46. Onion John
47. Shiloh
48. The Graveyard Book
49. New Kid
50. Adam of the Road
51. The Girl Who Drank the Moon
52. Hello, Universe
53. To Trap a Tiger
54. The Summer of the Swans
55. I, Juan de Pareja
56. Dear Mr. Henshaw
57. Missing May
58. Dead End in Norvelt
59. Invincible Louisa
60. Tales from Silver Lands
61. A Year Down Yonder
62. The Higher Power of Lucky
63. Last Stop on Market Street
64. Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
65. The Witch of Blackbird Pond
66. Jacob Have I Loved
67. A Gathering of Days
68. The Whipping Boy
69. The Slave Dancer
70. Dicey's Song
71. Walk Two Moons
72. Shen of the Sea
73. Shadow of a Bull
74. The White Stag
75. Rabbit Hill
76. Strawberry Girl
77. Flora and Ulysses
78. Miss Hickory
79. The Matchlock Gun
80. A Visit to William Blake's Inn
81. Thimble Summer
82. Hitty: Her First Hundred Years
83. Lincoln, a Photobiography
84. Roller Skates
85. M.C. Higgins, the Great
86. Waterless Mountain
87. Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze
88. It's Like This, Cat
89. Ginger Pye
90. The Secret of the Andes
91. Criss Cross
92. Up a Road Slowly
93. The Dark Frigate
94. Rifles for Watie
95. Amos Fortune, Free Man
96. The Story of Mankind
97. Johnny Tremain
98. Dobry
99. Daniel Boone
100. Smoky, the Cowhorse

I have one last trick up my sleeve... stay tuned!

The Complete 2021 Newbery Read-Through

 Here it is, the 100th Newbery review! A century of award-winning children's literature brings us to this point - there have been undisputed classics to win the Newbery (A Wrinkle in Time, Sounder, The Giver) and there have been some duds that only the most devoted will have even heard of - lookin' at you Dobry!

How does this year stack up? Let's find out!

Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

I read this one months ago as a potential winner. It absolutely deserves its accolades! When I read I immediately recommended it to a co-worker saying that I felt it was an absolute must-read for all teachers about the importance of trauma-informed teaching. This is a book that falls on the upper end of the Newbery spectrum simply because of content. Kimberly Brubaker Bradley once again proves that she is a master of emotions and character development. Not one scene in this book feels out of place or written solely for shock.

Della and her older sister, Suki, are put in to foster care at the very beginning of the book. Though you think you know why it is still heartbreaking as you learn chapter by chapter what they suffered at the hands of their step-father over the years. Suki not only endured neglect and emotional abuse but sexual abuse as well - her journey, as witnessed by Della is so raw and emotional that I found myself tearing up several times. This book also shows that simply being in a good situation now doesn't heal the wounds caused by the past. 

Again I recommend this for all teachers - really anyone who works with kids, people who are looking for an emotional read, and older children that can handle the subject matter.

We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly

Once again Kelly writes in a style very similar to my own. She gives several characters a chance to be the focus. In Hello, Universe she chose a group of loosely interconnected children - in the book she chooses the three Nelson-Thomas siblings. Personally I liked this one even more that Hello, Universe which erred on the side of making its characters a little too quirky. Here the characters are more believably flawed though still a touch clichéd. 

I didn't actually read the description before jumping into this book. Which means that at the very first mention of the space shuttle Challenger my heart dropped. I wonder what it would be like for kids that know absolutely nothing about the Challenger disaster reading this book the first time. The entire story is overhung with a sense of dread, the feeling of impending doom. A good book makes you react emotionally - a great book makes you react physically. When I reached the part where the auditorium of students is watching the space shuttle launch I had some of the strongest goosebumps I've had in a long time.

The Nelson-Thomas siblings are trying to make their way in their dysfunctional family; Cash - the older brother repeating 7th grade with his siblings, Fitch - a video gamer with anger-management issues, and Bird - the budding scientist that feels unnoticed and invisible by those around her. I like that Kelly did not cop out at the end by having the parents reconcile or even acknowledge their own problems. Sometimes kids end up just having to make their own way forward and that was realistically depicted.

All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat

A non-fiction title! It can be tricky to determine what the last non-fiction honoree was - I'll eliminate memoirs and poetry because they really fall into different categories. I think the last 'hard' non-fiction title was Bomb in 2013. There are two things that can turn a non-fiction book into a good read: passion for the subject matter or learning something new.

This one falls squarely into the later for me. I was only passingly familiar with the rescue of the boys soccer team so found this book both informative and enjoyable. Likely if I was more familiar with the story I wouldn't have enjoyed it quite as much; though competently written it does the job of presenting facts without dressing them up exceedingly well. Something I was pleased by was that it was well-balanced in focusing on the efforts below and above ground and also in mentioning just how many countries and organizations came together to save these boys. Things were never sugar-coated, the rescue effort was constantly tempered with the knowledge that so many things could go wrong that it would be pointless to be too hopeful.

A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat

Set in a land inspired by Thailand, this book examines social justice in an incredibly powerful manner. Several sources mention that this is inspired by Les Misérables - one of my favorite musical films and a pretty decent novel. I don't know if this is true (although it is cited on the author's website) but I can certainly see some parallels. However, this is inspiration done right! Nothing seems overly derivative and things fall into a natural rhythm all their own.

Pong was born in prison and sentenced to remain there until his 13th birthday. He manages to escape and join some monks in the countryside. That all changes when the warden's daughter recognizes him and vows to recapture him. His flight returns him to the city where he discovers an imbalance between the rich and poor that only serves to make the poor - poorer. 

This is such a great story for discussion and deep thinking. I highly recommend this book for any and all readers with the skill to tackle the text. Note: yes, Soontornvat did recieve two honors this year! That is such a difficult feat that she joins only two other authors (E.L. Konigsburg winner and honor 1968, and Meindert DeJong two honors 1954).

BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford

I actually circumvented the problem of evaluating this book while also trying to ignore the pictures by just listening to the audiobook. Honestly... it holds up on the strength of its writing alone pretty well. I'm interested to get my copy and see how the pictures enhance things. 

This is a poetic first person telling of the story of Henry Box Brown, a slave that mailed himself from Richmond, Virginia to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I had briefly heard about him before, but really I learned quite a bit with this relatively brief text. I think this will be a great addition to elementary libraries because it doesn't shy away from the reality of slavery while still remaining appropriate for younger kids.

When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller

Well... I wasn't wowed. This book features Lily, her sister Sam, and their mother moving from somewhere in California to live with Lily's Halmoni (grandmother). Motivations for the move are not really explained until partway through the book - which might have worked if handled differently. Halmoni is sick and Lily wants to help her. A tiger appears and Lily is convinced this is the key to helping her Halmoni. Korean traditions and storytelling are woven throughout the text, this is probably the book's strongest attribute.

I think that this style of magical realism just doesn't work for me. There was a lot of symbolism inserted into the story through fantasy that seemed to exist solely for the purpose of being symbolic. In short, I could tell while reading that I was supposed to be drawing all these connections - they never felt organic. 

The characters were good starts but aside from Lily they didn't feel fully developed. Sam's story is only half-told with far too much being subtext, the mother is very underdeveloped, and Halmoni is just a catalyst. There are a few characters outside the family, but they too suffer from being just there to move things along. 

Final thoughts...

I'm disappointed with the final selection. Perhaps I had built it up too much because it is number 100, but also I feel like it just falls short and I really have no idea where the committee was going with it. I would much rather have seen either A Wish in the Dark or Fighting Words given the win. A Wish in the Dark has great plotting and examination of social justice through the setting and events of the story. Fighting Words is by the master of character Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. It examines tough subject matter through character interactions and growth. Both would have been an excellent entry into the line-up of winners and would have been in my top 20, possibly top 10. As it is I'm glad they received honors so that other people will have the chance to discover them.