The Complete 2017 Newbery Read-Through

Well, it's been a looooong time coming. After all, I'd read three out of four of these before the award was ever announced (and that missing book took me less than thirty minutes to read). But I'm the worst kind of procrastinator in that once I get behind I tend to just get more and more behind. Hopefully I'm well on my way to getting back on track.

Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan is a picture book, but I do believe that the writing holds its own and can stand without its illustrations. Ashley Bryan found the names of eleven slaves on an auction list in some of his historic documents. Using this list that contained names and prices (also I believe gender and rough age) he tried to envision each of the eleven people listed. He writes a poem about each person and their dreams and creates a portrait - we not only see who they are but who they wish to be. Of course his description is more likely than not to contain inaccuracies - but it puts a personal face to the tragedy of slavery that stripped so many of their identities and prevented them from realizing their dreams.

The Inquisitor's Tale by Adam Gidwitz is the book I predicted would take the win. I initially went in with quite a bit of trepidation - I was wary of how Catholicism might be portrayed in a book with 'Inquisitor' in the title. I still am not sure how to feel - the story was enjoyable and I don't think the Church as a whole was portrayed negatively. But there were so many inaccuracies on technical things that sort of played into a fantasy aspect. As an adult I found it quite enjoyable, as a Catholic child I might have felt confused and occasionally insulted. Overall, a book that I don't feel was purposefully trying to be harmful or malicious, but was from the perspective that really mixed faith and fantasy quite a bit.

Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolf definitely leans towards the older end of the Newbery age focus. It has been compared to To Kill a Mockingbird by many reviewers. It would would probably be best classified as young adult rather than children's literature because it is quite dark. The main character Annabelle finds herself bullied by a classmate relentlessly. The bullying escalates and begins to physically harm the people in Annabelle's life. Toby, a veteran from WWI, begins to draw the towns suspicions and Annabelle's efforts to stand up for him seem to fall short. In the end whose word will prevail, Annabelle or her bully, Betty? Bring your tissues and make sure that you pre-read this book before deciding if it is right for the children in your life.

And now the winner....

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill - Another hard fantasy! I thoroughly enjoyed this fantasy and really liked how all the material came together. Starting at the beginning we have a woman that is a witch and takes a child from the village in the woods each year. This is a classic fairy tale set-up, but then we are offered the events from the witch's point of view. Xan saves this child - feeds it starlight and carries it through the forest to a family waiting for it.
One year however she feeds the abandoned girl moonlight - a meal that imbues the baby girl with powerful magic. Xan names the girl Luna and raises her in an isolated swamp as her granddaughter. Other residents of the swamp include a tiny dragon who wishes to be bigger and a swamp monster.
Back in the city Luna's mother is locked away as a madwoman, the coming heir struggles with the traditions of his city, and the council keep secrets.
One year they all come colliding together in a grand climax that is precisely how a fantasy is meant to come together. It has all the classic elements, just the right amount of darkness, a mythos, and of course - the wilderness.

So - my thoughts? All worthy, most in need of historical context and guidance, but it never hurts kids to get those things. My favorite was Wolf Hollow, but I do think that more of the targeted demographic for Newbery's is going to be excluded by the dark content/subject matter. All-in-all The Girl Who Drank the Moon was a fine choice to include with the list of winners - but perhaps I'd have liked to see Ghost by Jason Reynolds there more. Not sure what that book is? Go read it!