I, Juan de Pareja; Newbery Winner 1966

I remember having to read this book at some point during middle school and not really reading it - because I was an awful student that never wanted to read assigned books. However, I also remember becoming interested in the artists we talked about in class. I still recall my fascination with Diego Velázquez and his dedication to realism and an interesting use of mirrors. We also had to do a creative writing project taking two paintings and writing a short story to explain them.

I can't be 100% certain, but this may have been one of my selections.

A Woman Seated at a Table Cutting a Slice of Cheese by Esaias Boursse

I mentioned before that Veláquez was fiercely devoted to realism in his paintings, or, as he called it, the truth. He strove to show things as they really were instead of prettying them up, as was the fashion of the time. Which brings us this portrait.

Yes, Juan de Pareja was a real person. As is true of many persons from so long ago only a bare outline of his life is known - but this portrait is so raw and detailed that we practically have a photograph of our subject that can shed some light. Elizabeth Borton de Treviño took what little was known and spun a historical narrative around it. Juan de Pareja was a slave that was inherited by Diego Velázquez and served him both at home and while traveling. Despite laws forbidding slaves from practicing the fine arts, Juan observes his master and learns to paint. Part of me loves the friendship between the two artists but another part of me is keenly aware that only basic lip service is given to the fact that Juan is a slave. His happiness can be uncomfortable - do I begrudge any person, even those in dire straits, happiness? Of course not, but it feels somehow disingenuous. We do know that Diego freed Juan and Juan continued to work for him - so there was obviously some level of admiration there, whether as friends or professionals we may never know. The author's note sheds a little light, her idealism stems from her hopes for the Civil Rights Movement. Overall, I'd recommend for anyone interested in art and most people interested in history.

The Eighth Round-Up

Coming down the home stretch! I’ve now read and reviews 80% of the Newbery winners!!! Considering how long I have put off some of these books they weren’t too bad! Only two of them were so boring I’d not consider reading them again.

1. Merci Suárez Changes Gears – I loved this book sooooo much! I truly believe that it is the most timeless story from the last decade – in a decade already filled with timeless tales! Part of my fondness is undoubtedly how much I connect with Merci, she is definitely one of those mirror characters.

2. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry – A classic for a reason! I can see why this is one of those books that anyone who cares about children’s literature makes time to read. I can’t wait to dog into more of this author’s work!

3. Moon Over Manifest – A great story told through a series of flashbacks. I really like these kinds of stories where the past and the present tie together, it seems to happen more in movies and tv shows (where you can – bonus! – use the same actor in multiple roles), so it was nice to see it in a book format.

4 New Kid – Finally, the graphic novel is coming into its own! This was a nice story filled with lots of layers and nuances. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to any m9ddle schooler.

5. Hello, Universe – Lovely story with a wide range of believable characters, gives us one of the most interesting looks at the bullied and the bully in modern kid’s lit.

6. Dead End in Norvelt – So quirky and funny, I enjoyed this tale of small town America and how this community functions.

7. Jacob Have I Loved – So much better than I expected, Katherine Paterson somehow makes a whiny protagonist pining after an old man work.

8. The Slave Dancer – Not too shabby as far as 70s historical fiction goes – but I wanted it to get more in depth. However that would have taken the book out of the target age range.

9. Criss Cross – Middle school angst. Bleh.

10. Rifles for Watie – Zzzzzzzz…

And now, the countdown!

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.          The Tale of Despereaux

15.          The Door in the Wall

16.          Holes

17.          Caddie Woodlawn

18.          Kira-Kira

19.          Sounder

20.          Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village

21.          The Giver

22.          The Westing Game

23.          Bridge to Terabithia

24.          Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

25.          The View from Saturday

26.          Sarah, Plain and Tall

27.          Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices

28.          Call It Courage

29.          Miracles on Maple Hill

30.          Moon Over Manifest

31.          The Wheel on the School

32.          The Cat Who Went to Heaven

33.          The One and Only Ivan

34.          The Midwife's Apprentice

35.          Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

36.          The Twenty-One Balloons

37.          The Hero and the Crown

38.          Onion John

39.          Shiloh

40.          The Graveyard Book

41.          New Kid

42.          Adam of the Road

43.          The Girl Who Drank the Moon

44.          Hello, Universe

45.          The Summer of the Swans

46.          Dear Mr. Henshaw

47.          Missing May

48.          Dead End in Norvelt

49.          Tales from Silver Lands

50.          Last Stop on Market Street

51.          Voyages of Doctor Dolittle

52.          Jacob Have I Loved

53.          A Gathering of Days

54.          The Whipping Boy

55.          The Slave Dancer

56.          Dicey's Song

57.          Shen of the Sea

58.          Shadow of a Bull

59.          The White Stag

60.          Rabbit Hill

61.          Strawberry Girl

62.          Flora and Ulysses

63.          Miss Hickory

64.          The Matchlock Gun

65.          A Visit to William Blake's Inn

66.          Thimble Summer

67.          M.C. Higgins, the Great

68.          Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze

69.          It's Like This, Cat

70.          Ginger Pye

71.          The Secret of the Andes

72.          Criss Cross

73.          Up a Road Slowly

74.          The Dark Frigate

75.          Rifles for Watie

76.          Amos Fortune, Free Man

77.          The Story of Mankind

78.          Johnny Tremain

79.          Dobry

80.          Daniel Boone

Jacob Have I Loved, Newbery Winner 1981

We have a repeat author! Katherine Paterson also wrote Bridge to Terebithia which won in 1978. I'm kicking things into high gear, not only is the end nearer than ever before - but next year's winner will be the 100th Newbery book!

And we're off!

First off - this book is one that I had been putting off based solely on the title and cover art. So... melancholy. 

And those taglines??? So dramatic.

First, let's address that title. There is not a love interest named Jacob in this book that the sisters end up fighting over. It refers to a Biblical quote:

This one.

Jacob and Esau were twins - one of whom was clearly favored by God. The twins in this book are Sara Louise and Caroline Bradshaw- and I'm sorry but the rivalry was really one-sided, to the point that I couldn't even sympathize with the narrator, Sara Louise, most of the time. She goes on and on about how selfish and awful her sister is but really only once did Caroline do something even a little despicable. She also complains that her family doesn't love her as much - but I see a family that is trying their best to give their daughters what they deserve. Sara Louise is so jealous of her sister that SHE ends up hating and pushing others away from her. No one is pushing her away as this whole "Esau have I hated business would imply". I concede that her grandmother is kind of a jerk to her - but she is clearly beginning to suffer mentally and the rest of the family pays no mind to what she says. 

So yeah. I didn't care for the protagonist. But that is just the beginning. An old captain named Hiram returns to the island and becomes friends with Sara Louise and a boy named Call. During a hurricane Hiram stays with the Bradshaw family, later he and Sara Louise go to check his property only to discover it is completely gone. She gives him a hug and experiences a sexual awakening.

Sooooooooooo...... she spends a good chunk of the novel pining for Hiram - even while acknowledging that she is, at 14, too young for him. She refuses to visit him after he enters a marriage of convenience with a stroke patient. During this time Caroline and Call continue to visit the captain and his wife and become great friends. Later, the captain uses his inheritance to send Caroline to a conservatory to expand her amazing gifts as a singer. Call goes to war and Sara Louise remains on the island stubbornly refusing her parent's offer to attempt to enroll her in a mainland boarding school. She spends the next several years pining for the captain. Even as we learn that her grandmother also pined for him... but was too young and he left for college while she was still a young girl.

That's... massively uncomfortable.

But, in spite of not caring for the protagonist and being slightly skeeved out by the young girl desperate for the romantic affection of a 70+ year old man.... I liked the book. Why on earth do I still like it after all that? I guess that Katherine Paterson is just that good.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry; Newbery Winner 1977

This is another of those super popular books that I never read until doing this challenge. I read it right after returning home from my visit to Fairbanks (courtesy appendix) and right before the school burned down. I remember liking the book but I'll be perfectly honest in saying that a lot of that week got lost in the shuffle - really only one event is something I can recall with any sort of clarity.

Really, can this year just be over already?

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is about the Logan family - and what an amazing family they are. Books like this are always tough to read because of the explicit racism the characters deal with, especially children. Cassie Logan, the narrator, has a couple moments in particular that are really scary to sit through as you don't know how much her antagonist will overreact. Thankfully every member of the family comes through the story - despite some nail-biting moments.

So many events in this book make you angry - and every one of them seems like a big deal. The real horror lies in that, during this time period, the racist actions depicted are mostly micro-aggressions. Imagine a bus driver chasing children off the road every day (with the bus!) and those poor children just having to accept it! I was particularly pleased when the Logan kids gave him some comeuppance.

The climax of the book is really well-paced and suspenseful. In the end, you realize what has happened and are both shocked and relieved. This book delivered on the Newbery in a big way and I know I will have to read the other books in the series. This was the first book by Mildred D. Taylor that I ever read and I know it won't be the last! This challenge is helping me discover so many awesome authors!

2018 Newbery Line-Up

Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes is a fast read. Anyone looking to diversify their children's library would do well to pick it up. I thought it was lots of fun (as someone who does not really spend a lot of time on my hair). I think that once again the poetry is strong enough to hold up without the pictures but I they add so much! Such a fun tribute to a simple part of one's day - getting a haircut.

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds was excellent. I had just discovered his work the previous year with the amazing book Ghost. I was so sad that Ghost didn't get a Newbery but luckily his next bit of work did! I really love the Track Series (and I generally hate sports books!) but this book takes things to a whole other level! Pun intended. Will is on an elevator fully intending to go shoot someone in revenge but the elevator keeps stopping and someone gets on at every floor. Each new passenger has a story and advice. Probably one of my top ten favorite author's of the decade I strongly recommend his work.

Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson was a great story about what it means to be an artist. Jade struggles with her self-image in many ways and wants very badly to fit in. She is hurt and angry at being included in a program for at-risk girls in her school and only consents in order to appease adults telling her about all the opportunities it will grant her. She feels that she was selected based solely on race but has trouble conveying this. In the end she connects with her mentor and, even though she loses out on some of the opportunities she dreamed of, is able to make her mark on the world in a deeply meaningful way.

Which brings us to....

Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly- Winner of the 2018 Newbery Award

A story of friendship and coming of age. But like the best of the genre (not Criss Cross) it brings us really interesting, fleshed-out characters overcoming interesting obstacles. A couple of the characters are too quirky (and I've had problems with that before) but better to be too quirky than utterly boring. The classic bully character seems really well-written and has enough humanity in him to be real. The diverse cast of characters comes together in a natural way without ever being defined solely by their diversity but definitely having it be a part of who they are. This book of the four probably fits the Newbery age range the best. 

Overall a really great year my favorite, Long Way Down, was probably aimed at slightly older readers, as was my next favorite, Piecing Me Together. These books really deserved their honors and I'd have been thrilled if they won but I can see why the committee went with the slightly safer option of Hello, Universe.

Moon Over Manifest, Newbery Winner 2011

I've tried and tried... but there is still a mystery surrounding this book that I cannot solve. One of the requirements for earning the Newbery is publication within the previous year. Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool won in 2011, ergo it's publication date is 2010 - and several sources seem to agree on this point siting the date October 2010. However, other sources assert that it was published in May 1995. I'm having trouble figuring out where this earlier date came from. Was it an error that has been sited multiple times? a self-publishing run? a simple creation of copyright? If anyone knows please let me in on the secret! To be honest I fully believe that 1995 date because it reads more like a 90s children's book. It has that feel to it, so much so that when I began writing the post title I typed in 199 before heading off to check the year.

It reminds me so much both Holes and a movie called Split Infinity, both of which are favorable comparisons. Of course most of you will be familiar with Holes , but just in case here is my review of it from eons ago. If you are unfamiliar with Split Infinity it is a time-travel movie, check out the trailer...

It is really closer to Holes in that there isn't actual time travel - just super detailed segments of the story are set in the past. I found myself really enjoying this part of the story and longing to hear more. The actual main character, Abilene, isn't nearly so exciting to me as the story of Jinx - however I suspect that may have been intentional. I loved that there was an element of mystery tying both threads together, I felt like I always had to come back and unravel just a little bit more. In the end the mystery was satisfying and it kept me wondering long enough to be interesting. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys Holes or historical fiction.