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!