Mock Newbery 2017

So maybe I'm calling it too early, but too bad. I want to share the books that I think should receive some Newbery attention.

Granted, with recent shake-ups in the norm (yes, I'm referring to the picture book that won last year, and the recent graphic novel honorees), it's pretty hard to get a good feel for what the committee might be eyeing. But I'm still going to take a stab at it. Or at least share some of my favorite middle-grade fiction from the last year, anyway.

And no, I know, I've never been spot on right, but I've gotten an honoree or two (see my mock 2015 and mock 2016). This year, there's a lot of good, but not one that just totally stands out to me like the last few years. It's a hard selection this year. I seriously spent a lot of time thinking about these.

But here are what I would call "the most distinguished contribution[s] to American literature for children"

Favorites Thus Far for Mock Newbery & Caldecott 2016

Before the rush of beginning-of-the-school-year book publications, I thought I'd examine some potentials for the Newbery/Caldecott 2016 published so far. Heck, I'm just guessing (although I'd like to think they're educated guesses) but I'm thinking there's some definite winners already out there. Here are my predictions. Or, favorites, more like.

Mock Newbery 2015

I realize there's only a few short weeks until the official Newbery Award announcement, but I still wanted to make a list of my favorites...

The Newbery. Awarded to author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. That's a big deal. But what's worse is that there were so many well-written, fantastic pieces of literature written this year, that it's going to be hard to choose.

Here are my thoughts...