pbadeer's Newbery Challenge

This is a great goal. Something I've thought about tracking for a while, now I have an incentive. I'm starting with the list of titles I know I've already read:

2010W - When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
2009W - Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
2008H - Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
2007H - Rules by Cynthia Lord
2005H - Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
2001W - Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
1999H - Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck
1997H - The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
1996H - Great Fire by Jim Murphy
1996H - Watsons Go To Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
1996W - Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman
1995H - Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
1979W - Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
1972W - Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert O'Brien
1972H - The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
1971W - Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars
1968W - From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
1963W - A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
1961H - Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
1958W - Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith
1957W - Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen
1946H - Justin Morgan had a Horse by Marguerite Henry
1944W - Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
1942H - Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
1941H - Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
1940H - By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder
1938H - On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
1923W - Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting

Just added Watsons Go To Birmingham - 1963 and Wednesday Wars

The Wednesday Wars is an incredible book!

finally added a new book - 1958 winner - Rifles for Watie. 4 stars.

See review here: http://www.librarything.com/work/34013/reviews/54197919

haven't posted here in a while...but it doesn't look like anyone else has either. Just finished a 1997 Honor book - The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. a 4 star read. Hadn't realized it was the first book in the series to include Queen of Attolia and King of Attolia which I think have gotten a lot more press.

I just joined LibraryThing and this group has inspired me to start working on the Newbery Medals again. I started trying to read them all as a kid but high school and college got in the way of fun reading, but being unemployed gives me plenty of time :)

sorry about the unemployed part, but at least you'll be making productive use of your time.

If you're new to LT, keep in mind that this is a fairly "quiet" group. I only post here a few times a year, although I'm on track to read 100 books in 2010. One of the most active groups is the Read 75 Books Group. A lot of people have no intention of ever hitting 75 books for the year, but they join anyway because it is a very social group. As you drift around, you may see some other groups, and just looking at how recent some of the posts were you'll be able to see how active the group actually is.

Do a little digging and you'll find a lot of readers to help you pass the time

completed 2010 winner - When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. 4 stars. Hadn't realized it was the Newbery winner - picked it based on another challenge. Not sure it lived up to some of the other Newbery winners I have read, but I enjoyed it all the same. Quick read.

Finally, a new entry - the 1972 winner, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. Very traditional story (of the talking mice variety) and harkens the days when the Newbery was about wholesome literature not necessarily about a message - although there was a little message about technology vs. the simple life. Enjoyable but unlikely something I would pull out again.

It's been a while since I posted here - and interestingly enough, my first Newbery of 2011 is from the same year as my last Newbery read from 2010.

1972 Honor Book
The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder - 4 stars

This was an enjoyable, simply written, wholesome and timeless read. Unlike other titles I have unearthed from the earlier days of the Newbery, The Headless Cupid does not seem as "aged". Probably the only aspect which caused some pause is the entrance of an "elderly gentleman" who was a boy in 1895. Yikes. But if you remember the book was written in 1971, that feat doesn't seem nearly as shocking.

Molly gets married, and she and her daughter Amanda move away from the city and into an old home (built in 1895) out in the country. David, the oldest boy from the husband's family, has been taking care of his younger siblings, Janie and the twins Blair and Esther. Amanda doesn't initially fit into the new family dynamic, but her interest in the occult piques the others interests, and the story develops. But the idea that their new found interests may have activated a poltergeist - possibly the same poltergeist responsible for the lost cupid's head from the hand carved bannister - puts the entire family on edge.

I listened to this title with my 11 year old daughter, and although we both enjoyed it, she was unable to hold back some of her more cynical thoughts. The story line isn't particularly original and the primary mysteries don't really remain all that mysterious, but the author did an interesting job of adding a "sub-plot" which kept popping up which did keep the story moving.

Judged as a contemporary stand alone novel, The Headless Cupid pales against other more dynamic tales, but as a wholesome family read, with no sex, language, video games, etc., it's worth a read.

I'm currently reading Ginger Pye so far it's good.

>>11 bbellthom: - I don't think I've read anything by Eleanor Estes. I'll have to dig through my daughter's shelves - I think she has Hundred Dresses.

I have also read The Middle Moffat by Eleanor Estes which I enjoyed. I will have to look for the Hundred Dresses.

added 1963Winner - A Wrinkle in Time. Been meaning to read that for a while (I liked the movie). My daughter is reading it for 7th grade english class, so I figured I'd read it too, so we can talk about it.