By Sheila Welch
Every year, one book published the preceding year in the USA is chosen as the “most distinguished” piece of literature for children. Of the thousands of books published in 2013, here are five being discussed as possible Newbery winners for 2014. Let your children be the judge!
THE YEAR OF BILLY MILLER by Kevin Henkes is just right for first through third graders. As the school year begins, Billy is a bit apprehensive. Will he be able to do the harder work in second grade? Will his teacher like him? The small but important details of life that we adults sometimes miss are always front and center in a book by Kevin Henkes.
A TANGLE OF KNOTS by Lisa Graff forewarns readers with its title. This unusual story has lots of characters, plot twists and turns, magical happenings, and intriguing things to think about and discuss. It’s appropriate for reading aloud to third graders and for reading independently by fourth and fifth graders who enjoy being challenged.
THE HIDDEN SUMMER by Gin Phillips might seem to have an impossible plot to adult readers. But any child who’s considered running away from home will identify with Nell and Lydia. These resourceful middle-school-age best friends manage to spend whole days and even some nights on an abandoned golf course unbeknownst to their parents. Nothing awful happens to these kids, and Nell, who tells the story in first person, is an intelligent girl who grows up a lot during her hidden summer.
THE THING ABOUT LUCK is written by Cynthia Kadohata, winner of the Newbery Award for KIRA KIRA. Told by one character, Summer, a responsible 12-year-old, readers ten and older will be pulled into her world where whole families travel to wheat farms to do the harvesting. This year, Summer is with her grandparents and her younger brother because their parents a re helping to care for elderly family members in Japan. Although bad luck seems to be nipping at their heels, Summer is able to find the inner strength to turn and chase it away.
DOLL BONES by Holly Black is a spooky story but not terrifying. Three friends are getting to the age where make-believe play is viewed as baby stuff, yet none of them is ready to quit. Then Zach’s father throws away his toys and in a round-about way, this event sends the kids on a real-world quest to bury a doll. Or possibly, the remains of the bones of a child.
Sheila Kelly Welch is a mother, grandmother and retired teacher. She’s been writing all her life and counts among her children’s fiction books Little Prince Know-It-All and A Horse for All Seasons. Sheila's most recent book, WAITING TO FORGET, published by namelos, has been selected by Bank Street College and Pennsylvania School Library Association for their lists of best-books-of-the-year.
You can learn more about Sheila on her web site
