October 2019 Starred Reviews

2020 starred reviews are starting to come in, but nothing has three starred reviews yet.

Five of the Best lists that I track have been announced – just waiting on the Bulletin’s list to arrive. In the meantime, you can see the five lists on the Best Books 2019 spreadsheet.

October 2019 stars tally:

• 1022 books published in 2019 have been awarded 1666 starred reviews as of the end of October. 2 books have 6 starred reviews, 15 books have 5 starred reviews, 56 books have 4 starred reviews, 97 books have 3 starred reviews, 212 books have 2 starred reviews, 640 books have 1 starred review.
• 34 books published in 2020 have been awarded 39 starred reviews as of the end of October.
• No new books with 6 starred reviews; 3 books move up to 5 starred reviews from 4 and 1 book moves up to 5 starred reviews from 3; 7 books move up to 4 starred reviews from 3 starred reviews and 2 books with 4 starred reviews are entirely new; 9 books have been added with 3 starred reviews.

September 2019 Starred Reviews

So. Far. Behind. That’s the story here and it means that unfortunately, I’m not going to be adding Printz and Newbery posts anytime soon. I need to get caught up on starred reviews first! Plus, I have started my spreadsheet tracking 2019 Best Books lists from the same six journals I track for starred reviews. Right now it has Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal and Horn Book titles listed (although I’m missing a few age ranges on the Horn Book titles – I’ll fill those in when I find them). I’ll fill in the best lists from the other three journals as they are released and I have time.

September 2019 stars tally:

• 977 books published in 2019 have been awarded 1574 starred reviews as of the end of September. 2 books have 6 starred reviews, 11 books have 5 starred reviews, 50 books have 4 starred reviews, 96 books have 3 starred reviews, 201 books have 2 starred reviews, 617 books have 1 starred review.
• 7 books published in 2020 have been awarded 7 starred reviews as of the end of September – no duplicates yet, but I expect 2020 reviews to pick up with the October journals.
• No new books with 6 starred reviews; 1 new book with 5 starred reviews and 1 book moves up to 5 starred reviews from 4 and 1 book moves up to 5 starred reviews from 3; 11 books move up to 4 starred reviews from 3 starred reviews and 2 books with 4 starred reviews are entirely new; 25 books have been added with 3 starred reviews.

August 2019 Starred Reviews

It’s book award season once again! The National Book Foundation has announced its longlist and finalists for Young People’s Literature. The winner will be announced at a ceremony on November 20. The Kirkus Prize Finalists have also been announced with winners to be announced on October 24. Heavy Medal is in full swing and SLJ’s Pondering Printz column has returned.

In other news, this blog is now an IndieBound Affiliate. All that means is that if anyone purchases books at IndieBound after following a link from here (starting with this post and going forward), I get a small commission.

August 2019 stars tally:

• 892 books published in 2019 have been awarded 1403 starred reviews as of the end of August. 2 books have 6 starred reviews, 8 books have 5 starred reviews, 38 books have 4 starred reviews, 83 books have 3 starred reviews, 189 books have 2 starred reviews, 572 books have 1 starred review.
• No new books with 6 starred reviews; no new books with 5 starred reviews; 5 books move up to 4 starred reviews from 3 starred reviews and 1 book with 4 starred reviews is entirely new; 14 books have been added with 3 starred reviews

2020 Newbery Possibilities through July Stars

Heavy Medal is back so head over there to discuss some of these contenders. Once again I’m covering two months worth of added contenders; both June and July books are listed here.

For this blog’s purposes, contenders have three or more starred reviews and are broken down into these lists: Middle Grade Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Comics, Non-Fiction, Picture Books (Fiction and Non-Fiction), Easy Readers/Early Chapter Books, and Ineligibles.

Standard disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the Newbery committee and I have no knowledge of their official rulings on eligibility – I’m making my best guesses based on the terms and criteria and internet searches regarding citizenship/residency. For a more thorough breakdown of the criteria you can see my first Newbery post of the year or just go read the official word from ALSC.

As of the end of July there were 116 titles with three or more starred reviews which means there are 26 new books listed here. Lists are after the jump.

2020 Printz Possibilities through July Stars

Once again there is a month missing – no June update; this one covers reviews through July. For information about criteria please see my first Printz post for this year or check out the official Printz criteria page.

116 (26 new between June and July) books have three starred reviews or more as of the end of July 2019. 51 (11 new) of those are picture books, poetry collections or novels with an audience that doesn’t fit the Printz age range so aren’t mentioned here at all. 32 (8 new) are young adult novels, 2 (0 new) are young adult comics; 7 (2 new) are young adult non-fiction; 16 (3 new) are younger novel outliers and 8 (2 new) are other outliers.

The organization paragraph that repeats each month: This year I’ve organized contenders by format: Novels, Comics, Non-Fiction. There’s two outliers lists – one for younger novels and one for anything else (essay collections, short stories, younger comics, etc.). I’m still not including titles that end at age 12 for their review ranges (i.e ages 8-12) unless I’ve heard Printz buzz about them. To see why I stick with three starred reviews despite this year’s winners not justifying that, see this old Someday My Printz post.

July 2019 Starred Reviews

July 2019 stars tally:

• 786 books published in 2019 have been awarded 1245 starred reviews as of the end of July. 2 books have 6 starred reviews, 8 books have 5 starred reviews, 32 books have 4 starred reviews, 74 books have 3 starred reviews, 173 books have 2 starred reviews, 497 books have 1 starred review.
• No new books with 6 starred reviews; 2 books move up to 5 starred reviews from  4 starred reviews; 2 books move up to 4 starred reviews from 3 starred reviews; 17 books have been added with 3 starred reviews

June 2019 Starred Reviews

June 2019 stars tally:

• 666 books published in 2019 have been awarded 1062 starred reviews as of the end of June. 2 books have 6 starred reviews, 6 books have 5 starred reviews, 32 books have 4 starred reviews, 59 books have 3 starred reviews, 148 books have 2 starred reviews, 419 books have 1 starred review.
• No new books with 6 starred reviews; 1 book moves up to 5 starred reviews from  4 starred reviews; 2 books with 4 starred reviews are new and 1 book moves up to 4 starred reviews from 3 starred reviews; 7 books have been added with 3 starred reviews

2020 Newbery Possibilities through May Stars

Just like with the Printz, there’s no April Newbery roundup – instead please enjoy this roundup that covers April and May.

For this blog’s purposes, contenders have three or more starred reviews and are broken down into these lists: Middle Grade Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Comics, Non-Fiction, Picture Books (Fiction and Non-Fiction), Easy Readers/Early Chapter Books, and Ineligibles.

Standard disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the Newbery committee and I have no knowledge of their official rulings on eligibility – I’m making my best guesses based on the terms and criteria and internet searches regarding citizenship/residency. For a more thorough breakdown of the criteria you can see my first Newbery post of the year or just go read the official word from ALSC.

As of the end of May there were 90 titles with three or more starred reviews which means there are 38 new books listed here. Lists are after the jump.

2020 Printz Possibilities through May Stars

You’ll notice there’s no April Printz update – I just didn’t get to it and it seems irrelevant at this point. Honestly, this May post almost feels irrelevant, but so many books were added to the May starred reviews list that I think it will be easier for me to do this one than skip it and add more with the June reviews! For information about criteria please see my first Printz post for this year or check out the official Printz criteria page.

90 (38 new between April and May) books have three starred reviews or more as of the end of May 2019. 40 (19 new) of those are picture books, poetry collections or novels with an audience that doesn’t fit the Printz age range so aren’t mentioned here at all. 24 (10 new) are young adult novels, 2 (1 new) is a young adult comic; 5 (1 new) are young adult non-fiction; 13 (4 new) are younger novel outliers and 6 (3 new) are other outliers.

The organization paragraph that repeats each month: This year I’ve organized contenders by format: Novels, Comics, Non-Fiction. There’s two outliers lists – one for younger novels and one for anything else (essay collections, short stories, younger comics, etc.). I’m still not including titles that end at age 12 for their review ranges (i.e ages 8-12) unless I’ve heard Printz buzz about them. To see why I stick with three starred reviews despite this year’s winners not justifying that, see this old Someday My Printz post.

May 2019 Starred Reviews

May 2019 stars tally:

• 606 books published in 2019 have been awarded 962 starred reviews as of the end of May. 2 books have 6 starred reviews, 5 books have 5 starred reviews, 30 books have 4 starred reviews, 53 books have 3 starred reviews, 130 books have 2 starred reviews, 386 books have 1 starred review.
• No new books with 6 starred reviews; 1 book moves up to 5 starred reviews from  4 starred reviews; 3 books with 4 starred reviews are new and 8 books move up to 4 starred reviews from 3 starred reviews; 22 books have been added with 3 starred reviews