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

April 2019 Starred Reviews

Yes, you’re reading that right – this is just the April starred reviews list. I’ll be skipping the April Newbery and Printz updates in favor of moving right into entering May starred reviews in the spreadsheet.

April 2019 stars tally:

• 511 books published in 2019 have been awarded 794 starred reviews as of the end of March. 2 books have 6 starred reviews, 4 books have 5 starred reviews, 20 books have 4 starred reviews, 39 books have 3 starred reviews, 119 books have 2 starred reviews, 327 books have 1 starred review.
• No new books with 6 starred reviews; 1 book moves up to 5 starred reviews from  4 starred reviews, 4 titles with 4 starred reviews are new; 9 titles have been added with 3 starred reviews

2020 Newbery Possibilities through March Stars

Here’s my very late March roundup of Newbery titles. Please keep in mind this isn’t taking into account April and May stars. I’ll be adding those to the spreadsheet soon (I hope). I will probably skip April Printz and Newbery updates and just do one for each of those that covers both April and May together.

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 March there were 52 titles with three or more starred reviews which means there are 11 new books listed here. Lists are after the jump.