July 2016 Newbery Contender Update

The July journal data is entered – what has 3 or more starred reviews and is Newbery eligible? Read on to see – and remember, ignore the outliers at your own risk! To see a rationale for how I put together this list take a peek at the April Newbery Update.

Three lists: List one – traditional middle grade novel and non-fiction contenders, List 2 – outliers (picture books, graphics, titles for the upper age range), List 3: non-US authors (ineligible – IF my googling of nationality/residence is accurate).   123 titles have 3 or more stars as of the end of July. New titles are in bold.

Traditional Contenders (31 books):
As Brave As You by Jason Reynolds – 4 stars
Ashes by Laurie Halse Anderson
Beautiful Blue World by Suzanne LaFleur
The Best Man by Richard Peck – 5 stars
Booked by Kwame Alexander – 4 stars
Bubonic Panic by Gail Jarrow – non-fiction
The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle by Janet Fox
The Door By the Staircase by Katherine Marsh
Falling Over Sideways by Jordan Sonnenblick
Free Verse by Sarah Dooley
Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm – 4 stars
Garvey’s Choice by Nikki Grimes
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill – 4 stars
The Great White Shark Scientist by Sy Montgomery – non-fiction
Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eagar
Lucky Strikes by Louis Bayard
Maybe a Fox by Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee
Moo by Sharon Creech
The Most Important Thing by Avi – short stories
Ms. Bixby’s Last Day by John David Anderson
Pax by Sara Pennypacker – 4 stars
The Poet’s Dog by Patricia MacLachlan
Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo – 5 stars
Samurai Rising by Pamela S. Turner – non-fiction – 4 stars
Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard – 4 stars
Some Writer!: The Story of E.B. White by Melissa Sweet – biography
The Storyteller by Aaron Starmer
We Will Not Be Silent by Russell Freedman – non-fiction – 5 stars
The Wild Robot by Peter Brown – 4 stars
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk – 5 stars
The Wolf’s Boy by Susan Williams Beckhorn

Outliers (73 books):
¡Olinguito, de la A a la Z!/Olinguito, from A to Z! by Lulu Delacre – picture book – 4 stars
The Airport Book by Lisa Brown – picture book – 4 stars
American Girls by Alison Umminger – YA
Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit – top of Newbery age range
Anything But Ordinary Addie by Mara Rockliff – picture book biography
Are We There Yet? by Dan Santat – picture book
Ask Me How I Got Here by Christine Heppermann – YA
Best Frints in the Universe – Antoinette Portis – picture book – 4 stars
The Bitter Side of Sweet by Tara Sullivan – top of Newbery age range – 4 stars
Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina – YA – 4 stars
Character, Driven by David Lubar – top of Newbery age range – 4 stars
Cloth Lullaby by Amy Novesky – picture book biography
Coyote Moon by Maria Gianferrari – picture book
Cricket Song by Anne Hunter – picture book
Draw the Line by Laurent Linn – YA
Emma and Julia Love Ballet by Barbara McClintock – picture book
Essential Maps for the Lost by Deb Caletti – YA
The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis – YA
Flora and the Peacocks by Molly Idle – picture book
Frank and Lucky Get Schooled by Lynne Rae Perkins – picture book – 5 stars
Freedom in Congo Square by Carole Boston Weatherford – picture book – 4 stars
Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier – graphic – 4 stars
The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle – YA
Hank’s Big Day: The Story of a Bug by Evan Kuhlman – picture book
Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley – YA
Horrible Bear! by Ame Dyckman – picture book
I Am Pan! by Mordicai Gerstein – graphic
I Hear a Pickle and Smell, See, Touch & Taste It, Too! by Rachel Isadora – picture book – 4 stars
Ideas Are All Around by Philip C. Stead – picture book – 4 stars
Jazz Day by Roxane Orgill – poetry collection – 6 stars
Lion Lessons by Jon Agee – picture book – 4 stars
Little Chickies/Los Pollitos by Susie Jaramillo – picture book
The Memory Book by Lara Avery – YA
The Memory of Light by Francisco X. Stork – top of Newbery age range – 4 stars
Miss Mary Reporting by Sue Macy – picture book biography
The Music in George’s Head: George Gershwin Creates Rhapsody in Blue by Suzanne Slade – picture book biography
The Mystery of Hollow Places by Rebecca Podos – YA
Nobody Likes a Goblin by Ben Hatke – graphic picture book
One Day in the Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus Tree by Daniel Bernstrom – picture book
Owl Sees Owl by Laura Godwin – picture book
The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry – YA – 5 stars
Places No One Knows by Brenna Yovanoff – YA
Prairie Dog Song by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore – non-fiction picture book
The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater – YA – 4 stars
The Reader by Traci Chee – YA
Return by Aaron Becker – picture book
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys – YA
School’s First Day of School by Adam Rex – picture book – 5 stars
The Secret Subway by Shana Corey – picture book
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner – YA
Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book) by Julie Falatko – picture book – 4 stars
Spot, the Cat by Henry Cole – picture book
Steamboat School by Deborah Hopkinson – picture book
The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters – YA
Steeplejack by A.J. Hartley – YA
The Storyteller by Evan Turk – picture book – 4 books
Summer Days and Summer Nights ed. by Stephanie Perkins – YA short stories – 4 stars
Swap! by Steve Light – picture book
Thanks for the Trouble by Tommy Wallach – YA
There Is a Tribe of Kids by Lane Smith – picture book – 4 stars
Their Great Gift by John Coy – picture book non-fiction
Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie – picture book – 6 stars
This Is Not a Picture Book by Sergio Ruzzier- picture book
Twenty Yawns by Jane Smiley – picture book
The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles by Michelle Cuevas – picture book
Waiting for High Tide by Nikki McClure – picture book
We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson – YA – 4 stars
Wet Cement by Bob Raczka – poetry collection – 5 stars
When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons by Julie Fogliano – poetry – 4 stars
When Spring Comes by Kevin Henkes – picture book
When We Was Fierce by E.E. Charlton-Trujillo – YA
The White Cat and the Monk by Jo Ellen Bogart – picture book – 4 stars
You Never Heard of Casey Stengel?! by Jonah Winter – picture book biography

Non-US authors (19 books): (based on brief internet research-not the final authority)
A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston – Winston UK
Dara Palmer’s Major Drama by Emma Shevah – UK
Delilah Dirk and the King’s Shilling by Tony Cliff – Canadian
Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston – Canadian – 4 stars
Flannery by Lisa Moore – Canadian
Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard – Canadian
Golden Boys by Sonya Hartnett – Australian – 4 stars
Grumpy Pants by Claire Messer – UK
Half Lost by Sally Green – UK
The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge – UK – 6 stars
My Name Is Not Friday by Jon Walter – UK
The Nameless City by Faith Erin Hicks – Canadian
The Night Gardener by Terry and Eric Fan – Canadian
On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis – Dutch
Railhead by Philip Reeve – UK
Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton – Canadian
A Tangle of Gold by Jaclyn Moriarty – Australian – 4 stars
Unbecoming by Jenny Downham – UK – 4 stars
When Mischief Came to Town by Katrina Nannestad – Australian

For complete publication information on any of these titles check out the spreadsheet. Happy reading!