Monday, January 08, 2007

And the winner is....

Nineteen of us duked it out yesterday afternoon, but the results were conclusive:

Winner
A Drowned Maiden's Hair

Honor Books (in alphabetical order)
Alabama Moon
The King of Attolia
A True and Faithful Narrative

When the real committee finishes, they then sit around and write a press release telling the world exactly what is so distinguished about these titles. Instead, I'll invite those who participated to add comments here.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I only hope that I agree as wholeheartedly with the actual Newbery winner & honor books as I do with these.

12:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This was my first time participating in a mock Newbery and I had a blast! I wholeheartedly recommend this experience for library science students and new librarians as a way to exercise your critical reading muscles. On our committee there were writers and so it was interesting hearing them talk about the writing from their perspective (I work in a library).

11:26 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Participating in the Nina’s Mock Newbery Discussion was an immensely fun experience—one to be remembered. It was terrific to discuss the books with others who enjoy reading as I do!

Here are my comments about the chosen winners and honor books.

“A Drowned Maiden’s Hair” is a greatly original work that proves to be of great entertainment and literary value. This book presents to the reader a somewhat tight and seemingly play-like narrative. The pace never lags, never rushes, it is always comfortably steady. The author brilliantly shows how far you will let yourself and your morals go to be loved; supporting such, with nuances of changes in the characters and views of the characters during the course of the book. “Alabama Moon” stands out for its realistic, excellently drawn, delineated and presented characters and character relationships. The author presents an interesting and well-created plot as well as quality writing. “The King of Attolia” is an intriguing book about intrigues, with amazingly well-crafted central characters. It is interesting how the author uses the character, Costis, to put the reader in the mind of an Attolian. Thereby, she provides the reader an Attolian’s-eye-veiw on the changes in the Attolian’s opinions of the king, and the changes to the king himself, while developing Costis’ character as well. The author manages to presents a unique, somewhat dark, yet bemusing writing style with matching touches of humor. Finally, “A True and Faithful Narrative” is a solid entertaining piece of historical fiction written with great elegance and unique feeling. This book is notable for its tenacious, to a degree vivacious, surprisingly endearing, and never bad-intentioned main character, Meg. The author really deposits readers into the times, by providing an amazing and eye-opening view of women’s rights in the 1600’s. The writer’s talent is highlighted by successfully giving her character the mind of a Twenty-First Century woman activist while still confining her and her solutions to the Seventeenth Century.

Thanks Again Nina and the other wonderful participants!
Billy

1:13 PM  

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