Newbery Talk in the Library

We are lucky to have a great public library system and wonderful children's librarians at our Dublin Branch!  They have so much to offer our students and the kids love to see them when they visit the public library.  This week, Miss Tamara from the Dublin Library is coming in to talk to students about possible Newbery titles.  Today was the first day and I love to hear her thoughts and to listen in on the conversations .  She shared possible winners and some new books that probably wouldn't win but were fun anyway!  Students are most excited about learning about new books to read.  I did learn about a few books I didn't know about.  One I've added to my TBR stack are TRAPPED by Marc Aronson.

Our 5th Grade Newbery Club has also been busy reading books from our 2011 titles.  We've really just done free reading of lots of new books and especially of some that are getting some Newbery buzz. This group has been meeting since last January (they started as 4th graders and continued on this fall.)  This week I asked members to vote so that we could create a short list that kids could focus on over the next month or so.  Here is our Riverside Newbery Short List. I think they did a fine job--some great titles here!

INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN by Thanhha Lai

BIGGER THAN A BREADBOX by Laurel Snyder

TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE by Jessica Day George

THE ROMEO AND JULIET CODE by Phoebe Stone

HIDDEN by Helen Frost

SMALL AS AN ELEPHANT by Jennifer Jacobson

THE UNWANTEDS by Lisa McMann

A DOG'S WAY HOME by Bobbie Pyron