My vote goes to...

The 2011 John Newbery medal will be awarded tomorrow morning, as well as a plethora of other awards. I tried my best this fall to read many of the contenders for the award. Here they are with a short summary and review.

1. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

I'm not sure what the hype was over this novel except that its subject centers around the Black Panther movement in Oakland, California. Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern are sisters from Brooklyn whose mother left them when Fern was still nursing. Delphine is now eleven, and her father thinks it's a great idea for the girls to spend the summer with the mother who abandoned them and wants nothing to do with them even when they get there.

The sisters spend their days at the local People's Center, where they eat breakfast and lunch and attend a children's class to learn about the "people's revolution." The reader hopes for the tender moment when the mom will begin to see the error of her ways, look at her girls, and realize she loves them and needs them in her life. It doesn't quite happen that way. This isn't enough of a historical fiction novel that you'll learn anything new, and it wasn't a story that I could put in my students' hands and they would love me for it. It was okay.

2. Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm

This is another story set in the past (1935) that doesn't really doesn't have anything to do with the history of the time. This time the daughter, Turtle, is being sent to live with her aunt and cousins in Key West because her mother's new employer doesn't like children. There is a bit of adventure and a bit of self-discovery. I purchased this for the classroom, and while it was enjoyed by a few, the book fell apart too quickly, and who wants to read a book with its pages falling out? Overall, not the winner, but still a light-hearted read.

3. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

Whoa! Searched this on Amazon just using "strange case," and this title appeared before Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Crazy. While this strange case isn't as classic as the latter, it was still a good read. I knew the kids would love it because the book, from its cover to its pages, are set up similar to the Wimpy Kid books, it has an origami Yoda on the front, and directions for how to make one it the back. That was really the best of this book for my students, the how-to directions.

Many students used this book for their reading response journals, and I was surprised to find many of them were unimpressed with the story. The biggest complaint? The story lacked character development because each chapter was merely a "case file" with a new character's personal account of his or her interaction with Dwight/OY. They felt the book was a bit gimmicky and that the sixth graders weren't relatable. Did I mention my reading students ARE sixth graders? I was pretty impressed with their observations, and I think author's should take note to remember whom they are writing for. Don't get me wrong; they will still pick this up because it is a quick and easy read. They call this kind of book (just like the Wimpy Kid books) a "break" from real reading.

4. Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper

This is the story of a girl with cerebral palsey. Melody is highly intelligent with a photographic memory, however she is unable to speak and is confined to a wheel chair because she is unable to control her body in the least. As she gets older, she becomes more and more frustrated that no one understands her. The only way to try to get her point across is by throwing a fit, and that doesn't always lead the recipient to guess correctly why Melody is upset.

Melody eventually gets a medi-talker and is finally able to communicate with those around her. However, it doesn't solve all her problems. People still view her as "retarded" because of the way she looks and acts, including a teacher at her school. (That ticked me off.)

Again, I was hoping for a Rudy moment, where underdog Melody can show everyone up, but the end takes a surprising turn that I didn't much enjoy.

5. My pick for this year's Newbery medal goes to Countdown by Deborah Wiles. The only reason I think it may not win is because it is very similar to last year's winner, When You Reach Me, sans time travel. This is a fun story of a fifth grader named Franny who has to deal with her best friend hating her for no good reason in the midst of the Cuban missile crisis.

This book has to be read, not listened to on audiobook, because it is part documentary, part fiction. I read this aloud to my students, and I knew, even with scanning the pictures, showing actual footage from YouTube of Bert the Turtle and JFK's speech, as well as playing the music Franny listens to in the story, that they still needed to see the words on the page. In almost every chapter there are historical quotes and lyrics to songs interspersed in the story. It sounds confusing to the students when I go from reading the narrative to reading the lines for "It was an itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikini that she wore for the first time..." I just began skipping reading those parts because my kids kept asking, "Huh?" Also, Franny's thoughts can be random and strung together, having nothing to do with the current situation, so I would sometimes skip over her rambles.