Newbery Books

Click here for a complete list of Newbery Medalists, organized by year with ratings, FLAWS, and links to book reviews.

Once upon a time there was a bookseller. His name was Frederic G. Melcher, and he knew in his heart that books for children were just as important as books for adults, if not more so. Why, he wondered, are they so often ignored? He thought and thought, and decided in the end that it didn't matter why; what mattered was that he did something to change all that.

He did. In 1921, he proposed the Newbery Award to the American Library Association, a prize named for 18th-century English bookseller John Newbery to be given to the most distinguished American children's book published the previous year. The Association's Executive Board approved the idea, much to the joy of children's librarians everywhere, and the first Newbery Award was given in 1922.

The express purpose of the medal was "To encourage original creative work in the field of books for children. To emphasize to the public that contributions to the literature for children deserve similar recognition to poetry, plays, or novels. To give those librarians, who make it their life work to serve children's reading interests, an opportunity to encourage good writing in this field."

Melcher's brainchild was the first children's book award in the world, and remains the measure of all the others. He went on to initiate the Caldecott Award for best illustrated children's book, and together the Newbery and the Caldecott provide an important standard for evaluating children's books in the United States and beyond. 

Between 2012-2014, our friend Caleb undertook the project of reviewing ALL the medalists, which he completed (he wrote a sad summary of his journey here). While that is essentially done (we haven't managed to keep it up), we're now gathering information to compile reviews for the honor books! If you'd like to be a part of that process, we invite you to join us at the Facebook group "The Newbery Books Discussion Group."

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91 Items found Print
Active Filters: 8th grade (Ages 13-14), Hardcover
Abraham Lincoln's World (pictorial hardcover)
by Genevieve Foster
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Historical Non-fiction for 7th-10th grade
1945 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
American Plague
by Jim Murphy
from Clarion Books
for 4th-8th grade
2004 Newbery Honor Book, 2004 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner, NCTE Orbi Pictus Award
in New Nation (1783-1800) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$21.99
Americans Before Columbus
by Elizabeth Baity, illustrated by C.B. Falls
from Viking Press
for 5th-10th grade
1952 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Apprentice of Florence
by Ann Kyle, illustrated by Erick Berry
from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-8th grade
1934 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Audubon
by Constance Rourke, illustrated by James MacDonald
from Harcourt, Brace & World
for 7th-12th grade
1937 Newbery Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Banner in the Sky
by James Ramsey Ullman
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1955 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Better Known as Johnny Appleseed
by Mabel Leigh Hunt, illustrated by James Daugherty
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 5th-9th grade
1951 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Big Tree of Bunlahy
by Padraic Colum
from Macmillan
for 5th-8th grade
1934 Newbery Honor Book
Black Cauldron
Prydain Chronicles #2
by Lloyd Alexander
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
1966 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Black Cauldron
Prydain Chronicles #2
by Lloyd Alexander
Revise Edition from Henry Holt and Company
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
1966 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Bomb
by Steve Sheinkin
First Edition from Flash Point
for 5th-9th grade
2013 Newbery Honor Book, 2013 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
$24.99 $14.00 (1 in stock)
Boy Who Was
by Grace Taber Hallock, illustrated by Harrie Wood
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 4th-8th grade
1929 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Boy with a Pack
by Stephen W. Meader, illustrated by Edward Shenton
from Harcourt, Brace & Company
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Bridge to Terabithia
by Katherine Paterson
First Ed from HarperCollins
Fantasy for 5th-9th grade
1978 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.00 (2 in stock)
Bright Island
by Mabel Louise Robinson
75th Anniversary Edition from Random House Books for Young Readers
for 5th-8th grade
1938 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Bright Island
by Mabel Louise Robinson, illustrated by Lynd Ward
4th printing from Random House Books for Young Readers
for 5th-8th grade
1938 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham, illustrated by John O'Hara Cosgrave II
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Carver: A Life in Poems
by Marilyn Nelson
from Boyds Mill Press
for 7th-11th grade
2002 Newbery Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Honor Award
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.95
Codfish Musket
by Agnes Hewes, illustrated by Armstrong Sperry
from Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc.
for 8th-12th grade
1937 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$45.00 (1 in stock)
Corner of the Universe
by Ann M. Martin
from Scholastic Press
for 5th-8th grade
2003 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Criss Cross
by Lynne Rae Perkins
1st edition from Greenwillow Books
for 6th-9th grade
2006 Newbery Medal Winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Dark Star of Itza
by Alida Malkus, illustrated by Lowell Houser
1st edition from Harcourt, Brace & Company
for 5th-8th grade
1931 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Dear Mr. Henshaw
by Beverly Cleary
from William Morrow & Company
Realistic Fiction for 5th-9th grade
1984 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Downright Dencey
by Caroline Dale Snedeker, illustrated by Maginel Wright Barney
from Doubleday & Company
Realistic Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1928 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$22.00 (1 in stock)
Echo
by Pam Muñoz Ryan
First Ed from Scholastic Press
for 7th-10th grade
2016 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Freewater
by Amina Luqman Dawson
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-8th grade
2023 Newbery Medal Winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$16.99
Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon
by Dhan Gopal Mukerji
from Dutton Juvenile
for 4th-9th grade
1928 Newbery Medal winner
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$14.00 (2 in stock)
Giver
by Lois Lowry
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 7th-10th grade
1994 Newbery Medal winner
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman
from HarperCollins
for 6th-9th grade
2009 Newbery Medal winner
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Have You Seen Tom Thumb?
by Mabel Leigh Hunt, illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 6th-10th grade
1943 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
High King
Prydain Chronicles #5
by Lloyd Alexander
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
1969 Newbery Medal winner
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
High King
Prydain Chronicles #5
by Lloyd Alexander
Revised 1999 Edition from Henry Holt and Company
Fantasy for 4th-8th grade
1969 Newbery Medal winner
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Higher Power of Lucky
by Susan Patron
from Atheneum
for 4th-8th grade
2007 Newbery Medal Winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Hitler Youth
by Susan Bartoletti
from Scholastic Press
for 7th-9th grade
2006 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
$21.99
Hitty: Her First Hundred Years
by Rachel Field, illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop
1969 printing from Macmillan
for 5th-9th grade
1930 Newbery Medal Winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Horsecatcher, The
by Mari Sandoz
from Westminster Press
for 6th-10th grade
1958 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
I, Juan de Pareja
by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño
1994 Printing from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Realistic Fiction/Slavery for 5th-8th grade
1966 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Invincible Louisa
by Cornelia Meigs
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-8th grade
1934 Newbery Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Island of the Blue Dolphins
by Scott O'Dell
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic Fictio for 5th-8th grade
1961 Newbery Medal Winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.00 (2 in stock)
Jane's Island
by Marjorie Hill Allee, illustrated by Maitland de Gogorza
from Riverside Press
Realistic fiction for 6th-10th grade
1932 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Johnny Tremain
Illustrated American Classics
by Esther Forbes
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 3rd-10th grade
1944 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Julie of the Wolves
"Julie" Trilogy Book 1
by Jean Craighead George
from HarperCollins
Adventure for 4th-8th grade
1973 Newbery Medal winner
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Julie of the Wolves
"Julie" Trilogy Book 1
by Jean Craighead George, illustrated by John Schoenherr
from HarperCollins
Adventure for 4th-8th grade
1973 Newbery Medal winner
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Knee-Knock Rise
by Natalie Babbitt
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 5th-8th grade
1971 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Lincoln: A Photobiography
by Russell Freedman
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1988 Newbery Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (3 in stock)
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
by Gary D. Schmidt
from Scholastic Inc.
for 7th-9th grade
2005 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Lone Journey
by Jeanette Eaton, illustrated by Woodi Ishmael
from Harcourt
for 7th-10th grade
1945 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Maizy Chen's Last Chance
by Lisa Yee
from Yearling
for 4th-8th grade
2023 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$16.99
Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams
by Daniel Nayeri, illustrated by Daniel Miyares
from Levine Querido
for 6th-9th grade
2024 Newbery Honor Book
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$21.99
Meggy MacIntosh
by Elizabeth Janet Gray, illustrated by Marguerite de Angeli
from Viking Press
for 7th-10th grade
1931 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Missing May
by Cynthia Rylant
from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
1993 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Moccasin Trail
Puffin Newbery Library
by Eloise J. McGraw
9th impression from Coward McCann
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1953 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$35.00 (1 in stock)
Moon Over Manifest
by Clare Vanderpool
1st edition from Delacorte Press
for 6th-10th grade
2011 Newbery Award Winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
My Brother Sam Is Dead
by James & Christopher Collier
from Simon and Schuster
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1975 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Nansen
by Anna Gertrude Hall, illustrated by Boris Artzybasheff
from Viking Press
for 6th-10th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
New Land
by Sarah Lindsay Schmidt
from Robert M. McBride & Co.
for 7th-10th grade
1934 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Nicholas: A Manhattan Christmas Story
by Annie Carroll Moore, illustrated by Jay Van Everen
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 5th-8th grade
1925 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Ood-Le-Uk the Wanderer
by Alice Lide & Margaret Johansen, illustrated by Raymond Lufkin
from Little, Brown & Company
for 4th-8th grade
1931 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Out of the Dust
by Karen Hesse
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
1998 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Out of the Flame
by Eloise Lownsbery, illustrated by Elizabeth Tyler Wolcott
from Longmans, Green & Co.
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
1932 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Pigtail of Ah Lee Ben Loo
by John Bennett
from Longmans, Green & Co.
for 3rd-8th grade
1929 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Pran of Albania
by Elizabeth Miller, illustrated by Maud & Miska Petersham
from Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc.
for 6th-10th grade
1930 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Pran of Albania
by Elizabeth Miller, illustrated by Maud & Miska Petersham
1930s printing from Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc.
for 6th-10th grade
1930 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$115.00 (1 in stock)
Railroad to Freedom
by Hildegarde H. Swift, illustrated by James Daugherty
1960 printing from Harcourt, Brace & World
for 5th-8th grade
1933 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Red Sails to Capri
by Ann Weil, illustrated by C. B. Falls
from Viking Press
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
Newbery Honor
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Road from Home
by David Kherdian
from Greenwillow Books
for 7th-9th grade
1980 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Roller Skates
by Ruth Sawyer, illustrated by Valenti Angelo
from Viking Press
Realistic fiction for 5th-8th grade
1937 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$17.00 (1 in stock)
Runner of the Mountain Tops
Junior Literary Guild
by Mabel Louise Robinson, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Random House
for 7th-10th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Scary Stories for Young Foxes
by Christian McKay Heidicker, illustrated by Junyi Wu
First Ed from Henry Holt and Company
for 4th-8th grade
2020 Newbery Honor Book
$16.99
Simon Sort of Says
by Erin Bow
from Disney-Hyperion
for 7th-10th grade
2024 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Slave Dancer
by Paula Fox
from Simon and Schuster
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
1974 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Slave Dancer
by Paula Fox
from Simon and Schuster
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
1974 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Slave Dancer
by Paula Fox, illustrated by Eros Keith
from Bradbury Press
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
1974 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Song of the Pines
Land of the Free Series
by Walter & Marion Havighurst, illustrated by Richard Floethe
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
1950 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Sounder
by William H. Armstrong
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-8th grade
1970 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Spice and the Devil's Cave
by Agnes Hewes, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-10th grade
1931 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
String in the Harp
by Nancy Bond
from Atheneum
for 4th-8th grade
1977 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Swords of Steel
by Elsie Singmaster, illustrated by David Hendrickson
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
1934 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Tales from Silver Lands
by Charles J. Finger
1971 printing from Doubleday & Company
for 4th-8th grade
1925 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (2 in stock)
Three Times Lucky
Mo and Dale Mysteries #1
by Sheila Turnage
Reprint from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
2013 Newbery Honor Book
in Mystery & Suspense (Location: FIC-MYS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Trumpeter of Krakow
by Eric P. Kelly, illustrated by Angela Pruszynska
from Macmillan
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1929 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Up a Road Slowly
by Irene Hunt
from Follett
Realistic Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1967 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Vaino
by Julia Davis Adams, illustrated by Lempi Ostman
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 6th-10th grade
1930 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Voyagers, The
by Padraic Colum, illustrated by Wilfred Jones
from Macmillan
for 4th-8th grade
1926 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
When You Reach Me
1st edition from Wendy Lamb Books
Newbery Medal Winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Whistler's Van
by Idwal Jones
from Viking Press
for 6th-9th grade
1937 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Wish in the Dark
by Christina Soontornvat
1st edition from Candlewick Press
for 5th-9th grade
2021 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$17.99
Year Down Yonder
by Richard Peck
1st edition from Sun Dial Press
for 4th-9th grade
2001 Newbery Award Winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze
by Elizabeth Foreman Lewis, illustrated by Ed Young
from Henry Holt and Company
Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1933 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze
by Elizabeth Foreman Lewis, illustrated by Ed Young
1963 Printing from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1933 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Young Mac of Fort Vancouver
by Mary Jane Carr, illustrated by Richard Holberg
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 5th-8th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (2 in stock)