Newbery Books - Exodus Books

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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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Fiction & Literature

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Newbery Books

39 Items found Print

Active Filters:

Realistic Fiction,

8th grade (Ages 13-14),

Hardcover

	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)
	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)
	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 1^st edition from Greenwillow Books for 6th-9th grade 2006 Newbery Medal Winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	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) $4.00 (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) $19.99
	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
	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)
	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)
	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)
	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)
	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)
	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
	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 1^st edition from Delacorte Press for 6th-10th grade 2011 Newbery Award Winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $7.00 (1 in stock)
	New Land A Novel for Boys and Girls by Sarah Lindsay Schmidt from Robert M. McBride & Co. for 7th-10th grade 1934 Newbery Honor Book in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
	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 1^st 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)
	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)
	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)
	Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow from Disney-Hyperion for 7th-10th grade 2024 Newbery Honor Book in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $16.99
	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 A Story of Norwegian Lumbering in Wisconsin Land of the Free Series by Walter & Marion Havighurst, illustrated by Richard Floethe 1^st 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)
	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)
	When You Reach Me 1^st 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)
	Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck 1^st 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)

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