Printz, Newbery, & Caldecott Predictions

In preparation for my trip to ALA Midwinter this weekend, and in the midst of a snow day in Boston, I’ve been thinking about my Newbery and Printz predictions (Caldecotts, too, although I’m not as obsessive on that end). Every year since my first as a children’s librarian in 2006, I’ve put together a list of the titles I think will get recognized.

Now, to be very clear, these are not necessarily the titles I want to win, so much as the titles I think will win. Over the years, I’ve noticed some trends in the lists, and I like to think I have some idea how libraries on a book committees tend to think, having served on several myself. The thing about awards committees is that they are always very contingent on the individual personalities involved. A committee with a different makeup will likely create a very different list. The general public consensus may gravitate towards one title but that does not mean it will win the biggest awards there are for children’s literature in America. (Remember, Charlotte’s Web failed to win the Newbery the year it came out.) At the end of the day, it all comes down to the vote! (And then, of course, the big reveal, at the ALA Youth Media Awards, which everyone can livestream here.

Right, right, right. . . the predictions!

Caldecott

Winner:

The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee

Honor Books:

Draw by Raul Colon

Viva Frida by Yuyi Morales

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett, illus. Jon Klassen

Newbery

Winner:

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Honor Books:

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming

The Riverman by Aaron Starmer

The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

Printz

Winner:

Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future by A.S. King

Honor Books:

100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith

Poisoned Apples by Christine Hepperman

Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero

Complicit  by Stephanie Kuehn

(Also, a caveat: I have not necessarily read all of these titles. But I have read most of them!)

Can’t wait for Monday to find out who the real winners are. There are always some surprises that leave me scratching my head. . . and then immediately inter-library-loaning that book!