When these books were published, I was in either the last semester of high school (Class of '96) or the first semester of college. With the intentions of becoming a high school English teacher, I certainly wasn't reading middle grade books so I had to read 4/5 of the 1997 Newbery books.
Posting summaries is getting rather boring, so I decided to dig up some information about the authors to share.
E.L. Konigsburg, the author of the 1997 medal winner, The View From Saturday, holds a place in Newbery history as the only author to win both a Newbery medal and honor award in the same year. Can you name the year and the titles? Source.
Nancy Farmer, author of the Newbery Honor Book, A Girl Named Disaster, actually believed that she had a twin brother that her parents gave up for adoption. She wasn't gullible enough to believe that he was turned into a lampshade, as her older sister claimed. Source.
Eloise McGraw was 81 years old when she received a Newbery Honor for The Moorchild. The state of Oregon has named a book award after her. Source.
Although she is from Virginia, Ruth White taught middle school in my home state of North Carolina.
She wrote a sequel to her 1997 Newbery Honor, Belle Prater's Boy. Has anyone read The Search for Belle Prater? Source.
Megan Whalen Turner's Newbery Honor Book, The Thief, is the first in a series. Four book have been published, with two more supposedly forthcoming. Source.
I plan to go on a hiatus from my Newbery Challenge until the YMAs for 2015 are announced. Last year, I had read 4/5 of the Newbery books before the were awarded. Time to read lots of 2014 books! My Newbery goal for 2015 is to read the medal and honors from 1996-1987.