Mock Winners 2008 selected!

[Mary]

This morning, children's librarians and others interested in reading excellent books for children gathered for a Mock Newbery Election and discussion at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We selected one title as our 2008 Mock Newbery Winner and three titles as Honor books.

The Mock Newbery winner we selected for 2008 was FEATHERS by Jacqueline Woodson.

Our group selected three Mock Honor books. They are:
BONE BY BONE BY BONE by Tony Johnston
CRACKER by Cynthia Kadohata
THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET by Brian Selznick
We'd love to hear your comments about our selections! Feel free to post your comments on the ACPL KIDS blog at:
acplkids.blogspot.com/2008/01/acpl-mock-newbery-results-2008.html

Now we just need to wait (patiently) for the real announcement!

[Chris]

Great choices! I also really liked Night of the Howling Dogs. It will be interesting to see what books are chosen next week. I hope their picks are as good as yours were.

[Nonnie]

I'm surprised about Hugo Cabret, because the Newbery only judges the text, and not the pictures.

[Mary]

There is a post on this discussion board in the Recommended Titles of 2007 for the 2008 ACPL Mock Newbery folder entitled "The Invention of Hugo Cabret -- AUDIO!" that was started on Dec 27, 2007, 10:58pm which addresses this question. Here's what jlb had to say:

I considered adding my comments to the Hugo thread that is already going, but I then I thought that maybe the audio version of Hugo Cabret is a whole new animal to consider.

Unlike the rest of you, I have NOT read the book version of this. I have seen it enough to know that it includes movie stills and other great illustrations, but I was also aware of the controversey that was creating. So I deliberately shielded myself from the book and its storyline until I could get a hold of the audio version.

What did I think of the story? I loved it. It was great. Yes, I cared deeply for Hugo and the struggles he was in. I was hoping the automaton would give him that message from dad. On and on, I can say that I thought the story was gripping and echo all of the positive comments others have already posted about the book.

I really did not feel that I missed out on anything by not having pictures. The story felt very complete in its text.

Is there anything special to note about the audio version? There is some use of sound effects, though not a lot. The sound of the train and the clicking of heels stands out. The author states in his interview that he used sound effects similarly to the way they were used in silent films. He says he used the sound effects to move the story along in the same way he used the illustrations in the print version. However, in the book there are A LOT of illustrations, while I don't feel the audio used a great deal of sound effects.

The audio version comes with a DVD. "AHA!", you say, "that is where the illustrations are!" Not so. The DVD is an author interview. A few illustrations are shown as he is discussing creating the artwork for the book. But there is not a display of the book's illustrations to "fill in" for what you may have missed by listening to the audio rather than reading the print version.

So I say -- Consider it! I think this story stands firmly on its text.

Now, maybe I'll look at the print version.

It will be fun to see what the "real" Newbery committee selects!