Announcing the Winners!

And once again, the Newbery committee baffles everybody... No, really, the ALSC awards were just announced, and as promised, there were a few surprises. Though in my opinion, the Newbery winner does fit a certain profile: realistic fiction, often historical, and not a book in a series. (Think Criss-Cross, Kira-Kira, The Higher Power of Lucky, etc.) Here's a partial list of the award winners.

Newbery Award: Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

Newbery Honors: Dark Emperor by Joyce Sidman (poetry collection), Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus, One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia, and Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm

Caldecott Award: A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Erin Stead

Caldecott Honors: Dave the Potter by Laban Carrick with illustrations by Bryan Collier; Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein

Printz Award (teen/YA): Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Printz Honors: Stolen by Lucy Christopher, Nothing by Janne Teller (translated by Martin Aitken), Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick, and Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

Geisel Award (early reader): Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee, illustrated by Tony Fucile

Geisel Honors: We Are in a Book! by Mo Willems and Ling and Ting: Not Exactly the Same by Grace Lin

Coretta Scott King Award: One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

Pura Belpré Award: The Dreamer by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award: Terry Pratchett

Random Thoughts for Your (Possible) Edification:

--One Crazy Summer was much talked about for the Newbery win and didn't get it, but the book is still an astonishing winner overall, garnering a Newbery Honor, the Coretta Scott King award, and the Scott O'Dell award for historical fiction this year.

--Jennifer L. Holm has one of the hottest careers in children's fiction. This is her third Newbery Honor award for historical fiction, after Penny from Heaven in 2008 and Our Only May Amelia in 2000, and she is also the writer of the bestselling Babymouse graphic novel series for middle grades with her brother, illustrator Matthew Holm.

--To no one's surprise, the Printz winners are all deep, dark, depressing books. But hey, if you're up for that, enjoy!

--Not one, but two of the winners for younger readers have metafiction themes: Interrupting Chicken and We Are in a Book!

--Fantasy didn't do so well this time around, unless you count the fact that YA winner Ship Breaker is dystopian science fiction. (Oh, and, as Charlotte of Charlotte's Library points out, Terry Pratchett is another fantasy star with his body-of-work award!)

--Picture book people are shocked that neither Art and Max by David Weisner nor City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems and Jon J. Muth got Caldecott recognition. But Willems did earn that Geisel Honor.

--Megan Whalen Turner's A Conspiracy of Kings was also overlooked. I'm guessing it got dinged for reading a little older and for being part of a series.

--The big coup here is that Moon Over Manifest is Clare Vanderpool's first novel. Go Clare!

For additional winners/the complete list, go to the ALSC website.