From: Martha Parravano <mparravano>
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 11:01:44 -0700

Dean Schneider wrote:20
<After the fact, medal winners might seem "predictable," but other good books were predicted, too. What about Preacher's Boy? King of Shadows? The Birchbark House? Dave At Night? It's important for us to keep our own lists of great books that didn't happen to win awards; that list is bigger than any of the awards lists. >

You go, Dean! I want to add a loud (that's me) second to Dean's plea to remember the books that go un-honored by the medal committees.They can't name them all--it would, of course, defeat the purpose of the awards. But I see it as my own responsibility to try to keep some of the unnamed ones alive. I admired and enjoyed Bud, Not Buddy, and don't in the least regret that it won the 2000 Newbery Medal. But the 1999 novels that will live longer for me are Lynne Rae Perkins's All Alone in the Universe (so clear-eyed and funny-?rbara Pym for the middle grades) and Susan Cooper's King of Shadows (not perfect but immensely powerful and moving). And I also loved The Trolls and Birchbark House and Dave at Night and The Lost Flower Children and .... too many good titles to let drift into oblivion!! Martha Parravano
Received on Thu 27 Jan 2000 12:01:44 PM CST