The members of the 2022 Newbery Club have chosen the following titles as the best books of 2021.
The NENPL Mock Newbery winner is:
Born Behind Bars, by Padma Venkatraman
The club members have selected three honor books:
Starfish, by Lisa Fipps
Allergic, by Megan Wagner Lloyd
The Islanders, by Mary Alice Monroe
The official Newbery Award winner will be announced Monday, January 24, 2022:
https://www.ala.org/alsc/
View the complete Newbery Book Club Reading List 2022 below.
Come to the Northport building to check out great pre-publication titles.
Children entering grades 4 and up.
New members always welcome.
About The Newbery Book Club
Children in grades 4 and up can be the first to read children's books published this year with Mrs. Herskowitz, the Head of Children and Family Services. The Newbery Club was formed by Mrs. Gebel, a member of the 2006 Newbery Committee who retired from the Northport-East Northport Library in 2014.
Club members meet monthly to discuss books eligible for the Newbery Medal. Read the official guidelines for winning a Newbery Medal here.
The Newbery Club holds a Mock Newbery election in January to see if they can predict the book that will win the official Newbery Medal. Children may join at any time during the year.
Join The Newbery Book Club
The Newbery Book Club meets monthly at the Northport Library
Children in grades 4 and up can join at any time.
Click here to register if you would like to join the Newbery Book Club.
Meetings are held monthly throughout the year. Members read and discuss new books and participate in a Mock Newbery election at the end of the year. Members have access to books before they are published and have had opportunities to meet authors.
Newbery Book Club Reading List 2022
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The Islanders
Eleven-year-old Jake’s life has just turned upside-down. His father was wounded in Afghanistan, and his mother is going to leave to care for him. That means Jake’s spending the summer on tiny Dewees Island with his grandmother. The island is a nature sanctuary—no cars or paved roads, no stores or restaurants. To make matters worse, Jake’s grandmother doesn’t believe in cable or the internet. Which means Jake has no cell phone, no video games...and no friends. This is going to be the worst summer ever!
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The Year I Flew Away
After moving from her home in Haiti to her uncle's home in Brooklyn, ten-year-old Gabrielle, feeling bullied and out of place, makes a misguided deal with a witch.
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Willodeen
When the annual migration of hummingbears, a source of local pride and income, dwindles and no one knows why, Willodeen, armed with a magical birthday gift, speaks up for the animals she loves and vows to uncover this mystery.
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We Belong
Through a bedtime story to her daughters, a woman weaves together her immigration story and Pilipino mythology. Includes glossary, songs, and author's note.
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War and Millie Mcgonigle
Millie McGonigle lives in sunny California, where her days are filled with beach and surf. It should be perfect--but times are tough. Hitler is attacking Europe and it looks like the United States may be going to war. Food is rationed and money is tight. And Millie's sickly little sister gets all the attention and couldn't be more of a pain if she tried. It's a time of sunshine, siblings, and stress. Will Millie be able to find her way in her family, and keep her balance as the world around her loses its own?
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Starfish
Bullied and shamed her whole life for being fat, twelve-year-old Ellie finally gains the confidence to stand up for herself, with the help of some wonderful new allies.
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The Shape of Thunder
Estranged from the best friend whose brother killed her sister in a school shooting, a grieving Cora receives a message on her 12th birthday from her friend, asking for her help with creating a time portal to prevent the tragedy
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Set Me Free
Three years after being kidnapping from her home in Martha's Vineyard, fourteen-year-old Mary Lambert receives a letter from Nora O'Neal, a servant in the house where she was held, who tells her of an eight-year-old girl where she is now employed whom Nora believes to be a deaf-mute, but who is being treated as insane, and asks Mary to come and teach the nameless child; a little scared, but intrigued, and bored with domestic life, Mary agrees--only to find that there is more to the child's story, and that freeing her from a world of silence and imprisonment may be more dangerous than anyone anticipated.
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Room to Dream
While visiting family in China, Mia Tang witnesses some of the big changes the country is going through, which makes her think about the changes in her own life that need to be dealt with.
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Rescue
Rescuing an injured British spy found hiding in her grandmother’s barn, Meg agrees to guide a family of German refugees across occupied France to Spain in exchange for her father’s freedom from a Nazi prison.
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Pony
After his dad is taken away, Silas sets out with a mysterious pony on a dangerous journey across a vast American landscape to find him—a journey that will ultimately connect him with his past and future.
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The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as Told to His Brother)
Lucas struggles to believe his brother’s fantastical story explaining what happened to him during an agonizing six-day disappearance, an account that the other members of their community believe is made up
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Many Points of Me
Georgia Rosenbloom's father was a famous artist. His most well-known paintings were a series of asterisms--patterns of stars. There was supposed to be a fourth asterism, but Georgia's father died before he could paint it. Then Georgia finds a sketch herfather made of her. One with pencil points marked on the back--just like those in the asterism paintings. Could this finally be the proof that the last painting would have been of her?
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Life in the Balance
Practicing all of her life to earn a spot on the All-Star softball team, young Veronica explores other opportunities and hobbies when her mother’s rehabilitation expenses prevent her family from affording team fees.
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Kaleidoscope
The award-winning creator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret presents the story of two people bound to each other through time and space, memory and dreams, as they try to solve a mystery of grief and love.
The 2022 Newbery Club cart is filling up with ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies). Be the first to read books that will be published later this year.
Come in to the Northport Children's Room and sign out some of these exciting new titles.
- Allergic, by Megan Wagner Lloyd
- All You Knead is Love, by Tanya Guerrero
- Alone, by Megan E. Freeman
- Amber & Clay, by Laura Amy Schlitz
- Amina's Song, by Hena Khan
- The Anti-Book, by Raphael Simon
- The Beatryce Prophecy, by Kate DiCamillo
- Born Behind Bars, by Padma Venkatraman
- Clues to the Universe, by Christina Li
- The Curse of the Mummy, by Candace Fleming
- Dead Wednesday, by Jerry Spinelli
- The Elephant in the Room, by Holly Goldberg Sloan
- Finding Junie Kim, by Ellen Oh
- The Lion of Mars, by Jennifer L. Holm
- Gone to the Woods, by Gary Paulsen
- Ground Zero, by Alan Gratz
- The Islanders, by Mary Alice Monroe
- Just Like That, by Gary D. Schmidt
- Kaleidoscope, by Brian Selznick
- Life in the Balance, by Jen Petro-Roy
- Many Points of Me, by Caroline Gertler
- The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (As Told to His Brother), by David Levithan
- Pony, by R. J. Palacio
- Red, White, and Whole, by Rajani LaRocca
- Rescue, by Jennifer A. Nielsen
- Room to Dream, by Kelly Yang
- The Sea in Winter, by Christine Day
- Set Me Free, by Ann Clare LeZotte
- The Shape of Thunder, by Jasine Warga
- Starfish, by Lisa Fipps
- War and Millie McGonigle, by Karen Cushman
- We Belong, by Cookie Hiponia Everman
- Willowdean, by Katherine Applegate
- The Year I Flew Away, by Marie Arnold
After much heated discussion, our young readers have spoken.
The 2021 NENPL Mock Newbery is awarded to:
Born Behind Bars, by Padma Venkatraman
The club members have selected three honor books:
Starfish, by Lisa Fipps
Allergic, by Megan Wagner Lloyd
The Islanders, by Mary Alice Monroe
How to Write a review by Fionna
(a Newbery Club member)
A Newbery Award Winner:
- Stands above the other books
- Could be fiction, nonfiction or poetry
- Have a detailed setting and characters, well developed plot, clear theme
- Have the information presented to the reader clearly and accurately
How to Write a Newbery Book Review:
- First, write your full name (only your first name will show up in your review), your grade, the title of the book you will be reviewing and the book’s author in the spaces provided.
- When you write a review, remember what you thought about when you read the book. Did you like or dislike the characters? What did you think of the setting and plot? Tell the other readers about the plot, but don’t spoil the ending!
- If you liked the book, give a recommendation to the readers. Is this book better for elementary readers or middle school readers? If you did not like this book, tell why. What did you feel the book was missing?
- Once you’re done, click the “Submit Form” button at the bottom of the page to send your review to the Mock Newbery Page.
Have Fun Reading and Reviewing!!!
Post your Book reviews here.