FINISHED: 
Auxier, Jonathan. (2018). Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster. New York: Amulet/Abrams.

[.]

STARTED:
Kinney, Jeff. (2018). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown. New York: Amulet/Abrams.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Rhodes, Jewel Parker. (2018). Ghost Boys. New York: Little, Brown/Hachette.

[.]

STARTED:
Hanlon, Abby. (2018). Dory Fantasmagory: Head in the Clouds. New York: Dial/Penguin Random House.

[LOVE THIS SERIES.]

*

FINISHED:  
Babbitt, Natalie. (1975). Tuck Everlasting. New York: Square Fish/Farrar Straus Giroux.

[.]

STARTED:
Helget, Nicole. (2017). The End of the Wild. New York: Little, Brown and Company/Hachette Book Group.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Snyder, Laurel. (2017). Orphan Island. New York: Walden Pond/HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Kullab, Samya. (2017). Escape from Syria. Buffalo, NY: Firefly.

[.]

*

FINISHED: 
Reynolds, Jason. (2017). Long Way Down. New York: Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

[.]

STARTED:
Snyder, Laurel. (2017). Orphan Island. New York: Walden Pond/HarperCollins.

[Newbery buzz.]

*

FINISHED: 
Ness, Patrick. (2017). Release. New York: HarperCollins.

[.] 

STARTED:
Williams-Garcia, Rita. (2017). Clayton Byrd Goes Underground. New York: Amistad/HarperCollins.

[Getting some Newbery buzz...]

*

STARTED & FINISHED: 
Chanani, Nidhi. (2017). Pashmina. New York: First Second/Roaring Brook.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Applegate, Katherine. (2017). Wishtree. New York: Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan.

[.]

STARTED:
Tagame, Gengoroh. (2017). My Brother's Husband. New York: Pantheon/Penguin Random House.

[.]

*

FINISHED: 
Lee, Mackenzi. (2017). The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue. New York: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins.

[.]

STARTED:
Applegate, Katherine. (2017). Wishtree. New York: Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Haydu, Corey Ann. (2017). The Someday Suitcase. New York: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins.

[Floridian fifth graders Clover and Danny are completely in tune, super-best friends, so when Danny becomes mysteriously ill, causing him to be unable to hang out and to miss a bunch of school, Clover starts to question who she is without her symbiotic other.  For her school science fair Clover decides that her project will be on Danny and an attempt to figure out what is ailing him, and then hatches a plan to get Danny to a new-agey clinic in Vermont that treated a classmate’s mother.  Haydu’s follow up to the exceptional Rules for Stealing Stars (HarperCollins, 2015) similarly doesn’t pull punches when it comes to heavy emotional situations but, rather, fully embraces them with a visceral, kick-in-the-gut reality, and her continual integration of science into the narrative – what it is, and what it means to be a scientist – keeps the reader questioning what they know.  Could Clover’s presence alone be helping Danny to feel better?  Clover’s never-waning devotion to her best friend is fully explored, with Clover even beginning to feel guilty for making a couple of new friends, and a depiction of a home life where she has to deal with a little brother who is on the autism spectrum and a truck driving father whom is frequently away add further character depth.  With a hint of magical realism, this is an examination of the line between where science ends and magic begins, positing that magic may just be science that we don’t yet understand.]

STARTED:
Cole, Henry. (2017). Bayberry Island [Brambleheart #2]. New York: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins.

[Liked the first one, thought that I'd review the second...]

*

FINISHED:
Tynion IV, James. (2017). The Backstagers: Volume 1: Rebels Without Applause. Los Angeles: BOOM! Box.

[Umm... this one is just... odd.  Not really at all what I was expecting.]

STARTED:
Haydu, Corey Ann. (2017). The Someday Suitcase. New York: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins.

[Her last middle grade book, Rules for Stealing Stars, came out during my Newbery year and was one of my favorites - so much so that I read it a couple of times.  It STILL lingers in my mind, even 2 years later.  There's just something viscerally affecting about it.  It's will definitely be one that I return to from time to time.]

*

FINISHED:
Madonna, Paul. (2017). On to the Next Dream. San Francisco: City Lights.

[.]

STARTED:
Thomas, Angie. (2017). The Hate U Give. New York: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins.

[I've only read the first 2 chapters, and it's already devastating...]

*

FINISHED:
Wiesner, David and Donna Jo Napoli. (2017). Fish Girl. New York: Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

[.]

STARTED:
Bertman, Jennifer Chambliss. (2017). The Unbreakable Code [Book Scavenger #2]. New York: Henry Holt/Macmillan.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Oh, Ellen [Ed.]. (2017). Flying Lessons & Other Stories. New York: Crown/Random House.

[.]

STARTED:
Bryan, Ashley. (2016). Freedom Over Me. New York: Simon & Schuster.

[The last of this year's Newbery winners that I need to read.]

*

FINISHED: 
Whitehead, Colson. (2016). The Underground Railroad. New York: Doubleday/Penguin Random House.

[.]

STARTED:
Marciano, John Bemelmans. (2016). Mischief Season [Witches of Benevento, Book 1]. New York: Viking/Penguin Random House.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Messner, Kate. (2016). The Seventh Wish. New York: Bloomsbury.

[.]

STARTED:
Tyler, Anne. (2016). Vinegar Girl. New York: Hogarth/Penguin/Random House.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Telgemeier, Raina. (2016). Ghosts. New York: Scholastic.

[.]

STARTED:
Cole, Henry. (2016). The Somewhat True Adventures of Sammy Shine. Atlanta: Peachtree.

[.]

*

FINISHED:

Ryan, Pam Muñoz. (2015).  Echo.  New York: Scholastic.

[SO PLEASED to now be able to list this one here on the blog.  Obviously, as it was on of our Newbery Honor books, it's one that I read A NUMBER of times last year.  Also cool to now read it to just... read it.  No more note-taking and intense scrutiny.  Just able to read it for the FANTASTIC piece of fiction that it is.]

STARTED:
Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker. (2015). The War That Saved My Life. New York: Dial/Penguin.

[Re-reading before meeting the author at the ALA Annual conference.]

*

FINISHED:
Eagar, Lindsay. (2016). Hour of the Bees. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[(SPOILER!)  Not bad...  Tuck Everlasting is just one of the most ABSOLUTE classics in my eyes, so anything approaching this territory is under heavy scrutiny.  To me, it's just such a fantastic question to hit kids with:  if you could live forever, would you?  It's the kind of dilemma that can bring up so many fascinating discussions.  This one mines some of the same territory, but comes at it from a much more direct (ok, I haven't read Tuck Everlasting in awhile... so I'm kind of guessing here) message of "live in the now, not for the future".  Since this one takes place in modern day, there are questions surrounding how no one - especially those at the nursing home who surely would've given Grandpa a thorough medical check-up before admitting him - can tell that there are folks in this town that seem to be living a lot longer than usual.  Quibbles aside, this really could end up being one of the better novels of the year.]

STARTED:
Tyler, Anne. (2015). A Spool of Blue Thread. New York: Knofp/Random House.

[I love me some Anne Tyler, and normally I read new ones immediately upon their release.  BUT, last year was my Newbery year so anything beyond what was eligible for consideration of the award had to wait.]

*

FINISHED:
Martel, Yann. (2016). The High Mountains of Portugal. New York: Spiegel & Grau/Penguin Random House.

[.]

STARTED:
Eagar, Lindsay. (2016). Hour of the Bees. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[.]

*