Mock Newbery 2026 discussion

In 2009 Kathi Appelt won a Newbery Honor for The Underneath. A note from Cynthia Leitich Smith, “I think you should write something funny,” prompted her to write The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp. Do you think it could be a future Newbery?

while I thought it was cute I didn't find it particularly funny. I also don't feel it quite met the benchmark for Newberry. Of course I also felt that way about Ivan so what do I know.

http://richiespicks.pbworks.com/THE-T...

I liked this one, but I think my students will like it much more than I did. It was cute, but not really Newbery worthy, in my opinion, at least not this year. There are way too many really good books out there.

I felt like I knew where the story was going the whole time, and there was no surprise. I wonder if a child would feel the same way?

Yes, Yes and Yes! Loved this book but not sure if we are talking Newbery. Who knows this might be a slow year and then I would put it in the running.

I tend to agree more with richiespicks above. The adventure is in the telling, more than the conclusion.

I really enjoyed this book and think that many kids will also, especially the younger set. It was well paced, humorous and creative. Not sure about Newbery status but a great addition to juvenile fiction

My son and I are currently listening to her previous book, Keeper. Have any of you read that and what did you think of it. We LOVED The Underneath.

I read keeper and really enjoyed it better than The Underneath.

Melody wrote: "My son and I are currently listening to her previous book, Keeper. Have any of you read that and what did you think of it. We LOVED The Underneath."

Keeper is my favorite Appelt book, so far. And I am enjoying each subsequent book less and less. I also felt True Blue Scouts did not really hold any surprises. The format of super short chapters made it difficult to get invested in any of the characters, too.

I agree with Richiespicks as well. There is so much adventure in this story of all different kinds! And the sound effects and onomatopoeia, combined with the humor and conversational writing style would probably make this a great read-aloud book.

Newbery material? Maybe. Either way, it's still a fun read.

In my pursuit of the possible Newberry prediction, this very fun book comes closer than the others I have read so far. I absolutely love the voices in this romp through the swamp. Kathi Appelt gives us the voice of the Scouts themselves (raccoon brothers), the desperate grieving Chap, the ridiculously depraved Jaeger Stitch (alligator wrestler), the amoral, greedy Sonny Beaucoup and a third person narrator with a great sense of humor. These characters only scratch the surface though. As you can imagine the bayou is full of Characters, whether they are human, humanoid, or animal. Kathi Appelt brings them all to your living room to tell their story. I have read her The Underneath and was taken by her talent in writing personification. Beyond the fun characters and their stories that are all on a crash course to merge into a fabulous tale, this book would be a wonderful model for exploring the writer's craft. In our fourth and fifth grades we assign a unit on writing personification, or the giving human qualities to non-human or even inanimate objects. This story would be so wonderful to kick that unit off. The voice and point of view of the narrator is worthy of dissection for a mini-lesson also. Oh yes, she also has some extraordinary examples of onomatopoeia. I will let you look that one up. :) All in all, I loved this book, both its story and its writing! For now it is in the running for the Newberry.

The True Blue Scouts is my favorite Newbery contender so far! I enjoyed the writing style and the somewhat light-hearted theme in this fantasy novel. I will be recommending this book to teachers and students this Fall.

The only contenders i see are Paperboy and Navigating Early. Just my 2 cents worth.

I loved it. My favorite story moments always seemed to include the DeSoto, and how she made the cars story come alive.

I think I would have liked this book more if I had listened to it rather than read it. Its attractions - the palsy-walsy tone, the cavalcade of folksy characters, the amusing authorial asides - would have been foremost. But alas, I did read it, and couldn't help but notice the incongruous cultural references, the hop-skip-and-jump narrative, the plot contrivances, the generally overstuffed feeling of the book....(gosh, I'm sounding a bit humorless)

So I don't see the True Blue Scouts as a Newbery contender - but I will buy the audiobook for my library.

I loved this. I thought the writing was excellent, as were the characterizations. The storytelling was so strong--this really needs to be read aloud. I think it is my favorite so far.

Mary wrote: "I think I would have liked this book more if I had listened to it rather than read it. Its attractions - the palsy-walsy tone, the cavalcade of folksy characters, the amusing authorial asides - wou..."

Yes! I agree an audio of this would be better!

FYI: the audio is narrated by Lyle Lovett. You can hear a bit here: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Tru...

I tried to listen to Lyle Lovett's narration of Sugar Man Swamp but found it slow and flat. Now to read the book.

I listened to the excerpt and I tend to agree.

I listened to the audiobook and I think sticking with it is worth it. Lovett does start out kind of drab, but he totally warms up to the characters as the book goes on.

About the book in general: Applet is without question a gifted writer. I think sometimes that she neglects plot in service of her pretty sentences. As with KEEPER, I found SCOUTS to be unnecessarily repetitive at times. Also, I'm having trouble articulating the themes in this book. Bingo and J'miah are cute young critters trying to do their duty but often succumbing to temptation. Chap is bereaved and trying to be the man of the house. Jaeger and Sonny Boy are greedy. Grandpa Audie was pretty much perfect. The Sugar Man's main personality trait is being difficult to wake up. There are environmental themes going on, too. It's kind of a jumble, but maybe that's okay. It's a very well written jumble of fun.

I'm listening to it on audio right now, and while it did take me a while to get into Lovett's style, now I am loving it. I'm actually looking forward to my commute so I can keep listening! I'm not even halfway so I can't really give my opinion yet on whether it is newbery worth or not, but it's definitely really solid so far. Also, it's on the National Book Award longlist so it's worth considering.

By the end I was enjoying this light-hearted animal fantasy, but I had trouble getting into it. I felt it was well written, but I had trouble connecting to the characters at the beginning of the story. The narrator's voice is very prominent, folksy, and fun, but was just a storytelling device, not a true character. I think that one reason it seemed slow starting to me was that here were four distinct story lines at the beginning - the raccoon scouts, Chap and his mother, the hogs, and Sonny Boy and Jaeger. The swamp and the Sugar Man tie them together, but it isn't until Chapter 60 that all the lines begin to meet. That seems like a long time to wait - almost 200 pages.

Becky and all I agree that this one is slow and I think it will be confusing to students. Chapter 60 is too long to wait for these storylines to make that move. It might be another book that needs adult scaffolding to help children make a connection with a good story.

I kept thinking the writing mirrored Kate DiCamillo. The author would ask the reader to contemplate something every once in a while.The vocabulary was rich, I thought it was charming. Good mix of animal characters and humans. I liked it!

While I loved "The Underneath", I did not care much for this book and definitely would not put it into the Newbery catagory.

Melody wrote: "While I loved "The Underneath", I did not care much for this book and definitely would not put it into the Newbery catagory."

What titles do you consider to be contenders this year?

Wow! I finally got around to reading this book, and I am glad I didn't give up on it. Appelt catches the lyrical language of the South in a tender and engaging way. While I don't think this book was as griping as the Underneath it made me want to find woodpeckers, eat fried sugar pies, and even (guiltily) watch alligator wrestling! (: A great book for animal lovers and future ecologists!