Mock Newbery 2026 discussion

Is The Real Boy a top Newbery contender?

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

Picking up my copy tomorrow. Can't wait to start!

I get the books off audible and then listen to them while doing housework. This book has already drawn me in. I hope the middle and end are as good as the beginning.

This is from my review: I can't help but compare The Real Boy to Jinx, which is another great addition to the fantasy genre that came out this year. Jinx followed a more traditional fantasy path than The Real Boy. It had a more fleshed-out cast of characters overall (think of how much better you know Simon than Caleb). It had a clearer journey and more funny, whimsical bits (there are only brief whiffs of humor in Oscar's life). I think Jinx is the more enjoyable book, but The Real Boy is more out-of-the-box and has more gravitas, which may be why it was long-listed for the NBA and Jinx was not (though that doesn't explain how A Tangle of Knots made the list).

I'm a little stumped about how this will fare as a Newbery pick. I read for great characters and great language, so I liked The Real Boy, but I think there's something deeply unsettling about it, which keeps me from loving it. I think it's only a cryptic spoiler to say that the end suggests the death of magic. Bummer.

Even though I would rate this PG it's dark enough to seem more YA than Children's to me. Of course, that would sort of apply to The Graveyard Book, too, and that did pretty well with the Newbery committee.

I really enjoyed this book. In fact, I can't seem to get myself into a new book because nothing I start seems as good (does that ever happen to you?). I loved the author's writing style and I thought the book touched on the idea that to live and enjoy life you have to be willing to accept that there will be the chance of loss or suffering. I have no idea if this book will win a Newbery, but I think it could certainly get an honor. The other thing about this book is the main character seems to have Asperger's. I thought the hero's struggle to understand what others were thinking was well done.

I too thought that the main character was Autistic. I wondered if this was intentional to help these kids identify with his frustration to be able to connect to people. How wonderful that the author chose to point out that he had something to help the young female apprentice and she could in turn help him with his social skills. It seems to be in the running for the Newbery but I am not feeling 100% that this is THE ONE

I think this author's writing is excellent but I think the plot in Real Boy, and in Breadcrumbs, stumbles at times. I finished Real Boy confused as to what the message was -- magic is evil? I did love the main character -- I think the author's own son has either autism or Asperger's. The character's pain and frustration at his own limitations was very well drawn.

I loved this book! All the fantasy elements were wonderful, and there were a lot of great characters. I'm still rooting for Doll Bones for Newbery, but I definitely think The Real Boy is a strong contender.

I found this fantasy novel a bit of a clunker. It took forever to get into, but I stuck with it because I found Breadcrumbs readable and the Cronus Chronicles series is popular at my library.

I think my problem was with the main character, Oscar. On the one hand, he was presented as having a very sophisticated understanding of his duties as assistant to a magician, and often performed these duties independently. On the other, he was shown as almost simple-minded when dealing with people*. As a result, the dialogue in the book often failed to move the plot along, and, worse, became tediously repetitive.

The extreme disjunction between his exterior and interior lives undermined Oscar’s credibility as a character. It weakened the plot as well. (How could he make the intuitive leaps from the stated history of the island – of people suffering – to speculate about present-day problems?)

The plot strained credulity, anyway. (SPOILER ALERT….) Caleb AND Wolf killed? A terrible monster so easily destroyed? Children made out of wood who were “sick” because they were missing “something”? (Had to keep Callie in the story somehow.) And such an elaborate explanation was required to resolve all the narrative threads.

What did I like? The author’s often distinctive descriptions of the natural world, but this wasn’t enough to carry the book. I will look forward to Ms. Ursu’s next effort.

(*Other comments indicate that Oscar’s behavior is supposed to be modeled on a child with Asperger’s. Many other authors have handled this theme well; here, it is heavy-handed and detrimental to the narrative.)

I also had difficulty getting drawn into the story, but stuck with it because of all the positive buzz. Thinking it over, I wish this story had been fleshed out to a darker YA story. The reader would've had more time with different characters, making their departures more meaningful. Also, I think the treatment of Oscar and his condition could've been more three dimensional and subtle. I don't feel it is Newbery worthy, but wouldn't be surprised to see it included as an Honor book.