Mock Newbery 2026 discussion

The winner of our Mock Newbery is:


Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk

Do you agree with our choice? Do you think Wolf Hollow has a chance of winning the Newbery? Do you think this book appeals to kids?

More importantly... "Is it Distinguished?"

Let us know...

I work for a popular bookstore outside of NYC. I have seen a few teachers purchase this book recently. It has been languishing on our shelves since it was released. I chat up as many new books as I can when they are introduced. This was a title the children showed little interest. Wild Robot, Pax, Raymie Nightingale and Ghosts by Telgemeier were the top sellers in my children's department.

I am not a fan of this book. Maybe it is distinguished but I didn't enjoy it and it is not something I will widely recommend. I understand reader appeal is not part of the criteria for winning the award but I think there are books that are distinguished and appealing.

I did not personally enjoy Wolf Hollow & I don't think it will appeal to most of my elementary readers. As I did not find the writing to be distinguished, I don't plan to purchase it even if it does win a Newbery.
While I disagreed with last year's winner, this year I am actually hoping a picture book will win or get honored. I really wasn't wowed by any of the middle grade chapter books I read this year. Having said that, I did personally enjoy The Girl Who Swallowed the Moon very much! So my prediction is that the Newbery will skew toward YA or picture books this year.

I thoroughly enjoyed Wolf Hollow and definitely felt like it was distinguished. However I teach 5th grade, and while I put it on my bookshelf, it's not a book I am very comfortable sharing with students. Perhaps I would feel differently if I taught middle school, but I feel the content may be too much for a typical student in my classroom.

There is a hopelessness throughout Wolf Hollow that never dissipates. It felt very unsatisfying to me. I don't think many children will be enamored by it.

It was okay...every kid I talked to who read it (or started it) didn't enjoy it. Granted, it was only 8 kids...but they are strong readers and do like the meatier stuff. I thought it was okay. http://revingsblog.blogspot.com/2016/...

I run a Mock Newbery at my middle school, and all the students (mostly 6th and 7th graders) who read Wolf Hollow loved it! My staff book club also really liked it, but they don't get a vote. :-) Amazing writing.

I do think the book is distinguished. I hope it wins some type of Newbery Award. I loved it the first time I read it, and now that I am on my second time of reading it, I am so wowed by the artistry of the language that Wolk uses. Many of my students do like the book, but the majority of my classes were enamored with Pax.

Wolf Hollow has been my top choice ever since I read it. It has place #2 in the first round of our school Mock Newbery, round 2 not done yet. I really hope it wins!

I enjoyed it, and I thought it dealt with many issues that are still going on today (bullying, etc.). But there are so many titles that this group didn't read and weren't included in the voting on here, and I have a feeling the winner will be one of those books. Wolf Hollow could get an honor, though, as I feel it's similar in feel to the honor books from last year.

Yes, I think this deserves the Medal, for its strong storytelling, complex character development, and distinctive language. The conclusion will not be easily dismissed by a young reader. I do think this is a middle-school, not middle-grade, book.

One book we did not discuss - and which I just managed to finish a couple of days ago - was Cloud and Wallfish. The author, Anne Nesbet, handled this multi-layered story of the end of the Cold War with aplomb. Adults will like how well she recounts the historical developments of the period in question; kids will be fascinated by the main characters (and their parents....). I wonder if it will get any Newbery recognition.

Cloud and Wallfish is a stand out. I'm sure the committee will give it serious consideration. It is a distinguished, well-written book.

Mary HD wrote: "Yes, I think this deserves the Medal, for its strong storytelling, complex character development, and distinctive language. The conclusion will not be easily dismissed by a young reader. I do think..."

I, too, recently finished CLOUD AND WALLFISH and wish it had received more attention.

I hope you're right and Cloud and Wallfish gets recognition. It was my favorite of the year.

Thanks Kristen for moderating this Mock Newbery group. And thanks to everyone who posted to the discussions. I have really learned a lot about how a group reaches a decision about an award winning book. Looking forward to the press conference on Monday.

We had our first ever Mock Newbery at our school ( Lowell Middle School) Lowell Middle School.

Wild Robot was our winner.

Wolf Hollow and Maxi's Secret tied for 1st runner up
Moo was 2nd runner up
Booked was 3rd runner up.


I would love to know more about how different people run their mock dewberry's. Our's went well, but we have already decided to do somethings differently. I can find lots of blogs about which books people choose, but not how they run it.

The 2017 Newbery awards are:

Newbery Medal -


The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

Honor Awards -



Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan by Ashley Bryan

The Inquisitor's Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz

Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk

Do you agree with their choice?

Will have to read Freedom Over Me but surprised that another picture book was honored with Newbery. Proud to say I read the other three thanks to the suggestions of this group.

So happy with the winner! I adored The Girl Who Drank the Moon! I must admit I didn't read widely this year, but I picked up a few middle grade novels and had them autographed at The Princeton Children's Book Festival. Barnhill's book was my favorite by far. I think this must be how it feels like when your team wins The Super Bowl!

Freedom Over Me was a surprise but overall I think our instincts were spot on! All of the honored books were worthy of the Newbery. What will we read next?

I would not classify Freedom Over Me as a picture book. It is for older readers, and it is poetry/nonfiction. It is quite an accomplishment. You should read it!

If you have any comments about The Girl Who Drank the Moon lets begin the discussion here. Did you find it distinguished?

I loved it. I didn't read it until the end of December and as soon as I finished it was a favorite. The writing is so lyrical and the story is beautiful. I found the middle a bit long.

I've only read the book once. It will be the next read aloud to my students after Wolf Hollow, so my opinion might change somewhat. (A second reading often does that.) I loved the cover of the book. That is what drew me in, plus all the raving reviews I read. The book is a whopping 388 pages, which doesn't bother me, but after the first 100 pages, the middle part became boring. Although a few chapters after the first 100 kept me reading because I loved reading the chapters that focused on Antain's point-of-view and the madwoman's point-of-view. I even loved reading about Ethyne's point-of-view, who wasn't in the story that much. But when the story focused on Luna, Xan, Glerk and Fyrian in the woods, the story dulled a bit. A good story, though.

Czechgirl wrote: "It will be the next read aloud to my students after Wolf Hollow, so my opinion might change somewhat. (A second reading often does that.)"

Me, too, but I find I often like them less after reading them out loud. I think Pax I ended up liking slightly more, but usually, the read-aloud exposes things like corny dialogue or bad pacing that I missed reading it on my own. The worst example of this was It's Like This, Cat.

"The book is a whopping 388 pages, which doesn't bother me.)"

That's almost a deal-breaker for me as far as classroom usage. Most of the books that work well with my students come in around 200, up to maybe 250. Harry Potter is the only thing that sustains their interest longer than that. I find that if I do a read-aloud for about 10 minutes a day, a 200 page book takes a little over 1/3 of the school year. So 388 would be a bigger commitment than I would want to make.

Phil--I read aloud a lot in my class, but I seem to only find that I can get in 4 or 5 novels a year. We have spring break the second full week in March. I will be finishing Wolf Hollow the second to last week in February. This gives 2 weeks and a half to start The Girl Who Drank the Moon. Even with those stinking standardized testing days, I will be able to finish GWDtM by end of the school year, with the last week by a lot of reading aloud. This year, I only will get 4 read aloud books in. My books I read aloud this year were/will be: The Wild Robot, Pax, Wolf Hollow and The Girl Who Drank the Moon. The students have absolutely loved all three of the first ones mentioned.

Czechgirl wrote: "Phil--I read aloud a lot in my class, but I seem to only find that I can get in 4 or 5 novels a year. We have spring break the second full week in March. I will be finishing Wolf Hollow the second ..."

It's cool that you switch out books. I know a lot of teachers that do the same book year after year.

Phil--Thanks. I feel it is my responsibility to introduce them to something new--not what has been presented to my students in the past. For example, a student of mine said this year to read aloud Margaret Haddox Peterson because her teacher last year read aloud, Among the Hidden. I reply, "Yes that's a great book, but now you know about her books. I think it is up to you to discover other books she has written." Plus--I think my students get the idea I love Newbery. I do book talks to books I've read in the past that I think they might like to read on their own, and of an author I do not think they are aware of.

I did read The Girl Who Drank the Moon and loved it. I was so happy that a fantasy novel won the Newbery this year. Unlike other reviewers above, I did not find that the novel slowed down in the middle; I was captivated throughout. I loved the way all the various threads came together; as well as the beautiful writing.

I enjoyed Girl Who Drank the Moon but have to agree it seemed a bit lengthy and dull in middle. Beautiful writing throughout book so it is easy to see why it won the Newbery.

Read GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON, which I liked....but thought some of the characters were underdeveloped, and as a result some of the plot points seemed arbitrary. Called to mind the JINX trilogy, which was considerably more engaging (and funnier).

(ranked Wolf Hollow 5 stars, not Girl Who Drank the Moon, which I would rank 3 stars)

I could not "get into" The Girl Who Drank the Moon. I stopped reading about 1/3 of the way through and tried it out on audiobook, hoping it may help. It didn't, so I plodded through it. While I enjoy fairytales, this one seem to be lengthy without much direction, purpose, or intrigue. I was surprised it won the Newbery.

Barb wrote: "I could not "get into" The Girl Who Drank the Moon. I stopped reading about 1/3 of the way through and tried it out on audiobook, hoping it may help. It didn't, so I plodded through it. While I enj..."

I feel kind of bad saying it but none of the books that won the Newbery this year were popular with kids in my busy bookstore. If fact, most of them I had to ship back to the publisher because of little to no sales since their release date. What the kids loved was Raymie Nightingale, Pax and The Wild Robot.

Laura wrote: "Barb wrote: "I could not "get into" The Girl Who Drank the Moon. I stopped reading about 1/3 of the way through and tried it out on audiobook, hoping it may help. It didn't, so I plodded through it..."

I see around 70 students. I am a reading teacher. We held a Mock Newbery. Our winner was Pax. Our honors were The Wild Robot and Wolf Hollow. All the kids were voting for Pax and The Wild Robot. We just included Wolf Hollow b/c one student read it and it had become a recent favorite. He did a really good book talk on it--You know bully, her being missing and a loner being suspected of the crime(s). That Wolf Hollow got enough votes for us to put it in the honors section. Although, now that more students have read Wolf Hollow, it probably would have received more votes, but the students still gripe to this day why Pax didn't win.

I did not find Girl Who Drank the Moon distinguished. My review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

This experience affirms my habit of writing reviews. I went into this book with high hopes. It's in a genre I like with a relatively unusual plot, and it got great reviews from people I trust. And yet, it didn't do much for me, and I couldn't figure out why until I sat down to write about it.

I too was disappointed in The Girl Who Drank the Moon which was recommended to me by Pernille Ripp herself, among others of whom I highly value their book recommendations. I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was that I didn't like but you did a great job in your review; I'll co-sign your points on the plot and the theme. I've not read anything else by Kelly Barnhill so I've ordered The Witch's Boy for comparison purposes.

Something else I've been mulling on The Girl Who Drank the Moon was the chapter that seemed to mimic John 1:1. It said something like, "In the beginning, was the Bog, and the Bog was with the world..." etc. Did that stick out to anyone else? How do you think it was intended?

Phil wrote: "Something else I've been mulling on The Girl Who Drank the Moon was the chapter that seemed to mimic John 1:1. It said something like, "In the beginning, was the Bog, and the Bog was with the world..."

I did notice that and you pose a good question. Is the author implying that the Bog is a type of Christ?

Kelly Barnhill is very responsive on twitter. Someone should ask her about this connection!