Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (review)
Going Bovine by Libba Bray
All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg (review)
North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley (review)
Everything is Fine by Ann Dee Ellis (review)
The Devil’s Paintbox by Victoria Mckernan (review)
SLOB by Ellen Potter (review)
Flygirl by Sherri Smith
When you Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (review)
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork (review)
We are meeting on January 3, 2010.
We’ve only got a couple of books that made both of our Mock lists (Wintergirls and North of Beautiful). Were you part of the panel choosing the books? Such an interesting process.
I chose the books for both lists with suggestions from a couple other staff members. I will host the mock Printz and a coworker will host the mock Newbery. A group of us routinely meet to discuss books but the mock selections are by far my favorite meetings. I only wish I knew how Newbery honor books were selected!
Don’t they have a weighted vote? Like 10 points for your first pick, 8 for your second, etc.? That way they can numerically rate the books. I could be off on this, but I think I read this on their rules page.
The details for selecting a Printz Honor book are defined by ALA but not for a Newbery Honor. I heard it was a secret known only to committee members.
From the ALSC FAQs:
How are the Newbery and Caldecott Awards chosen? What is the process?
During the selection meetings, the committee discusses all nominated and suggested books before beginning balloting. Each committee member votes for three books, with four points assigned to first choice, three points to second choice, and two points to third choice. To win, a book must receive at least eight first place choices and at least eight points more than any other book. Once a winner is chosen, the committee decides whether to name honor books and how many.
You’re right – it isn’t specified – but I would think that the runner ups with the highest votes are then discussed to see if they can agree on the honor books. Maybe they even do another vote.
After reading the Printz guidlines I suspect it is the same. From Printz:
Honor Books
All nominated titles are eligible for honor book consideration. Following the selection of a winner, a straw vote is conducted. Any title receiving no votes is removed from consideration. A formal, weighted ballot will follow. Based on the results of this ballot, the committee will decide if it wishes to name honor books and, if so, how many.