Mock Newbery Club 2023

The Berkeley Carroll Mock Newbery Club is a reading group for students in grades 4-8, formed and facilitated by BC Librarians in 2009. This year will mark the club’s fourteenth consecutive year as a cross-divisional, cross-grade reading group for students who enjoy taking on the challenge of reading independently with a critical eye. 

The Newbery Medal is a prestigious literary award given annually to the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The BC Mock Newbery Club provides an opportunity for students to read and discuss a selection of the best children's books published in the current year with other passionate readers. Members are required to evaluate the books they read in terms of the criteria and guidelines used by the Newbery committee and nominate their favorite books - the titles that they deem distinguished.  Mock Newbery members must read at least 50 pages of a book before they can reject it in favor of a new one.

This year, starting in early September, members will begin reading and meeting to discuss and evaluate the titles under consideration. They make a commitment to read at least 3 books by the middle of November and are encouraged to share responses and reviews of the books they have read which will be shared on this guide. Members will vote for their top choices to create a shortlist of approximately 5-7 books before Thanksgiving break. They are encouraged to read all the books on the finalist list by the start of January in preparation for the final vote which will determine the winners of BC's coveted annual Mock Newbery Medal and Honor awards!

Here are the contenders for the 2023 BC Mock Newbery award:

19 books in total (7).

"There are not many books about Covid. It's a happy book. It cheers up everything sad about it." 

"It really relates to all of us, and it's fun to hear about what other's experience might've been like. Most of us have experienced lockdown because of Covid-19."

"The plot was very relatable and it kept me hooked. Talks about Covid-19 in a child's perspective. It is something that happened to us so it is a very present book."

"Good research/representation. I could tell the author worked hard to research and they explained in so much detail! About people fighting for their rights."

"Good character development and relatable characters. It explains what life is like for people who have no home."

Selection resources:

Other Mock Newbery Clubs: