I\u2019m blogging after the fact about my attendance at ALA Midwinter Meeting 2018. Saturday afternoon was the highlight of the conference for me, because it was the first meeting of the 2019 Newbery Committee!!!!!<\/p>\n
Our first meeting is not, actually, closed to anyone outside the committee. So \u2013 I can even post my notes about it.<\/p>\n
Our chair is Ellen Riordan. 12 of the 15 of us were there. (The first meeting is strongly recommended, but not required.) We introduced ourselves and told about a past Newbery winner or honor book that meant a lot to us. I mentioned The Thief<\/a><\/em>, by Megan Whalen Turner, as I love the intricate plot that fools the reader, as well as the wonderfully drawn characters.<\/p>\n I thought about mentioning The Blue Sword<\/a><\/em> or The Hero and the Crown<\/a><\/em>, both by Robin McKinley, as they are the past winners I love the most. But I think excellent plotting or the opposite may end up being a theme of my committee service. (It has been when I\u2019ve served on Cybils committees.) I thought maybe I should give the committee fair warning. (Besides, I love The Thief<\/em>, too.)<\/p>\n Other books that were mentioned were The Witch of Blackbird Pond<\/a><\/em> (another one I love!), Island of the Blue Dolphins, Holes, Caddie Woodlawn, The Perilous Gard<\/a>, The Giver, A Single Shard<\/a>, A Wrinkle in Time<\/a>, Call It Courage, Out of the Dust, Lincoln: A Photobiography,<\/em>, and The Hundred Penny Box<\/em>. It\u2019s fun how knowing a favorite Newbery helps you know about people.<\/p>\n Ellen gave us a pep talk first. We\u2019re all so thrilled to be here, and she reminded us what a luxury it is to be on the committee. Every committee is different, but we\u2019re beginning with respect: For the child reader and for each other. Toward the child reader, we\u2019re keeping a sense that what\u2019s being said is important. Toward each other, we will learn to listen to each other.<\/p>\n We will need to read past our own personal taste and to know our own biases, both objective and subjective. We will get familiar with the manual, particularly the criteria and eligibility. Our sense of the criteria will grow with us as a committee. The process works!<\/p>\n We talked about the timeline and calendar. We\u2019re going to be sending suggestions to Ellen by the 15th of each month. We should only suggest if the book is striking and we think it\u2019s distinguished. (I will have to shift gears from looking for the best 100 books of the year in Capitol Choices to looking for the best few<\/em>.) A guideline is: \u201cIf you\u2019re wondering about it, try to say No.\u201d <\/p>\n By the end of each month, Ellen will send us the list of what has been suggested. We are required to read everything suggested. (This is why we shouldn\u2019t go overboard.)<\/p>\n She told us to make room in our house for all the books publishers will send us! Someone asked how many books to expect. She said we\u2019ll end up with \u201chundreds.\u201d She wouldn\u2019t give a number to how many hundreds, but it will be more than one hundred.<\/p>\n Then we talked about protecting the integrity of the award. She recommends going off social media altogether. At the very least, we should stop \u201cliking\u201d publisher posts about publishing. The important thing is never to give the impression a title is being considered. All titles written by an American author and published by an American publisher in 2018 are eligible \u2013 but don\u2019t ever communicate which books are getting attention from the committee.<\/p>\n We were reminded that the world is watching us. So we must not talk about books online. \u201cAnything that appears to be a conflict\u201d is the problem.<\/p>\n All our communication is confidential, and we should only communicate about committee work through Ellen. We don\u2019t want to have side conversations about books, because the whole committee is going to work together to make the decision.<\/p>\n She reminded us: \u201cTake joy in every moment.\u201d (Yes!)<\/p>\n We had a special guest speaker for the last half of our meeting, Deb Taylor, who\u2019s been on numerous committees.<\/p>\n Her first piece of advice was: Trust the process!<\/p>\n We will go from being individuals to being a group.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a joyous experience.<\/p>\n Reading is very personal, but do remember that we\u2019re standing in for the kids, reading for our child readers, not for ourselves.<\/p>\n Deb\u2019s experience has taught her not to question a committee\u2019s choice. You simply don\u2019t know what they considered or what factors made the difference. Only those people know.<\/p>\n