Editor’s Note

By Sharon Verbeten

What’s your favorite Newbery Medal-winning book? For me, hands down, it’s the book I most recommend at my library—Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book. (A close second is Last Stop on Market Street . . . but, wait, then there’s Flora & Ulysses . . . ).

OK, you get my point. It’s tough to pick just one; thankfully, we have one hundred years of fantastic literature to choose from! And all so different—the list now, thankfully, includes a picture book and a graphic novel, and more books from BIPOC authors are being rightfully honored.

Each year, I get excited to hear the Newbery winner’s acceptance speech, even though it was a bit different this year with the conferences—and the speeches and announcements—being held virtually. Still, these books and authors manage to get librarians most excited.

And why not? Many of the winners remember fondly how their public or school librarians helped them find just that right book when they were growing up. For many, libraries were safe, comfortable havens. For others, they were inspirational training grounds that offered escape in the form of tome travel.

In our Spring 2022 issue of CAL, we’ll celebrate the centennial of the Newbery Medal in stories and photos. If you have a story, anecdote, or photo from a Newbery celebration or banquet, please feel free to share it with me at CALeditor@yahoo.com. Maybe we’ll include it in our coverage.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s back to reading those predictions for next year’s medal—we gurus don’t always predict the winners correctly, but we do make lists of some of the very best books for all of us to enjoy. &

There’s only one R in Newbery! Sharon’s getting excited for the one-hundredth anniversary of the Newbery Medal, which we’ll celebrate in our Spring 2022 issue of CAL.