All in newbery

Thimble Summer (1939)

Thimble Summer is the first winner set in the Great Depression. And while I’m sure it does a fine job reflecting the realities of growing up in the ‘30s, it also makes it seem like a really boring time to be a kid.

The White Stag (1938)

Seredy’s lavish illustrations and luxurious phrasing help take the edge off of the grizzlier points of the story, but this is still a whacked-out fever dream that reads like Terrence Malick directing a Rob Zombie flick.

Waterless Mountain (1932)

Waterless Mountain, a deep dive into Najavo (Diné) culture written by Laura Adams Armer, is the first Newbery book I haven’t been able to borrow from the local library, and after reading it, I’m bummed that it’s one I purchased for my own collection.

Gay-Neck (1928)

Gay-Neck is, hands down, the best title to win the Newbery Medal as of 2020. What is a gay-neck? Why is it hyphenated? What makes it gay? Is it only the neck that’s gay, or are some other body parts at least bi-curious?

Smoky the Cowhorse (1927)

Will James’s life certainly doesn’t have the markings of a traditionally celebrated children’s author—he spent a year in Nevada State Penitentiary for stealing cattle, moved around between stunt work and the Army, and developed a serious drinking problem that sent him to the grave at age 50.

The Dark Frigate (1924)

Poor Charles Boardman Hawes. In 1922, his sophomore novel, The Great Quest, came runner-up to The Story of Mankind for the inaugural Newbery Medal. By the time he won the prize in 1924, he’d been dead for nearly a year, cut down by a sudden bout of pneumonia.