What do librarians do in their free time?

Read, read, and read! And, if they're lucky, talk about books.

That's what Ms. Claire did this weekend at a Mock Newbery discussion hosted by two wonderful librarians from the Oakland Public Library. What's a Mock Newbery, you ask? Good question.

When we talk about finding a great book in the library, one of the things older Emerson students sometimes look for is a fancy foil circle that shows a book has won a big award. You may remember that students vote for our own award each year, the California Young Reader Medal. But the biggest awards we look for are given by librarians and others who read children's books for a living, like:

• the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature
• the Coretta Scott King Award, which " is given to an African American author and an African American illustrator for an outstandingly inspirational and educational contribution. The books promote understanding and appreciation of the culture of all peoples and their contribution to the realization of the American dream."
• and the Pura Belpre Medal, which "is presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth."

In just two weeks, a committee will announce the winners of these awards for 2009. But sometimes librarians and other eager readers just wish they could make the decisions themselves. So they get together to have a "Mock," or pretend, Newbery.

This year, a group of thirteen readers gathered at the Oakland Public Library to talk about some of the most distinguished books of the year. We started with five hours, eight very different books to choose from, and a whole lot of coffee. We ended with a clear winner and two wonderful Honor books.

And the winner is...
The Porcupine Year, by Louise Erdrich!

Our two Honor Books were:

After Tupac and D. Foster, by Jacqueline Woodson (an Emerson favorite author!)

and

Alvin Ho: allergic to girls, school, and other scary things, by Lenore Look and illustrated by LeUyen Pham




I'm looking forward to writing more about these great titles later - for now, I'll let you know that I'm pleased and proud that the "Mock" committee came up with such great choices. Keep an eye out for all three books, coming soon to our Emerson library!