Newbery Award Winners

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park and Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins.


The two novels which I chose to complete this first blog over for my Newbery Award Winners are A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park and Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins.

First, the two of these books with which I am most familiar is A Single Shard, since I have actually taught this book to a class I had a few years ago.  Although I really enjoyed this book, most of my students simply hated it.  I taught this to a seventh grade class that I had.  Most of the students I had in this class were top students with above-average reading levels.  However, they seemed not to be able to relate to this book at all, and in fact, complained so much about reading it that I haven't taught it since.

Still, as for me, I really enjoyed reading this book.  The character development was superior, and the plot was not at all draggy; this was a very fast read for me. Once, I started it, I couldn't put it down.  Since I have children myself, I have a tendency to think about my own kids when reading about others, so I couldn't help but picture my own children when reading about the little orphan, Tree-ear.  I even found myself relating to Crane-man--the way he cared so much for Tree-ear and sacrificed what little he had to give him. 

In addition, I really believe that most children could relate to this book if they would just give it a chance.  Maybe, the way I taught the book caused my students to dislike it so much, but I really don't understand why they did.   Perhaps, they were too immature to appreciate what Tree-ear was going through or just simply couldn're relate to his plight at all.  However, after visiting this book again, I think I'm going to give it a second try and attempt to teach it again this year.  I really believe this novel can show children that even when failure seem inevitable, they should never stop trying and never give up hope for a better tomorrow.

The other Newbery book I read is Criss Cross by Perkins.  Honestly, I didn't get into this book and didn't really like it until I read the last two chapters.  However, these last two made the entire book worth reading for me; I even cried.   I feel that so many young people could relate to Debbie and her feelings that something "just isn't quite right" about her.  I see this everyday in my middle school students.  So many of them are just on the edge of discovering who they are and what they want to do with themselves that they feel that they don't fit in or belong anywhere, that something just isn't "quite right" about them.  I even remember feeling this myself when I was their age.  Who am I kidding?  I even have those moments today as a adult, so I was really able to connect to the characters in this book.  Also, the last part, when Debbie and Hector just seem to barely miss each other, made me catch my breath and almost scream.  I wanted them to see each other so badly. This part also made me wonder if I ever missed something like this in my own life; but, of course, I'll never know, which is probably for the best. 

After reading both of these Newbery Award winners, I can see why they are both exemplary books for children.  Both books try to show kids that even though childhood may seem lonely, many other kids are experiencing the same emotions and issues that they themselves are feeling and that they shouldn't give up.  They have a whole, new, long life in front of them full of opportunites that they may not be even able to imagine.  How exciting!