On January 10, 2020, the members of the OPLbery Club chose what they consider to be the best books for kids published in 2019.
The OPLbery Club is a mock Newbery Club, and this is our 10th annual award. Club member have been meeting since May 2019. They’ve read a total of 31 books, and met monthly to discuss what they’ve read.
The final six on the shortlist were:
- The Line Tender, by Kate Allen
- The Next Great Paulie Fink, by Ali Benjamin
- The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise, by Dan Gemeinhart
- Eventown, by Corey Ann Haydu
- Planet Earth is Blue, by Nicole Panteleakos
- Pay Attention, Carter Jones, by Gary Schmidt
When the votes were tallied, the winner was almost unanimous:
Two honor book were also chosen:
Here are some comments from some of the club members:
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise:
“I loved the action, characters, and backgrounds.” (Sofia)
“I liked the twists and turns.” (Xander)
“I liked how the characters all fit in with the storyline.” (Celia)
“I really felt like I knew the main character.” (Amanda)
“My favorite part was when she was driving.” (Jason)
“It was funny and had a good amount of action.” (Max)
Planet Earth is Blue:
“I could really relate to the main character.” (Max)
“It was really sad when the Challenger exploded.” (Amanda)
“I liked the conflicts and the end.” (Sofia)
Pay Attention, Carter Jones:
“It was informational and entertaining.” (Amanda)
“It was interesting and not predictable.” (Celia)
“It had a good storyline.” (Jonathan)
Click here to see all the books the OPLbery Club read this year.