Be a Newbery Blogger

I am officially part of The Newberry Project where I will read books that received the John Newbery Medal and review it on their blog.  You may recall that I have recently reviewed two of such books, Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata was the 2005 Newbery Medal Awardee, and When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead got the same award in 2010.

So what is the John Newbery Medal anyway?  According to my very reliable and smart friend Wikipedia:

"The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association.  It is named for John Newbery, an 18th century English publisher of juvenile books. . .The Newbery and the Caldecott Medal are considered the two most prestigious awards for children's literature in the United States." (ALA). The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. It was the first children's literary award in the world."

The Newbery Project is open to everyone, and if you are interested to be part of it, visit their blog and follow the instructions for registration.  It's fairly easy to join and participation is always open.  I asked and they said it's all right to post a book review there that you have previously posted on your blog, provided you have a right to post it and you're not under a contract giving away the rights to your article.  I already posted my first review there for Kira-Kira.  I'm really excited about this as I feel like I have a more valid reason why I review books, especially young adult and children's fiction.  Plus, I have a new excuse for reading more books - nothing can beat that!