Fifteen of My Favorite...Award Winners!

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.
Every once in a while I participate in this one when I either
1) Like the theme, and/or 2) Have the time!

This week's topic:

Fifteen of My Favorite...Award Winners!

BONNIE: Okay, so....this is very, very subjective.

AND I've probably forgotten books that I really loved that were award winners. These aren't necessarily the Top Ten EVER. Or possibly even my ten favorite EVER. But they're fifteen of my favorites and I thought of them all off the top of my head...and couldn't narrow them down!!!

But I was inspired by yesterday's ALA Awards--especially the fact that I'd read quite a few of the winners AND had been rooting for two in particular to win Awards.

So....here are some of the Award Winners I've loved most!

***While the first few are newly minted winners, I promise that I mix it up a bit!!!***

In no particular order...

1) THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON by Kelly Barnhill

Yesterday, THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON won the Newbery Award. IT WON. OMG!!! I was so incredibly thrilled. This was my FAVORITE middle-grade novel of 2016. I didn't think it would actually receive a Newbery, because EVERY TIME I fall in love with a MG (usually fantasy!) and want it to get nominated, it doesn't. So the fact that it just won the whole enchilada!? I AM SO HAPPY!!!

My Review

2) THEY ALL SAW A CAT by Brendan Wenzel

I was rooting for this book to get a Caldecott nod, and I was so happy that it received a Caldecott Honor yesterday! Every time I mentioned I wanted this book to win, people either thought I was crazy or were intrigued. I just love the science of this book and the way it makes kids and adults alike see differently!

MY REVIEW



3) THE QUEEN OF BLOOD by Sarah Beth Durst

I was completely taken by surprise yesterday when THE QUEEN OF BLOOD was chosen for an Alex Award. It's not as well-known to the masses as some of the more prestigious awards, but it recognizes adult novels with broad YA appeal. I've been reading Sarah Beth Durst since my blog was first created--ICE was the second book I EVER reviewed. I'm so happy to see her FINALLY getting some major recognition!!!!

MY SPOTLIGHT



4) ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doerr

This book has won soooo many awards, including the highly coveted 2015 Pulitzer Prize! (Keeping it YA-themed, it ALSO won a 2015 Alex Award for having broad YA crossover appeal!) In 2015, when I heard how many Best Of lists this book was making, I decided to check it out. I downloaded a free sample onto my nook on Christmas Eve--and then bought the e-book because bookstores and libraries were closed for a couple of days and I HAD TO READ THE BOOK. I devoured this, even though historical fiction isn't my thing. It's soon good!


MY REVIEW



5) DOLL BONES by Holly Black

To quote Hamilton, I was in "the room where it happens" in 2014 when this book won a Newbery Honor. I was lucky enough to attend ALA Midwinter because it took place locally, and watching the Awards LIVE and not at home on my computer via a livestream was like a dream!!! I actually managed to pick up a copy of DOLL BONES for review that day, and it was the very first book I read from the convention! I loved Holly Black's look at growing up, when kids are at that tricky stage where they're neither a kid nor a teen yet, and just starting to experience changes. Kids may not pick up on these elements unless they're going through them themselves, but I loved that aspect of the novel!

My Review

6) THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern

This won a 2012 Alex Award for its broad YA crossover appeal. The book looked gorgeous--totally worth buying in hardcover, by the way!! And the words? So, so gorgeous. This is definitely in my Top 20 Favorite Books EVER List, and even though I have NO CLUE what Erin Morgenstern's sophomore novel will be about, I already want to read it. Beautiful, beautiful book! (And if you loved 2016's highly-buzzed about THE CROWN'S GAME by Eveyln Skye, or next week's hotly-anticipated CARAVAL by Stephanie Garber, then you need this book in your life, too!!!)

My Review

 

7) FINDING WINNIE by Lindsay Mattick

This 2016 Caldecott Winner made me CRY. I had NO CLUE that Winnie the Pooh was based on a REAL bear or that his name came from Winnipeg, Canada. The fact that this book was written by the great-granddaughter of the man who found and saved Winnie, and that it's framed around her telling the story to her son? OMG, this book made me so emotional!!!

My Review

8) ELLA ENCHANTED by Gail Carson Levine

This 1998 Newbery Honor Title was my favorite book EVER. I'm afraid to ever read it again because nostalgia makes me love it so much, you know? I'd "outgrown" fairy tales by the time I read this. But this and the movie Ever After made me like fairy tales again. Cinderella knows the prince ahead of time AND she gets to save HIS butt. Love!!! I've read all of the author's books, and felt especially lucky to meet her a couple of years ago. I bought a copy and had it autographed to my niece GabriELLA, and can't wait until she's old enough to read it!!!

 

9) PRINCESS ACADEMY by Shannon Hale

This 2006 Newbery Honor cemented my love of Shannon Hale. I had read her YA novel THE GOOSE GIRL and wanted more from her. I loved the fact that the MC doesn't necessarily want to marry the prince and is breaking the mold. I also love the story of family and friendship and loyalty woven through this novel. Plus, the GIRL is the one to kick butt!! So much love for this novel!!!

 

10) GRACELING by Kristin Cashore

GRACELING has won many awards, including a 2009 William C. Morris nod (which means it's an exceptional debut novel). This book is one of my absolute favorite YA fantasy novels. It made me fall back in love with YA after I'd "outgrown" it and reminded me of my high school favorite author Tamora Pierce. This book will always hold a special place in my heart--and I'm SO excited that Kristin Cashore has a new novel coming out in late 2017!!!



11) THE THIRTEENTH TALE by Diane Setterfield

My third all-time favorite book by ANYONE is this book, which won a 2007 Alex Award for having broad crossover appeal. I was living overseas when this came out and got emails from both Barnes and Noble AND Borders with excerpts. The writing style captured me immediately, and I immediately ordered the book from Amazon Japan, even though it wasn't cheap and I really couldn't store a lot of books overseas and largely did without...because then they'd all have to go home with me! E-readers really weren't a thing yet at that time. But it was so worth it, because this book was so stunningly good, and it immediately earned a high place on my Most Favorite Books EVER list!

 

12) THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson

This one received a 2012 William C. Morris nod for debut novel! I'd picked it up because it had been blurbed by Tamora Pierce--and I was going to a book signing at Books of Wonder in NYC and both women were on a panel together. I wound up really falling for Elisa and how strong she becomes as the story progresses, because she's initially so weak. And now? Now I would read the dictionary if Rae Carson wrote it!!! I LOVE HER.

MY REVIEW

 

13) A RING OF ENDLESS LIGHT by Madeleine L'Engle

Most people discovered Madeleine L'Engle through her 1963 Newbery Winner A WRINKLE IN TIME. I read those books--later on--but I didn't love them the same way I did her 1981 Newbery Honor title A RING OF ENDLESS LIGHT. I LOVED Vicky. And I loved dolphins, my favorite animal! And I loved her romance with Adam. It made me want to read another book with them, TROUBLING A STAR, then read other books in the lives of both Vicky and Adam before they knew one another. From there, I dived into everything else L'Engle wrote. For a long time, she was my favorite author! I even have obscure books by her that you have to special order because stores just don't sell them.



14) OUTRUN THE MOON by Stacey Lee

Can we go back to yesterday's awards for a minute? Well, I guess, technically, the Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature were announced on Sunday.... ANYWAY. The YA winner went to OUTRUN THE MOON, which was a great YA historical set during the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. This book had such an emotional punch, and I wish more people were talking about it!!!

MY REVIEW

 

15) THE WITCH OF BLACKBIRD POND by Elizabeth George Speare

I couldn't tell you WHY I was so obsessed with this 1959 Newbery Winner that I had to read in school, but I WAS. I think romance played a part and I was young and obsessed, lol. There was even a song we learned in choir that I would sing and make up stories about the characters in my head as I did so (This was long before I'd ever heard of fanfiction, lol). We had to read this in school and my copy is so shredded that it's barely hanging together even with tape!

 

What have been some of your favorite Award Winners???  ^_^