The 2002 and 2003 Newbery Award Winners
The 2003 John Newbery Medal was awarded to Avi, the author of "Crispin: The Cross of Lead" (compare prices). The novel, which was published by Hyperion Books for Children, is an exciting drama set in 14th-century England. According to Starr LaTronica, chair of the 2003 Newbery Award committee,
- Avi masterfully creates a plot that sustains tension and suspense from beginning to end, while seamlessly weaving in details of daily medieval life. Readers experience Crispin's surroundings through Avi's sensory descriptions; they see, hear, smell, taste and feel his world. In the hands of a superb craftsman, 'Crispin' is a fascinating coming-of-age novel that brings to readers a riveting adventure and invites them to consider how life hundreds of years ago echoes our contemporary search for freedom.
"The House of the Scorpion," by Nancy Farmer, a Richard Jackson Book/Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division; "Pictures of Hollis Woods," by Patricia Reilly Giff and published by Wendy Lamb Books, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc.; "Hoot," by Carl Hiaasen and published by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc.; "A Corner of the Universe," by Ann M. Martin and published by Scholastic Press, a division of Scholastic, Inc.; and "Surviving the Applewhites," by Stephanie S. Tolan and published by HarperCollins Children's Books, a division of HarperCollins, were all recognized as Newbery Honor Books.
Linda Sue Park, author of "A Single Shard," which was published by Houghton Mifflin Company/Clarion Books, was awarded the 2002 Newbery Medal. Two books were designated 2002 Newbery Honor Books: "Everything on a Waffle" By Polly Horvath, which was published by Farrar Straus Giroux, and "Carver: a life in poems" by Marilyn Nelson, which was published by Front Street.
Let me know what you think of the 2003 Caldecott and Newbery winners by posting a message on the About Children's Books Forum.
