Announcing the Newbery and a Give Away!

This morning the American Library Association announced their awards, including the Newbery.  The John Newbery Medal is given to the book that is considered the most outstanding in children's literature for the previous year.  It goes to a novel - the Caldecott is for Picture Books.  And this year the Newbery Medal goes to.......

Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo!

Congrats to Miss DiCamillo who was also named a national Ambassador of Young People's Literature recently due to her significant contributions to the field.  Flora & Ulysses is a fun, witty read.  It is not my favorite of her novels - but it is really great in its own right.

As it happens, I somehow ended up with two copies of this great novel so I am going to give away one here on my blog.  Just enter a comment saying if you're a DiCamillo fan and which of her books you like (there are lots ... think The Tale of Despereaux, The Tiger Rising, Because of Winn-Dixie, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, The Magician's Elephant and others including the early reader Mercy Watson series).  It's okay to enter and say you haven't read any of her books too.  This can be your first!  Oh, and you must be a follower of this blog.  Give away limited to US and Canada.

Ahhh... I love when these awards are announced each year.  It's exciting!  Hop over to their website at ala.org for a list of all the categories and winners.  Congrats to all!