Kevyns Blog: Committee Day!

Today was a very special day. Today was the day of the committee for the Birbery competition. We got to ride in a limo. We picked up the people from Derby (Berkshire was already there) and we were off to the Baldwin Public Library. Once we got there, we played a nice game of Headbands. The people on our headbands were characters from these 6 books: Circus Mirandus, The War That Saved my Life, Echo, Roller Girl, Mark of the Thief, and Fuzzy Mud. Out of the 10 Birbery books and 15 committee members, no one got a character in the game of headbands form Masterminds, Stella by Starlight, Fish in a Tree, and The Boys Who Challenged Hitler. After headbands, we met former Newbery committee member, Karen Lemmons, who walked us through the process of the Newbery selection and that how at the end of this year, a picture book won the Newbery medal. After lunch, we got right into discussing the books. After the first 5 which were (in the order we discussed them) The War That Saved my Life, Circus Mirandus, Stella by Starlight, The Boys Who Challenged Hitler, and Fish in a Tree, we took a break. After the break we discussed the remaining books in this order; Roller Girl, Masterminds, Mark of the Thief, Echo, and Fuzzy Mud. In the end, we did a ballot. Because the top 5 (Fish in a Tree, Masterminds, Mark of the Thief, Circus Mirandus, and The War That Saved my Life) (If you want spoilers on who wins, look at the pictures or below) were so close, we had to retake the ballot. Twice. Overall, here were the final standings:

1st Place: Masterminds by Gordon Korman

2nd Place: The War That Saved my Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

3rd Place: Fish in a Tree by Linda Mually Hunt

Tied for 4th/5th Place:Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley/Mark of the Thief by Jennifer A. Nielson.

Back on the limo, they gave us Sparkling Juice. I had Sparkling White Grape Juice. The 5 BCS committee members got back to school at around 3:00.