Selection of 80s and 90s Newberry Award Winning Books Part 1

Children of the 90s is looking for guest bloggers and collaborators! Have a burning desire to write about nostalgia? Have you seen a doctor to make sure it won’t just clear up on its own? Then you might be interested in writing for Children of the 90s! Contact us at childrenofthe90s@gmail.com to apply!

In so many areas in our lives, we look to the experts to tell us what is worth our attention and appreciation. The Oscars tell us which movies to see, the Emmys tell us which TV shows to watch, and the New York Times Bestseller List tells us which books to page through. Though far less prestigious, children’s and young adult books have their very own award system that shaped many of our young adult library experiences: the Newberry Medal.

Our school librarian always read to us from Newberry Award-winning children’s books, and with good reason. The Newberry Medal is awarded for excellence in children’s literature, showcasing the best young adult fiction of the year. After reviewing the list, I could remember almost all of the winners in fairly accurate detail. Even less voracious readers devoured these books with gusto, relishing the distinctly pre-teen themes and relatable writing.

Don’t blame me if this list makes you want to visit the young adult section at your local library--I’m heavily considering checking out Jacob Have I Loved and Number the Stars. Because most children of the 90s came of age over a span of a decade or so, I had to split this post into 80s and early 90s selections, with mid-90s selections sequestered to a second post. Now that we have all of the logistical details hammered out, let’s get down to brass tacks (don’t you think that sentence had a lot of hardware references for a post about books? Just saying.)

1981 Medal Winner: Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson

If nothing else, this book made me wish my family worked in the crabbing and fishing business like main character Wheeze’s father Truitt. I imagine the romanticized version of crabbing as a livelihood I gleaned from reading Jacob Have I Loved as a child is far from the reality of the back-breaking and dangerous job (Deadliest Catch, anyone?) but I still always thought it sounded like fun.

The book’s title references the biblical sibling rivalry of Jacob and Esau, echoed by the book’s own familial tension between main character Sarah Louise (Wheeze) and her golden child sister, Caroline. Caroline marries Wheeze’s closest friend and mysterious fisherman Call. Before you get to wondering what exactly a mysterious male fisherman is doing befriending young girls on an isolated island, just agree to accept that historical young adult fiction is allowed to take license with pretty much anything in the name of being moderately educational.


1983 Medal Winner: Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt

The sequel to Voigt’s 1981 young adult novel Homecoming, Dicey’s song follows Dicey Tillerman and her siblings as they begin a new life with their Gram on her farm in rural Maryland. Their mother, now in a psychiatric hospital,abandoned her children by leaving them in a parking lot. Gram is a very closed and private person, and Dicey and her siblings have trouble adjusting to their new life. Spoiler alert: their mom dies. Sorry if I ruined the ending, but if you haven’t read this by now, your window of opportunity to do so has probably closed. If not, hey, you probably would have seen it coming anyway. These young adult fiction books aren’t known for their subtlety.


1984 Medal Winner: Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

Ah, Beverly Cleary. You always knew how to charm your child readers with your realistic young characters. In Dear Mr. Henshaw, we meet Leigh Botts, a second grader who writes to author Mr. Henshaw as a part of a class assignment. Aside from not knowing that “Leigh” is actually a girl’s name, our main character also deals with life issues like his parents’ divorce and moving to a new town. The book satisfied our natural curiosity (read: nosiness) by allowing us a peek at someone else’s private letters and diary entries, while covertly teaching us valuable life lessons about accepting things for what they are.


1986 Medal Winner: Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan

We were all crazy for historical fiction in the 80s and 90s, wishing for nothing more than a book to transport us to a different time and place. In the case of Sarah, Plain and Tall, we ventured to the old West to follow the daily lives of the Witting family. Like any good children’s book, the story centers on the wholesome and moral world of--you guessed it--mail-order brides. Yes, that’s right, the ol’ hopeless romantic Jacob Witting writes away for a new wife based on an ad in the back of the paper. Somehow MacLachlan manages to weave it all into a heartwarming tale, which is nothing short of a testament to her quiet and simple storytelling style.


1987 Medal Winner: The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman

Fleischman’s title character is Jemmy, the young boy forced to bear the brutal whipping consequences for a royal heir’s unprincely actions. Every time the prince acts up, Jemmy must endure the brunt of the punishing whippings. Pretty awesome job, right? Luckily The Whipping Boy keeps it fun and madcap, sending Jemmy and Prince Brat (as he’s called in private) on a whirlwind adventure escape filled with colorful characters like Cutwater and Hold-Your-Nose Billy. For a somewhat dark premise, the book’s tone is light, tying it all together neatly with a solid moral message about treating people with equal respect.


1990 Medal Winner: Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry knows how to weave a compelling story, creating believable young characters child readers can relate to. In Number the Stars, Lowry explores the story of friends Annemarie and Ellen growing up in Denmark during World War II. As the Nazi presence becomes a part of daily life in Denmark, Annemarie is worried about what will happen to her Jewish friend, Ellen. While the theme is certainly heavy for a children’s book, Lowry artfully shows how the Nazi occupation affected young people while depicting the good-heartedness of families who chose to help their neighbors.

Want to Write for Children of the 90s?

Do you have something hilarious and nostalgic to share with the world? Have an aching desire to reminisce about your childhood in a public forum for all the world to see? Feel like you just can't keep your all-consuming love of the 90s inside anymore? Well, you're in luck, because the Children of the 90s blog is seeking collaborators and guest bloggers! I know, I know, it's pretty exciting stuff. I'll pause for the inevitable celebratory fireworks displays and ticker tape parades.

When I started this blog, I had an endless cache of free time. Perhaps it would have been better if I'd been a member of Generation X--at least then maybe I'd have had the shame and humility to feel I can't do something so big on my own. As a child of the 90s, though, my self esteem has been so forcefully inflated by grown-ups telling me how wonderful every thing I did was as a child, it's significantly more difficult for me to ask for help.

With a busy work year and the prospect of crunch-time wedding planning looming large, I'd like to find some additional writers and collaborators help carry the blog and continue to open fresh ideas to new audiences. A select overachieving few of you have already contacted me through Twitter and Facebook, but I'm ready to open up the request to the full blog audience.

Think you may be interested? Here are the guidelines for applying:

1. Writers should preferably have a well-established blog with their own base of readers and a working knowledge of blogging. Well-established is a pretty wavy concept, of course, so if your blog is read by more people than yourself, I'll happily take a look at it. The idea is that you are both familiar with blogging and our blogs could mutually benefit from exposure to new readers and Twitter/Facebook users, so it's sort of a win-win(-win?) situation.
   
2. Briefly review Children of the 90s for topics that have been covered and pitch a few post ideas of your own.
3. Be able and willing to write 500-1000 word posts filled with pictures, videos, and other means of holding the fickle attention of blog readers (if you've read this far without a photo or video distraction and are still paying attention, congratulations. You may be ready to write for Children of the 90s!

Subject to approval and all that other fine print they say so quickly at the end of radio ads that so you can barely understand it before just you call and sign up for something without a working knowledge of the restrictions. Requesting a guest blogger position or pitching a topic does not guarantee a position, but if you're awesome, you have a pretty good chance. Also, this is obviously an unpaid position...it probably doesn't need to be said, but if you're expecting a cut of the few cents I make daily from my sidebar ads, you're probably out of luck.

I'm very excited about adding some new writers to the team, so I'm looking forward to hearing from you! Leave a comment with means of contacting you or contact me directly at childrenofthe90s@gmail.com.

The 90s Are All That Celebratory Recaps Continue--Please Welcome Part 2

Based on all the buzz on Facebook, Twitter, and in the news, TeenNick's new The 90s are All That is a major hit. We children of the 90s have braved the wee hours of the night (or, more likely, braved the complicated recording-settings on our DVR) in record ratings numbers to land these 15-year old shows in the top ten for their late-night timeslots. The block has started with Kenan and Kel, Clarissa Explains it All, All That, and Doug, but Nickelodeon has been heavily hinting that viewer response could add many more shows to the mix.

The hilarious Andy Shaw (@wildarschase) and I teamed up earlier this week to reminisce about some of our favorites here. We're back today to discuss three new shows. You can catch the full content on Andy's blog at http://andyshawcomedy.com but just in case you're so eager you can't wait the time it takes a new page to load, here's a little preview of what you can find there:

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

WildARSChase: The answer is yes, because of this show. Good God, was it creepy. There was always that magic shop they went to with the guy who I later thought was Hagrid from “Harry Potter”. It was genius of Nickelodeon to make a scary show for kids. There was nothing else like it on TV.

They had that whole “Midnight Society” thing going on, too. Very cult-ish. I always wondered what the hazing ritual was to get into that group. Did you have to wear the red bucket on your head? Did you have to tell a ghost story in Spanish? Was there an orgy (Wait, that’s the plot of “Vanilla Sky”)? I think more kids should get together in the woods and tell ghost stories. Of course, saying, “I think more kids should get together in the woods” doesn’t sound good these days.

Fun fact: One of the Midnight Society members grew up to be the very attractive and very charming Joanna Garcia.

Children of the 90s: I will be the first to admit I was absolutely terrified of “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” I do, however, like a show so conversational that its very title is an opening to learn more about you and your most intimate fears and phobias. In my case, the answer to “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” was “Yes, absolutely. But especially that thing that was in the pool. That was pretty gross, and I’m probably only going to be able to sleep with a nightlight on until I’m about 22.*”

(*Age exaggerated for comedic effect. I’d say it actually was closer to 21.)

Hop on over and visit the post on Andy's blog for more 90s Nickelodeon goodness about Doug, Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Salute Your Shorts! We've had a lot of fun with this series and we'd love to put out a few more installments, but we need some reader input to help us decide what should come next. Check out the blog, send some comment love our way, or tweet us at @wildarschase and @childrenof90s to find out what we’re up to next.