2026 ALA Award-Winners List + FREE Award-Book Explore Pane
January 26, 2026
Lovely Library Posters
February 10, 2026Explore 2026 Newbery Award Books – First Chapter Reads + Activities!
Invite Excitement by Letting Kids Investigate First Chapters for This Year's Top Books.
each Reluctant Readers with this Book-with-activities list, ideal for your March Madness blitz.
THIS YEAR'S 2026 AWARD-WINNERS WERE ANNOUNCED ON MONDAY, JAN 26th.
THIS LIST INCLUDES SOME OF THE WINNERS ALONG WITH SOME MOCK AWARD BOOKS.
This list includes some winners and runners up and books that spoke to many in Mock Newbery events. I thought it would be fun for you to read first chapters and really delve into the content of the first chapters and how these authors draw you into their story.
Which one does it best?
What can we learn from that?
There's so much this year to get excited about. Books with interactive elements: Choice, Fact or Lie, Story in Three parts or Three Authors. More graphic novels at lower reading levels. Texts embracing the book form as an added element of the book's story.
Sometimes it is nice to entice and not read a whole novel. At times, it's nice to allow for a discussion on the set up of a novel and what curious questions arise. This blog provides that opportunity. There's a link to first chapters as an eBook (Thanks, Teaching Books!), Activities, and Whole Novel Teaching Guides to use as needed. Enjoy spreading the joy reading brings!
Given we are moving into March Madness, this also provides a great line up of books that can be studied to see who wins in your school! What novel did your students love the most?
John Newbery Medal
2026 John Newbery Medal Winners + 2026 Short Mock Event Listed Novels
Ten Newbery Books Short Listed
- The Trouble with Heroes by Kate Messner
- The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman
- A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez by María Dolores Águila
- Rebellion 1776 by Laurie Halse Anderson
- Bad Badger: A Love Story by Maryrose Wood
- Will’s Race for Home by Jewell Parker Rhodes
- Candle Island by Lauren Wolk
-
The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli by Karina Yan Glaser
-
All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson
- The Winter of the Dollhouse by Laura Amy Schlitz
Before you read.
Please be warned that Haiku and freeverse can be exhilarating to read. I guess you could say that poetry just compounds the fun of good writing. Really. Think about all that whitespace just having a picnic around all those very select words on the page. Each chosen with care for the cadence and meaning and crafted to make your gray matter flip cartwheels up and over and all around the words. This book is one of those books. So really enjoy this tasting, and I kinda dare you to try to stop reading by page 10.
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1
The Trouble with Heroes by Kate Messner
"One summer.
46 mountain peaks.
A second chance to make things right.
Finn Connelly is nothing like his dad, a star athlete and firefighter hero who always ran toward danger until he died two years ago. Finn is about to fail seventh grade and has never made headlines . . . until now.
Caught on camera vandalizing a cemetery, he's in big trouble for knocking down some dead old lady's headstone. Turns out that grave belongs to a legendary local mountain climber, and her daughter makes Finn an unusual offer: she'll drop all the charges if he agrees to climb all forty-six Adirondack High Peaks in a single summer. And there's just one more thing--he has to bring along the dead woman's dog.
In a wild three months of misadventures, mountain mud, and unexpected mentors, Finn begins to find his way on the trails. At the top of each peak, he can see for miles and slowly begins to understand more about himself and his dad. But the mountains don't care about any of that, and as the clock ticks down to September, they have more surprises in store. Finn's final summit challenge may be more than even a hero can face" (Amazon).
2
The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman
★ A 2026 Newbery Honor Award Book!
★ “Heartbreaking, marvelously funny, and generously redemptive.” ―Kirkus, starred review
"Clare is the undead fox of Deadwood Forest. Here, leaves grow in a perpetual state of fall: not quite dead, but not quite alive—just like Clare. Long ago, he was struck by a car, and, hovering between life and death, he was given the choice to either cross into the Afterlife or become an Usher of wandering souls. Clare chose the latter: a solitary life of guiding souls to their final resting place.
Clare’s quiet and predictable days are met with upheaval when a badger soul named Gingersnipes knocks on his door. Despite Clare’s efforts to usher her into the Afterlife, the badger is unable to leave Deadwood. This is unprecedented. Baffling. A disturbing mystery which threatens the delicate balance between the living and the dead.
Desperate for help, Clare and Gingersnipes set out on a treacherous journey to find Hesterfowl—the visionary grouse who recently foretold of turmoil in Deadwood. But upon their arrival, Hesterfowl divulges a shocking revelation that leaves Clare devastated, outraged, and determined to do anything to change his fate" (Amazon).
Before you read.
This book gives an interesting nod to Kate DiCamillo's 2004 Newbery, Tale of Desperaux. Even in it's opening, the author sinks us deeply into focus on one character and then flips to address the reader directly, much like Kate did throughout her Newbery book. Do you see this device at the end of the first chapter. Does it work to draw you, as the reader, into her storytelling? Does her second person command feel too bossy, o will you dare what she suggests, and "Turn the page"? Will it b enough to leave you, Dear Reader, to want to follow Clare, the Dead, undead fox further to read chapter 2? Let us know.
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3
A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez by María Dolores Águila
"Based on the true story of Roberto Alvarez and the Lemon Grove Incident, this vivid and uplifting middle grade debut novel in verse about one young child's courage to stand up for what is right, and the determination of the Mexican community is perfect for fans of ESPERANZA RISING and INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN.
★ John Newbery Honor Book
★ Pura Belpré Honor Book
★ Jane Addams Children's Book Award Winner
★ Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction Winner
★ NCTE Charlotte Huck Children's Book Award Winner
★ 2025 National Book Award Longlist Title
★ New York Times Best Book of 2025
★ New York Public Library Best Book of 2025
★ Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2025
WHEN INJUSTICE GROWS, RESISTANCE BLOOMS.
Twelve-year-old Roberto Alvarez is the youngest of his siblings, born on United States soil. He’s el futuro, their dream for a life away from the fire of the Mexican Revolution.
Moved by anti-immigrant and anti-Mexican propaganda, the Lemon Grove school board and chamber of commerce create a separate “Americanization” school for the Mexican children attending the Lemon Grove Grammar School. But the new Olive Street School is an old barn retrofitted for the children forced to attend a segregated school.
Amid threats of deportation, the Comité de Vecinos risk everything to stand their ground and, with the support of the Mexican Consulate, choose Roberto as the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the school board in this vivid and uplifting novel in verse based on true events" (Amazon).
4
Rebellion 1776 by Laurie Halse Anderson
Rebellion 1776 is a "historical fiction middle grade adventure about a girl struggling to survive amid a smallpox epidemic, the public’s fear of inoculation, and the seething Revolutionary War.
In the spring of 1776, thirteen-year-old Elsbeth Culpepper wakes to the sound of cannons. It’s the Siege of Boston, the Patriots’ massive drive to push the Loyalists out that turns the city into a chaotic war zone. Elsbeth’s father—her only living relative—has gone missing, leaving her alone and adrift in a broken town while desperately seeking employment to avoid the orphanage.
Just when things couldn’t feel worse, the smallpox epidemic sweeps across Boston. Now, Bostonians must fight for their lives against an invisible enemy in addition to the visible one. While a treatment is being frantically fine-tuned, thousands of people rush in from the countryside begging for inoculation. At the same time, others refuse protection, for the treatment is crude at best and at times more dangerous than the disease itself.
Elsbeth, who had smallpox as a small child and is now immune, finds work taking care of a large, wealthy family with discord of their own as they await a turn at inoculation, but as the epidemic and the revolution rage on, will she find her father" (Amazon)?
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5
Bad Badger: A Love Story by Maryrose Wood
Bad Badger is a "heartwarming story of an unlikely friendship between a gull and a badger.
Septimus is not good at being a badger. He adores the sunset. He dreams of going to Venice. And he lives alone in a charming cottage by the sea. He’s not unhappy with his tidy, solitary life, but there are times when being so bad at badgerdom makes him wonder if he’s even a badger at all.
When a gull of very few words lands on the windowsill, Septimus leaps at the possibility of friendship. However, his new confidant soon goes missing and Septimus is bereft. Determined to find his best—and only—friend, he ventures into new territory and encounters a cast of surprising characters. Can Septimus be as brave and bighearted as he’ll need to be to find Gully? Or is he really a bad badger after all" (Amazon)?
6
Will’s Race for Home by Jewell Parker Rhodes
★ Winner of the Coretta Scott King Book Award!
★ A New York Times bestseller!
★ "Rhodes deftly captures a unique aspect of this historical event, with a perspective that is often under-represented in historical fiction. A poignant and honest look at the trials of racism that defined the historic land rush; a must-buy." —School Library Journal, starred review
"Bestselling and award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes goes West in this thrilling adventure story about a son and his father who set out to win land during the Oklahoma Land Rush—if they can survive the journey.
It’s 1889, barely twenty-five years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and a young Black family is tired of working on land they don’t get to own.
So when Will and his father hear about an upcoming land rush, they set out on a journey from Texas to Oklahoma, racing thousands of others to the place where land is free—if they can get to it fast enough. But the journey isn’t easy—the terrain is rough, the bandits are brutal, and every interaction carries a heavy undercurrent of danger.
And then there’s the stranger they encounter and befriend: a mysterious soldier named Caesar, whose Union emblem brings more attention—and more trouble—than any of them need.
All three are propelled by the promise of something long denied to them: freedom, land ownership, and a place to call home—but is a strong will enough to get them there" (Amazon)?
Before you read.
This one, it's important to read to the end of Chapter 3. Why? What do you know at the end of Chapter 1? Chapter 2? What do you want to know? That is the key question. Writers unfold a story, and this opening is a great example of that careful unfolding. Will you, as a reader, be able to not journey with will after the end of Chapter 3? You tell me.
Please note the gorgeous art throughout this book is not near the same experience in the Kindle version.
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7
The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story by Daniel Nayeri
Winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature
Page-turning WW2 hidden history masterfully told by award winner Daniel Nayeri
1941. The German armies are storming across Europe. Iran is a neutral country occupied by British forces on one side, Soviet forces on another. Soldiers fill the teahouses of Isfahan. Nazi spies roam the alleyways.
Babak and his little sister have just lost their father. Now orphans, fearing they will be separated, the two devise a plan. Babak will take up his father's old job as a teacher to the nomads. With a chalkboard strapped to Babak's back, and a satchel full of textbooks, the siblings set off to find the nomad tribes as they make their yearly trek across the mountains.
On the treacherous journey they meet a Jewish boy, hiding from a Nazi spy. And suddenly, they are all in a race for survival.
Against the backdrop of World War II comes an epic adventure in the faraway places. Through the cacophony of soldiers, tanks, and planes, can young hearts of different creeds and nations learn to find a common language?
Master storyteller Daniel Nayeri keeps you on the edge of your seat, uncertain to the very end.
8
The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli by Karina Yan Glaser
★ A Newbery Honor Award Book!
★ INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER * INDIE NEXT PICK * FIVE STARRED REVIEWS!
★ Named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, ALA Booklist, Publishers Weekly, BookPage, The Strategist, Book Riot, the New York Public Library, and the Chicago Public Library!
Breathtaking suspense, unforgettable characters, and a pinch of magic combine in the dual stories of two young people—one in 731 China, and one in 1931 Chinatown—on perilous journeys to save their families. An instant classic from the beloved and bestselling author of the Vanderbeekers series.
“A page turner that is at once epic and intimate. This is a must read!” —Lisa Yee, New York Times bestselling author of The Misfits.
In ancient Chang’An, Han Yu sells steamed buns in a bustling market full of whispers about his ability to summon tigers.
In New York’s Depression-era Chinatown, Luli gazes out from the roof of her parents’ restaurant, dreaming of dim sum and Chinese art.
Familiar rhythms rule the contained-but-contented lives of Han Yu and Luli. But when plague strikes Chang’An and financial crisis threatens Luli’s family, Han Yu and Luli must each venture out into the larger world—and into danger-filled adventure—to save what they love most. Filled with wondrous caves and conniving thieves, desert storms and magical lakes, Karina Yan Glaser’s epic and rewarding novel is a testament to the bravery required to face the unknown and the power of art to connect us through the ages" (Amazon).
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Before you read.
There's a load of weighty-good writing here. And it's well-paced to draw the reader in with rhythm, whitespace, threes (tricolon), that, at times, falls like rain the inner life of a main character. I call this "writing with a fist" and Watson dos just that. This book carries the like-minded literary chops that Jason Reynold's Long Way Down did. A comparison novel to explore: Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson.
And if talk about a handsy-full-heart smackdown of an opening line, this is it. And it's cast alone. Page one: "I DIDN'T KNOW / best friends could die."
Who can NOT NOT turn that page? You tell me: Did you?
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9
All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson
★ Winner of the Newbery Medal
★ A New York Times bestseller
★ A USA Today bestseller
★ A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
★ A Kirkus Best Book of the Year
★ A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
★ A Chicago Public Library Best Kids' Book of the Year
★ A PEN America's Best Children's Books 2025
★ An NCTE Charlotte Huck Award Honor Book
★ A 2025 Horn Book Fanfare Selection Book
★ A BCCB Blue Ribbon Book
★ #1 New York Times bestselling author and Newbery Medal winner Renée Watson explores friendship, loss, and life with grief in this poignant novel in verse and vignettes.
"Sage's thirteenth birthday was supposed to be about movies and treats, staying up late with her best friend and watching the sunrise together. Instead, it was the day her best friend died. Without the person she had to hold her secrets and dream with, Sage is lost. In a counseling group with other girls who have lost someone close to them, she learns that not all losses are the same, and healing isn't predictable. There is sadness, loneliness, anxiety, guilt, pain, love. And even as Sage grieves, new, good things enter her life-and she just may find a way to know that she can feel it all.
In accessible, engaging verse and prose, this is a story of a girl's journey to heal, grow, and forgive herself. To read it is to see how many shades there are in grief, and to know that someone understands" (Amazon).
10
The Winter of the Dollhouse by Laura Amy Schlitz
★ A Newbery Honor Award Book!
★ “Heartbreaking, marvelously funny, and generously redemptive.” ―Kirkus, starred review
"Clare is the undead fox of Deadwood Forest. Here, leaves grow in a perpetual state of fall: not quite dead, but not quite alive—just like Clare. Long ago, he was struck by a car, and, hovering between life and death, he was given the choice to either cross into the Afterlife or become an Usher of wandering souls. Clare chose the latter: a solitary life of guiding souls to their final resting place.
Clare’s quiet and predictable days are met with upheaval when a badger soul named Gingersnipes knocks on his door. Despite Clare’s efforts to usher her into the Afterlife, the badger is unable to leave Deadwood. This is unprecedented. Baffling. A disturbing mystery which threatens the delicate balance between the living and the dead.
Desperate for help, Clare and Gingersnipes set out on a treacherous journey to find Hesterfowl—the visionary grouse who recently foretold of turmoil in Deadwood. But upon their arrival, Hesterfowl divulges a shocking revelation that leaves Clare devastated, outraged, and determined to do anything to change his fate" (Amazon).
Before you read.
This story beckons back to Ann M. Martin's The Doll House series. This begins with a prologue. read it and decide how this helps the author share this story. How does she lure you in with this background material?
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