100 Scope Notes Year in Review: The Best of the Best of the Best (Part 3)
Part 3: Middle Grade Fiction
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The 100 Scope Notes roundup continues today with a look back at middle grade fiction. In case you missed the recap of fiction and non-fiction picture books, let me explain. I’ve taken every year-end list I could find (see below), threw them in my children’s lit blender, and hit “frappé”. Well, actually it was more like I carefully entered each one in an Excel spreadsheet, but that doesn’t sound nearly as fun. How about this: I consulted multiple “best-of” lists to see which books have received the most notice in 2007.
The middle grade landscape featured plenty of books whose titles were shouted out by critics. I was hoping my pal and Best New Book, Winston Breen would have made the list, but such is life. It’s the 100 Scope Notes Best of the Best of the Best. Today, Aught 7’s Most Loved Middle Grade Fiction.
“No Talking” By Andrew Clements. (100 Scope Notes Review)
“I Am Not Joey Pigza” By Jack Gantos.
“How to Steal a Dog” By Barbara O’Connor.
“The Talented Clementine” By Sara Pennypacker.
“The Mysterious Benedict Society” By Trenton Lee Stewart.
“If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period” By Gennifer Choldenko.
“Elijah of Buxton” By Christopher Paul Curtis.
It was a tight battle, but one book was tops…
The Best of the Best of the Best Middle Grade Fiction Book of the Year is:
“The Invention of Hugo Cabret” By Brian Selznick.
“Hugo” edged out Elijah to take the top spot and allowed the “Cabret” train keep on chugging.
Stay tuned in the coming days for more 100 Scope Notes Best of the Best of the Best.
Best of 2007 Lists Consulted:
Washington Post
Hudson Booksellers
LA Times
Horn Book
Kansas City Star
School Library Journal
Amazon
Publisher’s Weekly
Parent’s Choice
New York Times
Miami Herald
Kirkus Reviews
TIME
(Did I miss a list? Do you disagree with my results? Let me know in the comments!)
About Travis Jonker
Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.
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Thanks so much for putting these lists together. I get a bit overwhelmed this time of year with all the “best of” lists, so it’s nice to see some kind of condensation. I’m actually surprised at how many of these I’ve read, but I suppose that’s the great thing about being part of the kidlitosphere–you hear about all the good reads before they’re even out!
I’m enjoying your blog. Keep up the good work.
Tricia
Thanks Tricia! It was fun to see which titles were the attention-getters of the year in their genre. A few expected, a few not as expected.
I’m curious to know why you put Dangerous Book for Boys into the fiction category.
Right you are! Changes have been made – Thanks!
I agree… Thank you for compiling this list. I see a number of books I’ve been thinking of reading. I will make the effort to get them read in 2008.
Thanks for reading! Yep, there are a few on this list that I am looking forward to reading soon as well.
Oh, here it is! Glad to see that. I guess it belongs here more than in graphic novels, since it’s not quite a graphic novel.
It seems like there were a few genre-benders in ’07 – thankfully that hasn’t stopped them from getting their due.