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Comparing Newberry Award Winner Booksby Meredith, Lincoln ElementaryIntroductionMy "Critics and Fanatics" question is, "How are Newberry Award Winner books, written in different decades, the same and different from one another?" My question came from when I was brainstorming on what literature project I wanted to do. It was an important project for me, because I have always been interested in Newberry books and wondered why some books get medals and some don't. By doing this project, I hoped to become more interested in reading, see differences between the books, and try to figure out what criteria people use to give some books Newberry medals. ProcedureTo answer my question, I went to our library and looked at the poster that lists all of the Newberry Award Winner books. I then selected 14 books (two from each decade) from the list that I wanted to read. I later discovered that it might be a little too hard to read 14 books, so I narrowed my list to five. They were: {Caddie Woodlawn}, by Carol Ryrie Brink, {Number the Stars}, by Lois Lowry, {Rabbit Hill}, by Robert Lawson, {Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry}, by Mildred D. Taylor, and {Secret of the Andes}, by Ann Nolan Clark. I then got all of the books and read them. This took about two-three months. I collected data on the books and kept it in my inquiry notebook. When I finished reading all of the books, I made a list of criteria to rate the books. The criteria were: 1. has a unique writing style 2. has details 3. has a purpose 4. has many different episodes 5. has clear, distinctive characters 6. is understandable 7. has an expressive vocabulary 8. has an unpredictable plot. I gave one star (*) to a book, each time it fit with one of the criteria that I listed. The most stars a book could get would be eight. The least amount of stars a book could get would be zero. ResultsThis is what I rated each book: {Caddie Woodlawn}(1936): ****** (6) {Caddie Woodlawn} had a ton of episodes, but not a very expressive vocabulary. It was about a girl named Caddie who loved to play with her brothers and got in trouble a lot. She hated sewing and cooking and things that were considered for girls and women at that time. It was fun to read and had a lot of excitement, but also everyday things, like school. Number the Stars (1990): ******* (7) I rated {Number the Stars} a seven, mostly because I thought it had a good purpose. It is about a Jewish girl named Ellen, and her friend during the Holocaust. It's about how Ellen and her family escape Denmark, with the help of their close family friends. I thought it explained part of the Holocaust well and what it was like to be a Jew during that time. Rabbit Hill(1945): ***** (5) Rabbit Hill was a fun book to read, but I thought it was directed to a younger audience. It had a lot of episodes, but not very many details. It's about a little rabbit named Georgie and all of the animals living on the hill. All of the animals are talking about, "New folks coming!" They are all hoping that they don't have snares or traps, and that they are "planting folks." In the end, they turn out to be very nice people. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1977): ******** (8) I really liked Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. The author definitely had a unique writing style that you don't see very often. The book had a good plot and you really got to know the characters by reading it. It's about a African-American family in Mississippi during the 1930's, when Blacks didn't have very many rights. It's about the challenges of everyday, growing up as an African-American child, in a time when Whites controlled mostly everything. It was enjoyable to read, but also very intense. Secret of the Andes (1953): ******* (7) Secret of the Andes is different from a lot of other books. It also has a very unique style to it. It is about an Indian sheppard boy named Cusi, who lives in the mountains with a group of llamas and an older Indian, named Chuto. Secret of the Andes has a lot of history about the Inca and Spaniards in the story. It was interesting to read, because you get to take the point of view of somebody that has a very different culture than ours. In the story, Cusi leaves to find a family, but returns to the mountains, and realizes that he belongs with Chuto and the llamas. Some of things that I hadn't planned on were: I hadn't planned on rating the books this way and I hadn't planned on only reading five books. The only problems I had were rating the books and finishing reading the books on time. I liked that I got to read a variety of books that were very different from one another. Interpreting ResultsBy doing my inquiry project, I learned that I liked the books that were written more recently better. I found that the language is different in the older books and that books that were written more recently tell about more people issues and the older books tell more about animals and other things. I also learned about what kinds of books I like and what I look for in one, how to rate books, and how to manage my time. If I had to do my project over I would start earlier, read more books, and takes notes as I read. New Directions Some other inquiry projects that could be done are to compare other Newberry Award Winner books, compare Newberry Award Winner books to other books, or trying to ask the people that decide what books get medals the criteria that they use to select the books. Acknowledgments I would like to thank my teacher, Jeff Maas, and the Lincoln school library for helping me with my project.
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