2012 Newberry Medal vs. Honor Winners

In a quest for my answers, I read the some of the books I read read included the 2012 Newberry medal and honor novels, to compare the differences and similarities among them.Below are short summaries and my review of these novels.

Thanha's Lai's Inside Out & Back Again  is a 2012 Newberry Honor winner. It takes place at the end of the Vietnam War. A young girl and her family struggle to survive as they become refugees and come to begin a new life in America.

This novel is written in verse with meaningful and deliberate word choice. The short verses create a concise and straightforward plot line that is easy for the reader to follow. The character of Ha, is a lovable girl who child living at any time can relate to. Ha faces the struggles of learning a new language and being teased when she moves to her new school. Ha has a true, sometimes comical outlook on life. This book grabs the reader whether child or adult as they watch Ha's life transform in front of their eyes.

Breaking Stalin's Nose is a 2012 Newberry Honor winner. It takes place over a short two day span but is very fast paced and eventful. It is written from the perspective of a ten year old boy in the Soviet Union. At this time, Stalin is ruling over the Soviet Union and Sasha has been taught to to believe in the ideals of Stalin.

This book was inventively written and a great way to obtain a different perspective  In American schools, children only hear our country's perspective of the Soviet Union under Stalin's reign. In cartoonist sketches, help to bring the story to life as the reader envisions each event.



Dead End in Norvelt is the winner of the 2012 Newberry Medal. It is about the author Jack as a child and his experience growing up in a small town named Norvelt during the Cold War. Jack is a curious young boy who is punished to a summer helping a neighbor write obituaries when he plays with his dad's gun.

This novel is heavy in historical facts and analogies. It is vital that the reader is highly interested in history in order to enjoy the book at its fullest potential. I found that this book did not share the share universal humor that Ganto's other novels, many of the jokes are more apt to appeal to young boys than any other population of children. I anticipate that many preteen boys would enjoy this novel but that it would not be universally enjoyed among all students within a class.


Personally, I feel that the Newberry Honor books for 2012, were written in a more progressive and engaging way that the Medal winner. Although well written, Dead End in Norvelt would appeal to a smaller population of students. I found this book hard to get into and the characters not as easy to connect to than the Honor books. For me, the Honor books were ones that I did not want to put down and enjoyed the unique writing style of each.