Mr. Reed reads the Newberys

The project grew out of a conversation I had with another librarian, who argued that the Newbery winners -- chosen by adults -- are not necessarily books that kids want to read. At that point I'd only read a handful of them and I argued that from what I could tell they were excellent. She suggested I read them all, and I replied, "You're on!"

Having now done so, I still believe the Newbery is a good indication of a worthwhile book. Going all the way back to the beginning, the award highlighted books emphasizing tolerance, kindness, multiculturalism, imagination and history. Most of the Newbery winners are fiction, but there are also biographies, nonfiction books and volumes of poetry. So much to choose from!

There are, however, a few duds. I didn't read them in order, and there's a reason -- the books that won in the 1920s, with the possible exception of "Doctor Dolittle," tend to be difficult. I didn't want to sabotage my project from the beginning by reading one hard book after another. Instead, I jumped around -- and if you embark on a similar undertaking, that's my advice. Don't go in order, because you will quickly lose steam.

Some Newbery winners are classics for a reason -- "Island of the Blue Dolphins," "Holes" and "A Wrinkle in Time" are among my favorites, but I feel like they're among everyone's favorites and thus don't need me to flog them.

Here are twelve others I loved that you might have overlooked:

1. "Hitty: Her First Hundred Years" by Rachel Field (1930). This adventurous tale of a doll that travels the world also immerses us in the lives of people in the 1800s.
2. "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Forbes (1944). Colonial Boston comes to life in this exciting story of a young apprentice silversmith whose career is jeopardized by an injury, but who then finds himself mingling with real-life heroes of the Revolutionary War like Paul Revere and Samuel Adams.
3. "Caddie Woodlawn" by Carol Ryrie Brink (1936). If you liked Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" books (none of which, incidentally, won a Newbery medal), you'll love this story of a pioneer girl growing up in Wisconsin during the mid-1800s.
4. "Miracles on Maple Hill" by Virginia Sorensen (1957). I loved this story of a city girl adjusting to life in the country and learning about nature and everyday "miracles" like making maple syrup. It teaches valuable lessons about noticing the little things in life.
5. "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" by Mildred D. Taylor (1977). A powerful novel about a black farming family in Mississippi during the Jim Crow era. Their struggle to cope with discrimination and injustice is vivid, moving and suspenseful.
6. "Rifles for Watie," by Harold Keith (1958). I appreciated learning about a time and place (Oklahoma and Kansas during the Civil War) I'd never considered before, through the eyes of a young recruit. There's excitement, danger, friendship and even a bit of romance.
7. "Crispin: The Cross of Lead" by Avi (2003). Newbery judges seem to love books set in medieval times, and this one, in my opinion, is the best of them. It moves quickly and the descriptions and characters are vivid and lively.
8. "The Hero and the Crown" by Robin McKinley (1985): Fantasy books are NOT my thing. But this is a masterpiece of imagination and description, and it proves that a good writer can make any story interesting. If you like "The Lord of the Rings," check this out.
9. "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth Speare (1959). A girl who moves from Barbados to colonial New England in 1687 must learn to live with her strict, intolerant Puritan neighbors. A well-layered plot and compelling action.
10. "The Wheel on the School" by Meindert DeJong (1955). This book is not everyone's cup of tea. It's a very old-fashioned tale set in pre-war Holland, but it's atmospheric and full of charm, and it benefits from Maurice Sendak's sensitive illustrations.
11. "Flora & Ulysses" by Kate DiCamillo (2014). This is a funny, whimsical book about a girl, a vacuum cleaner, some quirky neighbors and the magical squirrel at the center of it all. The graphic-novel elements give it an extra boost.
12. "Kira Kira" by Cynthia Kadohata (2005). A story of two Japanese-American sisters growing up in the Midwest and South, by turns both funny and tragic.

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On the other hand, some winners I struggled through:

1. "Tales from Silver Lands" by Charles J. Finger (1925). Poorly written and plodding, this book of alleged South American folk tales is agony. It's the only Newbery that I would qualify as irredeemably, unreservedly bad. I can't warn you enough.
2. "Shadow of a Bull" by Maia Wojciechowska (1965). Bullfighting doesn't interest me to begin with, and I struggled through this one. I wrote in my review that the ending was a surprise, and now, a few months later, I don't even remember it.
3. "Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon," by Dhan Gopal Mukerji (1928). This book starts out as the story of a pigeon being trained to carry messages in India, and then halfway through turns into a war story. It has its moments, but is a pigeon really worth a whole book?
4. "The Dark Frigate" by Charles Boardman Hawes (1924). I can't imagine any kid -- in the 1920s or now -- reading this book, which is written in archaic English of the 17th century. It got better after about 75 pages but overall it was a long, hard voyage.
5. "Up a Road Slowly" by Irene Hunt (1967). I'm hesitant to diss this book completely, because some people call it one of their favorites. But it never caught fire for me. Reading it was like being trapped in a stuffy room with no air conditioning.
6. "Daniel Boone" by James Daugherty (1940). Not only does this biography contain problematic references to Native Americans, but it fails to reveal much about Boone's motivations or inner life. It's just an account of where he went and what he did (a lot of it not good).
7. "Amos Fortune, Free Man" by Elizabeth Yates (1951). This book about the achievements of an emancipated slave isn't bad, exactly. It's just dated. At worst, it's simplistic and it smacks of condescension.
8. "Waterless Mountain" by Laura Adams Armer (1932). Like "Amos Fortune," this book is past its prime. It's meant to introduce readers to Navajo legends and customs, but it never builds much dramatic tension and despite an occasionally nice turn of phrase, I found it tedious.

The rest, for me, fall into a middle zone ranging from really good to "meh," but of course, all readers are different -- so your best and worst lists may look nothing like mine. Happy reading!