Slice of Life: 2026 Youth Media Awards!

I almost missed watching the Youth Media Awards live yesterday. I was chatting with my niece when I remembered that they started at 11:00 am (ET) and it was already 11:20. I had nothing else on my calendar. We're still iced in, so how did I almost miss this very important gathering? They must have spent a bit of time introducing the event because I hadn't missed much. And certainly not my favorite award, the Newbery which always comes near the end.  

I made some lists last year when I turned 70: 7 lists of 7 things to do during my 70th spin around the sun. My list for Newbery possibilities is the only one that I've completed (exceeded) so far. 

Newbery Possibilities & Awards Garnered

(in the order that I read them):

1. The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest  - Newbery Honor

2. The Trouble with Heroes - (passed over, reminds me of the year Wonder received no recognition & my students were furious)

3. Will's Race for Home - Coretta Scott King Author

4. All the Blues in the Sky - Newbery Medal

5. Bad Badger - (received 9 write-in votes on Heavy Medal's final ballot)

6. The Teacher of Nomad Land - Newbery Honor 

7. The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli -Newbery Honor

8. How to Say Goodbye in Cuban -  

Outstanding Comics Award – Children in the Category of Nonfiction Honor Books

9. A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez -

Newbery Honor & Pura Belpre Honor 

The most amazing thing happened this year. I read all of the Newbery Award winners before they were announced! During the fourteen years that I've been tracking my reading of Newbery possibilities, this has never happened before. For years, my students and I read along with King County Library's You Choose the Next Newbery and Mock Newbery Award Choices. Now, lest you think I have a superpower for detecting winners, let me share my method. I follow SLJ's Heavy Medal, A  Mock Newbery blog and their recommendations directed my reading. In fact, I added books 7 & 8 to my list after they were included on the final ballot of 15 titles. I'm not sure why I picked up A Sea of Lemon Trees, maybe because it  won the Charlotte Huck Book Award or perhaps because Betsy Bird mentioned it in her 31 Days/31 Lists for American History or maybe because I love verse novels.

For a look at the award winners, with some added insights, check out Betsy Bird's post, ALA Youth Media Awards: The Interviews, Videos, & Behind-the-Scenes of the Winners. 

I go straight from the Awards Ceremony to my library site to request other books I want to read. Yesterday's requests include: 

Whale Eyes: A Memoir about Seeing and Being Seen 

The Poetry of Car Mechanics

Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories

The Pecan Sheller 

How about you? Are there any award winners that you are looking forward to reading? If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest, my personal pick for the Newbery Medal.

Slice of Life: My 2025 Reading Year

Each year I meet with a group of online friends to talk about our best reads of the past year. Last year for the first time, I created a post about my best reads. It was a good way to look back and reflect on my reading year. 

I belong to too many book clubs - two in Greensboro, one in Washington, another occasional group of friends that meets (not monthly) to discuss spiritual/contemplative texts, and a group of three friends who meet to read and maintain our long distance friendship. 

Sometimes, I feel that my book clubs keep me from reading what I want to read, but the overall benefit of staying connected with old friends and making new friends keeps me on the book club express.  This was a remarkable year when I allowed myself to read more middle grade books (a personal favorite) and to pick up fiction books that weren't on my book club lists.

With no further ado, here are some of my favorite reads by category for 2025. I've included a picture of my top book in each category:

 

Fiction 

This Tender Land 

The Correspondent 

When the Cranes Fly South 

Remarkably Bright Creatures 

Hamnet  

Cat's People (a perfect feel-good cozy read)

Frozen River  

The Road to Tender Hearts 

With Love from London 

Nonfiction 

The Small and the Mighty 

Memorial Days

  

 Middle Grade Fiction

Not Nothing 

The next seven titles were published in 2025 and are 2026 Newbery possibilities: 

The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest 

The Teacher of Nomad Land

All the Blues in the Sky

Bad Badger

The Trouble with Heroes 

The Nine Moons of Han Yu & Luli  

Will's Race for Home 

 

Picture Books

The House Before Falling into the Sea 

We are Definitely Human 

Go Tell It: How James Baldwin Became a Writer 

Snow Is

Fireworks 

 

 Please leave a book recommendation for me. My WTR (want to read) list is already out of control, so a few more titles won't be a problem. Cheers for a great reading year in 2026!  

SJT: My OLW for 2026

I've spent most of today thinking about this post and between one thing and another, it has taken me until early evening to sit down and write. In my Tuesday Slice of Life, I shared my words for the past 13 years and included a lengthy list of words in the running for this year's word. With no further ado, I'll unveil this year's word, rhythm!

While I love the idea of rhythm in music and poetry, this dictionary definition most closely shows one of the areas I may focus on for this year. 

A strong, regular repeated pattern of movement or sound

Synonyms: cadence, pulse, flow 

The words "regular and repeated pattern" make me think of routines or rhythms that I might work on during 2026. 

When I searched my blog for rhythm, I found my September 2019 post that invited our community to write about Nudges. This post referenced a podcast from Emily P. Freeman, Episode 90, Start with this Simple Rhythm. Emily shares a five movement rhythm she uses for her mornings. If you're like me, it's helpful to see how others create space for their soul to breathe. And doesn't just seeing the word "breathe" help you slow down to focus on the rhythm of your body? I plan to begin 2026 with a focus on my morning routine. There's something absolutely freeing about having a routine. It releases us from the need of constant decision making about what to do next. 

I also discovered a SJT post from June 2025 where I was in search of feasible summer rhythms and invited our community to write about summering. So perhaps rhythm was beginning to simmer as early as last summer! 

I am excited to see where rhythm will take me in this new year! 

Slice of Life: Rambling in Words

 Here's the post I wrote in 2013 before selecting my first One Little Word:

"I'm awash in words.  How to CHOOSE just one?  I've never done this before, but I've loved reading your posts about choosing one little word for the year.  As I REFLECT on 2012, I can sum up my incredible journey with the word  plunge.  March was the month that my students and I took the plunge to write every day.  I had never posted to Two Writing Teachers before, but with an incredible group of students by my side, I joined this group and I've never looked back.

It's been fun to DISCOVER that I'm a writer.  I SAVOR Tuesdays when I join my fellow bloggers to LISTEN.  Your words ENCOURAGE, ENRICH, and INSPIRE me.  I feel your EMBRACE through the kind words you leave on my blog.

I'm in search of a FOCUS that will help me CAPTURE the GROWTH that beckons for 2013.  I want to become less scattered and find more BALANCE, to go SLOW, to CELEBRATE more often.

I love words, so this task of choosing just one is overwhelming!  I'm trying to DECIDE which word calls loudest to me.  And I think it's the word that has no voice to call, but instead beckons me to a quieter path, one that asks me to LISTEN to my own voice more often, to trust that I can make progress bit by bit in this new year, to LISTEN to the voices around me, and to LISTEN for the gentle spiritual promptings that can guide me on my daily journey. 

I plan to spend a few days LISTENING before I commit to my one little word for 2013."

And here's the poem I've added to as I've selected a word each year:

 

Listen to the stillness, 

Savor the present moment,

Stretch to grow, and always 

Abide in His love to 

Nourish my soul and reach out in love. 

 

Delight in small moments and simple pleasures,

Try, a gentle word inviting growth and change.

Light becomes a beacon during difficult times,

Comfort wraps me in a year of coping with loss,

Clear, a call to deal with my stuff.

 

Gather is stuffed into a box for the NC move,

Gather pleads for more time and another year.  

Be, an opportunity to focus on the moment

 

And my word for 2026?

Here's a list of the current contenders:

steady, care, reach, authentic

strength, hold, energy, commitment

rhythm, focus, ease, playful, 

shine, serenity, hope, appreciation 

Stop by on Thursday for my SJT  (Spiritual Journey Thursday) post and the unveiling of 2026's OLW. 

And now I'm off to read your posts for this new year!