John Newbery MedalThe First State of BeingErin Entrada KellyIn August 1999, twelve-year-old Michael Rosario is anxious about the approaching Y2K moment. He meets a mysterious teenager who says he has arrived from the future. Their growing friendship changes the way Michael considers his family, trust, forgiveness, and what may come next. Set during the lead-up to Y2K, the novel brings Michael’s present into contact with questions about time and the future.All readersLexile Text Measure 681LATOS Book Level 4.4View book detailsJohn Newbery Medal and Honor Books 2025
The 2025 edition includes 4 Newbery Honor Books and 1 John Newbery Medal recipient. It records one year of the Newbery program for distinguished contributions to American children's literature. The program recognizes writing rather than illustration, sales, popularity, or a universal reading level.
2025 John Newbery Medal and Honor BooksSee the original list
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Published byAssociation for Library Service to Children (ALA)
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5 selections
John Newbery MedalThe First State of BeingErin Entrada KellyIn August 1999, twelve-year-old Michael Rosario is anxious about the approaching Y2K moment. He meets a mysterious teenager who says he has arrived from the future. Their growing friendship changes the way Michael considers his family, trust, forgiveness, and what may come next. Set during the lead-up to Y2K, the novel brings Michael’s present into contact with questions about time and the future.All readersLexile Text Measure 681LATOS Book Level 4.4View book details
Newbery Honor BookAcross So Many SeasRuth BeharFour girls from successive generations of a Sephardic Jewish family live across five centuries. Their connected stories include exile from Spain, settlement in Istanbul, migration to Cuba, and a journey to the United States. In 1923, Reina is sent from Turkey to Cuba after defying her father; later, her daughter Alegra flees Cuba for Miami. Music and memory link the family’s long history of displacement and movement.All readersLexile Text Measure 830LATOS Book Level 5.3View book details
Newbery Honor BookMagnolia Wu Unfolds It Alll, Chanel MillerTen-year-old Magnolia Wu calls herself a sock detective at her parents’ New York City laundromat. She wants to reunite every lone sock left there with the customer it belongs to. Magnolia pins the misplaced socks to a bulletin board so customers can find them again. Her efforts turn the laundromat’s unclaimed socks into the objects of an ongoing search for their owners.All readersView book details
Newbery Honor BookOne Big Open SkyLesa Cline-Ransome, map by Allira TreeTold in verse through the voices of Lettie, her mother Sylvia, and Philomena, this novel follows Black pioneers heading west in 1879. Lettie’s father, Thomas, wants to leave Mississippi, where racism and the legacy of slavery limit the family’s possibilities, for Nebraska, which welcomes homesteaders regardless of race. Sylvia is reluctant to leave extended family, but the group sets out with other Black homesteaders. Philomena joins them in Missouri, paying to travel with the family because a teaching job awaits her in Nebraska. The journey brings uncertainty, tension, and changing family bonds.All readersView book details
Newbery Honor BookThe Wrong Way HomeKate O’ShaughnessyFern and her mother flee the Ranch, an off-the-grid community where Dr. Ben has controlled every part of their lives. In California, they settle near a motel where Fern’s mother has found work, with help from Babs, an old friend of Fern’s grandmother. Having been taught to fear technology and the outside world, Fern struggles with how little she knows. Wanting to reconnect with Dr. Ben, she seeks a private investigator and tries to earn the money to hire one.All readersLexile Text Measure 640LATOS Book Level 4.1View book details