Afterwords

September 16, 2012

I walked out of the library today carrying not a single book. As I dropped two books into the return slot, the goal I had set out to do two years and three months ago was complete.  As I read the Newbery winners in no particular order, I had decided a while back what book to read last. The capstone of my literary adventure was the 2012 Newbery Medal winner Dead End at Norvelt.

Now as I sit and think about the journey I can’t help but go from story to story in my mind recalling all of the places I visited without boarding a plane: Vermont during maple syrup season; Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri during the Civil War; Poland; England during several different centuries; China; Korea; New Mexico among the sheep herders; battles of World War I across Europe; voyages across the high seas on several different ships; Florida; New York City; villages in the Alps; Holland; Denmark; Alaska; Georgia; Tennessee; Texas; Wyoming; the Middle East during the time of Jesus; and many more with the last pin stuck in Pennsylvania.

At times I was invited into different worlds created by the author like an island full of diamonds or a utopian society. Names such as Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Boone, Louisa May Alcott, and Johnny Tremain I have heard of before; however, now I feel introduced to them on a different level, as I have learned more about their lives through their joys and hardships. New introductions were made as the life of Amos Fortune or Mr. Bowditch unfolded on the page.

I am greeted by a mixed sense of accomplishment and sadness. So much of my time has been committed to reading page after page that I hardly know what to concentrate on next. Fortunately, the library is filled with an endless supply of books unread. And yet, the “Afterwords” of my Newbery journey has yet to be written. As a new winner is announced each year, I can only look forward to the annual continuation of my literally adventure as one more “distinguished contribution to American literature for children” is added to my list.