Wow this book...

Crenshaw is a heart-melter of a book without being sappy.  It is lovely.  Just lovely.  It is written by Katherine Applegate who wrote The One and Only Ivan, which did win the Newbery, but was actually great!  That was another heart-melty book that wasn't sappy.   She wrote the Animorphs series.  I wonder what it was like changing from Animorphs to these books.  I have never read the Animorphs, so they might be awesome, too, though!  oooh...I just found that she wrote this one, too.  That looks good!  At least the cover looks good and the description seems interesting!  I think Crenshaw is certainly a Newbery contender.  It was recommended to me by a young patron, actually, who told me that everyone in her class was reading it on their own and loving it and recommending it.