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After seeing Jennifer’s inner debate over which book to choose I thought it would be fun to discuss the books a little.

Why did you vote the way you did? What are the true strengths of the book you voted for? Why will children benefit from reading it? Why should it win? Is it "distinguished"...

So I ask you. Which book should win the Newbery for 2010?

Just for reference, here is the list:
Answers:

Slob by Ellen Potter
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Here's How I See It--Here's How It Is by Heather Henson
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson
The Unfinished Angel by Sharon Creech
The Book of the Maidservant by Rebecca Barnhouse
Charles and Emma The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
The Girl Who Threw Butterflies by Mick Cochrane
A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck
Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had by Kristin Levine
Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick
Forest Born by Shannon Hale
Marcelo In The Real World by Francisco X. Stork
Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur
Wild Things by Clay Carmichael
Crossing Stones by Helen Frost
The Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice
Neil Armstrong is My Uncle and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me by Nan Marino
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis by Barbara O'Connor
All the Broken Pieces by Ann Burg
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo
The Nine Pound Hammer by John Claude Bemis
Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko
Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede

Of those, I have read Charles and Emma, A Season of Gifts, Calpurnia Tate, Best Bad Luck, Homer P. Figg, Catching Fire, Marcelo, When You Reach Me, and Thirteenth Child.

I have not previously liked Kate DiCamillo's other books, so I skipped that one. I know they have a great many fans - just not me. Many of the others I could not get ahold of. There is another possible move in my future and I simply cannot afford to move all of my books, so I am in the process of giving them away and trying desperately to get as many books as I can from the library, rather than the book store.

At any rate, I really enjoyed Thirteenth Child, Calpurnia Tate, and Homer P. Figg. I was impressed with the plotting of When You Reach Me, but, like The Westing Game, the actual story didn't grab me. I enjoyed Catching Fire, but it felt very much like a sequel.

I skimmed the ending half of Charles and Emma, which isn't a good sign. Ditto with Marcelo and A Season of Gifts. I have really enjoyed a lot of Peck's other books, but this one started out a bit too painfully for me - stringing the main character up in the privy with fishing line seemed too dangerous to be funny. Best Bad Luck was fine, but I don't remember that much about the characters, and I love to love characters.

I am not sure which one I voted for - or if I voted (senility setting in?), but I don't have an overwhelming favorite.

My Newbery Club hasn't officially voted, but I took an informal poll and When You Reach Me was the winner.