About

We are Team Friendship: three cousins who also happen to be best friends! We host the podcast Reading the Newberys, a monthly podcast reviewing Newbery Medal Award winning children’s books. Our mission is to read and review each of the Newbery books on a monthly basis beginning with the first winner from 1922, The Story of Mankind by Hendrik van Loon. In addition to discussing the Newbery books, we also discuss our love of books (current reads) and current book related news.

 

Meet the ladies of Team Friendship!

 

Meet Leah

 Leah LOVES Gilmore Girls, the Upper West Side and bread! Her favorite books include the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien and the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Leah lives in Northern Illinois with her husband Joey.

Meet Lauren

 Lauren LOVES Star Wars, Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings and Disney! Her favorite books include Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein and the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. Lauren lives in northern Illinois with her husband Michael and their four-year-old daughter.

Meet Mandalay

 Mandalay LOVES Dungeons and Dragons, cats and cake! Her favorite books include the first 37 pages of Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer, The first 75 pages of the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis and the first 51 pages of The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Mandalay lives in Northern Illinois with her cat named Mary Jane and her dog named Ahsoka.