Please keep the 90-Second Newbery going by making your tax-deductible donation here! Donations are handled through our fiscal sponsor Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.

This past Saturday, April 5, we screened the 14th annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival in Rochester, New York! It was co-hosted by me and legendary kids’ author Bruce Coville, and we filled up the Dryden Theater at the George Eastman Museum with an enthusiastic audience of about 260 people. Here’s our opening skit, in which Bruce and I sing our own 90-Second Newbery Newbery-damaged version “The Phantom of the Opera.” And then I run out into the audience and harass some families. Fun! I always love getting on stage with Bruce!

Thanks to our sponsors, The Friends and Foundation of the Rochester Public Library, Genesee Valley BOCES, the Rochester Institute of Technology, the Irondequoit Public Library, Cheshire Audio Visual, and Animatus Studio! Thanks also to Eliza Kozlowski and Suzanne Kolodziej at the George Eastman Museum for letting us use the beautiful Dryden Theater and to Nicole Diroff and Winna Carrasco for handling projection. And special thanks to Carol White Llewellyn at CommuniVision Studio for her work promoting 90-Second Newbery, and to Deb Ross for bringing the film festival to Rochester in the first place, and to our media sponsor KidsOutAndAbout.com!

Here are all the young filmmakers onstage at the end of the show:

One of those young filmmakers was Eian-Gabriel Sinclair. I first received a 90-Second Newbery from Eian-Gabriel in 2016. Year after year since, he has consistently been making stop-motion movies for the 90-Second Newbery, with greater and greater skill and sophistication. When he was 14 he applied to the Rochester Institute of Technology, and I wrote him a letter of recommendation. Now he’s 18 years old, and has graduated from RIT summa cum laude! What an amazing achievement! Here I am with Eian-Gabriel and his family:

Let’s check out Eian-Gabriel’s movie for this year: an adaptation of Russell Freedman’s 1988 Newbery Medal Winner Lincoln: A Photobiography, but with a twist. It ably makes the case that Rochester’s own Frederick Douglass deserves his own place next to Lincoln on Mount Rushmore! And it’s done entirely in elaborate Claymation. Check it out:

Astonishing, right? As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This one is possibly his best movie yet . . . I loved the painstaking, ingenious way that this movie makes the Presidents squabble and interact—Eian-Gabriel’s clay faces are better actors than some professionals I could name! (At times they remind me of Statler and Waldorf, the two old hecklers in the balcony on The Muppet Show.) Great voiceover performances really seal the deal.”

Last year Opal and her family did an impressive stop-motion version of The Girl Who Drank the Moon. This year Opal is back with Edna and friends to do a mixed live-action / stop-motion adaptation of Kate DiCamillo’s 2004 Newbery Medal Winner The Tale of Despereaux:

A triumph! As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This movie worked so well because its admirable attention to detail, like the fussy little furnished rooms where the mice had their meetings, and the occasional well-chosen soundtrack music, and the resourceful costumes and props such as crown, food, guitar, etc.. But the best thing about this movie were the bombastic and enthusiastic performances.”

The Penfield Public Library in Penfield, NY turned in this satisfyingly clever adaptation of E.L. Konigsburg’s 1968 Newbery Medal Winner From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, in which Claudia and Jamie run away not to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but rather to a “Villains School” run by the sinister “Headmistress Frankweiler”:

As the judges wrote in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “From the very beginning I knew this would be good, with a snappy title card and tense spy-movie music. The voiceover did an effective job of making everything clear—the important characters, their situation, and the twist—so that the movie can concentrate on the truly fun stuff, like watching Claudia and Jamie sneak around the Villains School and foil Headmistress Frankweiler’s dastardly plans . . . A wonderfully entertaining and impressive adaptation of the book!”

I received four adaptations of Katherine Paterson’s 1978 Medal Winner Bridge to Terabithia from Rochester this year. This first one is by Hayley, Everette, Eliana, Mason, Emma, Kayden, Braxton, Zoe, Sydney, and Elijah of Bernabi Elementary School in Spencerport:

As the judges wrote in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “Jesse and Leslie had a believable chemistry, and I appreciated watching Jesse’s arc from skeptic to believer in Terabithia . . . The script was tight and told the story elegantly . . . I especially liked the montage when Jesse and Leslie are fighting the Terabithian monsters while rock music plays—brilliant! This movie told the story straightforwardly, clearly, and entertainingly.”

Here’s another version of Bridge to Terabithia, but this one is by Coleman, Sean, Olivia, Jackson, and Harper of Taylor Elementary School in Spencerport:

As the judges wrote in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “A fun and original twist: instead of Jesse and Leslie going to an imaginary realm in the woods they call ‘Terabithia,’ they go to the moon! . . . I was amused by the inclusion of the 1980s song ‘Jesse’s Girl’ (I can’t believe it, but this is the first 90-Second Newbery I’ve received that uses that iconic and appropriate song!) . . . I loved the PSA-style ending (‘Just don’t forget your space helmet, kids!’) and I’m glad that Bess the cow got her cameo at the end (complete with an assertive MOO!).”

Here’s yet another movie based on Bridge to Terabithia, also from Taylor Elementary School, this time by Marco, Chad, Todd, Ethan, and Xander:

As the judges wrote in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This one had a concept and a title so funny I can’t believe nobody’s thought of it before: The Witch Under the Bridge to Terror-Bithia! There was a clever use of green screen throughout, especially how it seemed like they were walking ‘across’ the bridge while in fact only walking up the stairs where the green screen was . . . Entertaining and satisfyingly weird!”

This final version of Bridge to Terabithia is also by Taylor Elementary School, and it’s by Zoey, Joey, Nessa, Hunter, and Eli:

As the judges wrote in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “Funny and inventive . . . Terabithia is in fact inhabited by malicious rock-throwing ninjas, and by building a ‘bridge to Terabithia,’ Jesse has given those ninjas the ability to take over the world, eventually causing the entire planet to explode! Insane and creative . . . The best parts by far were the ebullient and hilarious performances, which made this movie particularly fun to watch!”

Also from Taylor Elementary is this version of Katherine Applegate’s 2013 Newbery Medal Winner The One and Only Ivan, by Otto, Luka, Takoda, Paulina, Sean, Olivia, Amelia, and Kennedy:

As the judges wrote in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This was an ingenious twist on the original story: instead of humans keeping animals in a shoddy zoo, this is about animal jailers keeping humans in an abusive prison! And in the most significant twist, instead of Ivan being a noble, big-hearted silverback gorilla who figures out how to free his friends, he’s a petty tyrant who relishes being the merciless warden of the prison! . . . The acting was often very good, in particular the way Julia breaks down crying, or Ivan’s cruel pronouncements (‘I don’t care! They’re prisoners and they deserve to be punished for it!’).”

Canal View Elementary made this version of Tae Keller’s 2021 Newbery Medal Winner When You Trap a Tiger:

As the judges wrote in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “I was on board right from the start when I realized the goofy twist—instead of catching a tiger, it’s catching a cow! . . . The acting and performances were outstanding: Lily’s querulous and jumpy nature, Sam’s dismissive, screen-ager vibe, the mother’s soft-spoken kindness, Ricky’s sweet enthusiasm, the tiger’s gruff mysteriousness, and of course Halmoni, with her fun wardrobe choices: old-lady glasses, cane, and loud flowery clothes . . . Great work!”

Canal View Elementary also made an adaptation of Erin Entrada Kelly’s 2018 Newbery Medal Winner Hello Universe:

As the judges wrote in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “Speedy, true to the book, and heartfelt! The acting in this movie was great, and everyone had a chance to shine: Virgil’s character growth from the meek pushover at the beginning to the resolute escapee, the convincingly sadistic bully Chet, Kai’s calm confidence, Valencia’s sympathetic nature, and more . . . I was impressed by the split-screen scene, in which Virgil and Valencia, filling out the same questionnaire in different rooms, trade lines in a way that artfully demonstrates the connection between the characters.”

Jalyssa, Allison, Lily, Ryan, and Addisyn of Munn Elementary School did this movie of Kevin Henkes’s 2014 Honor Book The Year of Billy Miller:

As the judges wrote in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This realistic and authentic-feeling movie worked well because of the strength of the performances . . . Billy’s performance grounded the movie and made the emotions of this story really come alive, in particular during subtle moments like the way Billy’s face changes after he says ‘the glitter in the cave is supposed to be minerals’ to his teacher . . . Fun to watch, hewed pretty close to the book, and had admirably restrained and realistic acting!”

And finally, here’s Jerry Spinelli’s 1991 Newbery Medal Winner Maniac Magee by Jack, Samson, and Blake of Honeoye Falls-Lima School:

As the judges wrote in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This fast, earnest retelling of the story did a solid job of zipping through the book’s basic plot points through a combination of live action and onscreen text . . . A nimble, entertaining movie!”

And that was the Rochester 2025 90-Second Newbery! If you’re looking for the other movies we featured that day, here they are:

• Millions of Cats in the style of Jaws by the Leland Street Players
• Holes at an all-girls finishing school by the Treehouse Museum
• 26 Fairmount Avenue as a musical by Grant Center for Expressive Arts
• Doctor Desoto with a vampire by Grant Center for Expressive Arts
• Charlotte’s Web with a vengeful Charlotte by North Bergen S.T.E.A.M. Academy
• The Old Tobacco Shop with puppets and stop-motion by Portland Community Media

Thanks to all to the young filmmakers who created the movies, and the teachers, librarians, and families who helped them . . . and thanks to everyone in the great crowd who came out for the show! Here’s to next year. Remember, you can get started on your movies right now, and turn them in anytime. Deadline is January 2026!

Oh and one last thing: the 90-Second Newbery relies entirely on private donations and grants to keep going. It’s only through your generosity that we can continue bringing our free public screenings and book-to-movie workshops to libraries and schools nationwide. You can make your (tax-deductible!) donation here. Donations are handled through our fiscal sponsor Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.