The Newbery Award is having an identity crisis. It's been given out to children's novels since 1922, but now there's a new award that makes me wonder what the Newbery means. The three-year-old Printz award is for young adult, or YA novels...but lots of Newbery's have been given to YA books. Which novels belong to which award? The 2001 Newbery awards were a perfect example of this confusion.

Two of the three Newbery awards were given to books that were short in length, but complex in ideas. Shorter novels for 7-10 year olds are generally known for their entertainment, not enduring value. This made me hopeful. If Newberys were given to books like these, it could raise the excellence of books for younger novel readers.

The Newbery winner was Linda Sue Park's A Single Shard. The one hundred and sixty page novel is set in 12th century Korea and describes the tender relationship between a fourteen year old orphan, Tree-ear and his friend, Crane-man. Crane-man, an elderly homeless man, has clothed, fed and cared for Tree-ear most of his life. The setting is a town know for its pottery and Tree-ear spends hours watching Min, the short-tempered master potter, make clay miracles on his wheel.

There are adventures as the boy struggles to find a place of belonging. But this is not an action-driven, easy to read book. Park's detailed writing and struggling character will eventually win over young audiences, but it may take an adult to keep them engaged in the beginning.

One Newbery honor book was Polly Horvath's Everything on a Waffle (FSG, $16.00) . Again, this challenging read, is character, not plot driven. Primose Squarp, the eccentric heroine lives in a small town of quirky people. She's trying to convince them that her parents have not died, but were only washed out to sea temporarily. Strange characters, weird circumstances and an unusual voice strengthen this novel, but again children may need adult help to enjoy it.

The second Newbery honor book doesn't go with the others and is totally wrong for elementary school children. Not that it doesn't deserve an award. Marilyn Nelson's Carver, a life in poems (Front Street,12 and up) is a brilliant biography told in verse. But the author's complex ideas and images about the private and enigmatic Carver will be difficult for high school students to read.

It's not easy. Reading lines have blurred. Today's children are often so sophistocated it's hard to tell whether a book is right for middle or high school. But if the lines between the Newbery and Printz were more distinct, the awards would be a greater help for parents, librarians, and children who already have a difficult time sorting through the thousands of children's books published each year.