History Main / DeathbyNewberyMedal

This trope is so pervasive, some readers ''expect'' that the most lovable character won't get to see the end of a critically acclaimed work of fiction. Be warned: merely reading the titles listed below could result in spoilage, although the medal on the cover comes close.

Remember, one reader's predictable, {{Narm}}-filled [[OscarBait Award Bait]] can be another's [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Heartwarming-Crowned]] Childhood Classic that will always hold a special place on their bookshelf.

Compare OscarBait, which often employs the same principle. Probably a subset of TrueArtIsAngsty. A form of ThePlotReaper, death for the sake of story. And see these [[http://www.avclub.com/articles/inventory-nine-classic-instances-of-animal-snuff-f,1507/ two AV]] [[http://www.avclub.com/articles/your-mother-cant-be-with-you-anymore-17plus-entert,63422/ Club lists]].

* Katherine Paterson's ''Literature/BridgeToTerabithia'' (Newbery Medal, 1978). While [[DroppedABridgeOnHim killing a little girl out of the blue]] may seem way over the top for a children's novel, the book was based on a real-life incident when a friend of the author's son was struck dead by lightning at the age of eight.

* ''NoMoreHeroes'' toys with this. During the build-up to the #3 battle, It ''looks'' like they're going to kill Jeane, Travis's kitten, just to make the fight personal, but instead it's Travis's gym trainer who dies and Jeane walks back home without a scratch.

* By the end of chapter 14 of the SliceOfLife manga ''Manga/{{Solanin}}'', Meiko’s boyfriend Taneda has suffered [[CliffHanger a]] head injury in a scooter accident. By chapter 16, he has already been buried.

->Hesh: Sorry, boy. Your job's done. You're going with Merrick.

* Despite being predicted by several fans and even lampshaded by the developers themselves, Riley, your dog companion in ''VideoGame/{{Call of Duty Ghosts}}'', averts this trope narrowly. Riley is injured by enemy gunfire and evacuated by helicopter, making no further appearances in the game.

* Despite being predicted by several fans and even lampshaded by the developers themselves, Riley, your dog companion in ''VideoGame/{{CallofDutyGhosts}}'' averts this trope narrowly. Riley is injured by enemy gunfire and evacuated by helicopter, making no further appearances in the game.

* In Esther Forbes' ''JohnnyTremain'', 1944 Newbery Medal winner and another favorite middle-school reading assignment, Rab dies at the end.

* Lloyd Alexander's ''The High King'' (Newbery Medal, 1969), final book of the PrydainChronicles, takes this trope UpToEleven. While the series hadn't exactly shied away from death before, the fifth book kills off [[strike:Prince]] King Rhun, Annlaw Clay-Shaper, the High King Math, Loino, Coll, and Achren, depicts veritable carnage in what's ostensibly a children's book, and then throws in a rape threat for good measure. The previous book, ''Taran Wanderer,'' had been the series' ComingOfAge story, and had its own angsty death. Alas, no Newbery for that one.

* Mildred Taylor's ''Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry'' is another Newbery Award winner (1977). A young black boy is accused of a murder, made into the scapegoat by the older, white instigators. There's [[AvertedTrope almost]] a lynching of a thirteen-year-old boy. Almost. [[DoubleSubversion Instead, he gets tried and executed in the sequel.]] The book after that includes a premature death, too.

* Avi's 1990 Newbery Winner, ''The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle'' (1990). One person is thought to be dead, while three other people die for real.

* ''TheGiver'' (1994) involves the twelve-year-old protagonist, Jonas, being forced to take on endless memories of war, pain and other assorted horrors, causing him to become only one of two people in [[CrapsaccharineWorld his whole world]] to have feelings. Jonas' final "growing up" moment occurs when he learns, via a nonchalantly graphic video, just what happens when the smaller of a pair of twins is ReleasedToElsewhere. And the ending is extremely ambiguous, giving the impression that Jonas and his toddler [[NoBloodTies "brother"]] may very well have frozen to death. Recent WordOfGod says that Jonas, at least, survived (and he has a cameo in the sequel); though it's possible the award committee assumed he died, or considered the ambiguous ending especially artsy.
* In Sharon Creech's ''Walk Two Moons'' (Newbery Medal, 1995), this trope is played twice. First time it's subverted because the girl's mother has been dead the whole time, she's just in denial about it. Played straight when her Grandma dies though.

* 1998 Newbery winner ''Out Of The Dust'', by Karen Hesse, because accidentally 'setting your pregnant mother on fire is just not bad enough.
* Joan Bauer's ''Hope Was Here'' (Newbery Honor, 2001). The protagonist's father figure is dying of leukemia throughout the book.
* Linda Sue Park's ''ASingleShard'' (Newbery Medal, 2002): "Wherever you are on your journey, Crane-Man, [[BittersweetEnding I hope you are walking]] [[TearJerker on two good legs]]."

* ''Savvy'' (Newbery Honor, 2008). Mibs' father does not die after entering his coma, but he wakes up with amnesia and severe paralysis, making him effectively "dead" despite still technically being alive and still with the family.
* ''TheUnderneath'' (Newbery Honor, 2008). The calico cat drowns in the river when Gar-Face tosses her into it.

* Rebecca Stead's ''WhenYouReachMe'' (Newbery winner, 2010). Miranda slowly becomes friends with sometime bully Marcus. At the end of the book she discovers that an older version of Marcus has traveled through time to die for another child.
* ''A Corner of the Universe'' by Ann M. Martin, where the heroine meets a [[LongLostUncleAesop long-lost uncle]] she didn't know she had and they become great friends. Unfortunately, he has a learning disability and is mentally ill, and commits suicide at the end. Wasn't that cheery, boys and girls?
* Subverted with Moon Over Manifest (2011). The character Ned in the gypsy Miss Sadie's stories dies in battle during World War I. [[HeroicBSOD Abilene Tucker is shattered by this]], believing Ned was her father. This turns out not to be the case, and her father is still living, and his name in the story was "Jinx".
* In ''The One and Only Ivan'' (2013), the mother of the elephant on the cover dies.

* By the end of chapter 14 of the SliceOfLife manga Manga/{{Solanin}}, Meiko’s boyfriend Taneda has suffered [[CliffHanger a]] head injury in a scooter accident. By chapter 16, he has already been buried.

* ''MarleyAndMe''. Within a week or so of the movie's release on DVD, everyone knew the ending was this.

* ''{{K9}}'' subverts the trope: Dooley delivers an emotional soliloquy to what he assumes is Jerry's corpse, only to be told that patients aren't allowed in the recovery room.

* ''AllDogsGoToHeaven''. Once again, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin just read that title]].

* ''Bel Ria'' by Sheila Burnford, better known as the author of ''Incredible Journey'', which was made and remade into films. The dog doesn't die. All its masters do, though.
* In a straight example, the forest boy Tacit would mourn the death of his fiery-haired, lame-of-leg friend in the last chapter. But this is a subverted example, for that friend is Peter David's ''SirAproposOfNothing'', and he would eventually [[ScrewDestiny steal Tacit's destiny]] out from under him.
* Lampshaded in ''DiaryOfAWimpyKid'', where Gregory is told to read ''Literature/CharlottesWeb'', and predicts that either the girl or the pig doesn't make it to the end of the book. He never finds out what happens because he only reads three chapters.

* Parodied in HarlanEllison's post-apocalyptic novel ''A Boy and His Dog'' (Nebula Award for Best Novella, 1969). The titular boy escapes with his new girlfriend to find that, in his absence, his telepathic, erudite dog has been beaten nearly to death. His girlfriend, who's kind of a jerk, makes clear that he can either save the dog, or save her. Cut to the next scene, with the dog's injuries wrapped in the girl's dress, both of them complaining about how full they are, and... something... roasting over the remains of their fire.

* Creator/JohnGreen's Michael L. Printz Award winning book ''LookingForAlaska'' features an nerdy young teen who goes to a boarding school and meets a beautiful, adventurous girl with green eyes named Alaska. She has issues about her dead mother, so she drinks and smokes a lot and drives a beat up old car with bad brakes. You can see where this is going.
* ''A Girl Called Al'' and ''Beat the Turtle Drum'', both by [[http://www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org/birthbios/brthpage/10oct/10-27greene.html Constance C. Greene]].
* Susan Hill's ''Strange Meeting'' has the altogether ''too'' perfect David Barton, who (as per convention) doesn't make it to the end of the book.
* Spoofed in ''NoMoreDeadDogs'' by GordonKorman, which starts out with the main character writing a book report about "Old Shep, My Pal", a fictional medal-winning book. He notes he knew Old Shep was going to die when he saw the award sticker, and then name-checks ''Literature/OldYeller'', ''Sounder'', ''Bristle Face'', and ''Where The Red Fern Grows''.

* Wilson Rawls' ''Literature/WhereTheRedFernGrows'' gives us ''two'' dogs, both of which are dead by the end of the book. The horrible wounds of the first dog to die and the death of the bully who disembowels himself on his own hatchet are [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence described in graphic detail]].

* Most of the latter half of Felix Salten's ''Disney/{{Bambi}}'', starting when Bambi loses his mother, is one long series of Deaths By Newbery Medal. Particularly Gobo, the deer who was rescued and raised to adulthood by Man. He assumes all humans are his friends and dies horribly for it.

* Anthony Simmons' novel ''The Optimists of Nine Elms'' (adapted into a film starring Peter Sellers) is an interesting variation. The old busker Sam's dog, Bella, indeed dies, but it's not a shock to the kids who befriend them or the reader. Sam knows and accepts this will happen sooner or later. The climax of the novel is not Bella's death, but the children managing to bury her in Hyde Park's little dog cemetery to fulfil Sam's wish that she be laid to rest there. The kids accomplishing Bella's burial--and leaving their own dog with Sam--is actually a [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet triumph]] for [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism idealism]].

* Sue Townsend's Literature/AdrianMole, pretty much a perpetual adolescent, finally grows up (at the age of 35!) when his son's army buddy is killed in action in Basra.

* Roger, the heroine's best friend, dies in the first book of ''HisDarkMaterials''. It's especially gut-wrenching because Lyra, the heroine, spent most of the novel trying to find a way to save Roger, and then she ends up causing his death unintentionally (to make things even worse, she leads him right into it, and at the hands of her own father. Bringing him what he needs, indeed.
* David, the heroine's brother, in Cherie Bennett's ''Searching For David's Heart''. For extra angst points, she blames herself for his death.
* ''The Berenstain Bears Lose a Friend'' deals with the loss of a pet goldfish.

* Three books in the RamonaQuimby series have won Newberry Medals: ''Ramona Quimby, Age 8'', ''Ramona and Her Father'', and ''Ramona Forever''. Of these three, only ''Forever'' has a death: Picky-Picky, the family cat, dies in the book. However, unlike many other examples on this page, Picky-Picky dies peacefully of old age.
* ''Hurt Go Happy:'' Poor, poor Sukari.
* The titular ''[[TheSnowman Snowman]]''.
* The ''GreenSkyTrilogy'' played this one straight by giving TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth Raamo a DisneyVillainDeath. Snyder realized (after being swamped with mail) that the SenselessSacrifice was a bad idea, but couldn't go back and change it...But then she got approached by some video game designers, and made what was probably the first {{Canon}} video game sequel to a book, having the player take on the role of one of Raamo's TrueCompanions to save him.\\

* The title character in ''FreakTheMighty'' has Morquio Syndrome -- or, as one character puts it, he died [[{{Glurge}} because his heart was too big for his body]].
* E. Veltistov's "''A Gulp of Sun''" pulls this off brilliantly. We '''do''' know from the beginning that somebody was killed by the cloud, but we assume this is Singaevski, the other pilot. However in the end he ends up OnlyMostlyDead and Ryzh, the younger brother of hero's LoveInterest and a very close friend of the protagonist dies instead.
* Sorta subverted in MyDogSkip : Skip does die at the very end, but it's almost a throwaway line. He does, however, survive a pretty traumatic scene immediately before, and simply dies of old age years afterwards.
* Of the books in the {{Redwall}} series, ''Martin the Warrior'' is generally held as the best, and the most tragic. Martin's true love Rose is [[DroppedABridgeOnHim senselessly killed]] at the end. Also note that as this was a prequel, it was pretty much [[ForegoneConclusion guaranteed]] to have a DownerEnding.
* ''TheFaultInOurStars''. It's the sort of book where you pretty much know what's going to happen but [[TearJerker cry]] anyway. Anyway, the trope is used a great deal more sincerely in this book than in most others, and there's more depth, too.
** ''LookingForAlaska'', by the same [[Creator/JohnGreen author]], certainly counts too.
* A double whammy in "Surrender" by Sonja Hartnett. In flashbacks; we find out that 1) as a young boy, our protagonist accidentally killed his only childhood friend, his mentally ill brother, and 2) near the end of the book, that his parents forced him into shooting his dog, who has been present throughout the book, just as a ghost, or imagined by the main character.
* Kira Kira. How can you not see that coming.
* ''RedDog'' lays on the tragedy thick by having Red Dog's owner John die halfway through, leaving Red Dog a Hachiko, thinking he's abandoned him and wandering great distances throughout Western Australia searching for him before returning to John's girlfriend Nancy in Dampier. Several years later, Red Dog is poisoned and after two of the townsfolk decide they can't bear to literally ShootTheDog, he dies when the poison takes its course. John and Red Dog's deaths are two verifiable facts in what is otherwise loosely based on a true story.
* Subverted in Sharon Creech's ''The Wanderer'' Sophie and her family are sailing from USA to England to see Sophie's grandfather Bompie, whose health deteriorates as they sail. Seems that they are going to arrive just before or after his death... but ultimately he starts to feel better and they spend time together and go back.
** Played with in relation to Sophie's actual parents - they were missing from the beginnig, but only in the end do we learn how they died, and Sophie finally realises the fact they are dead.
* Iris R. Dart's ''{{Beaches}}'' heads toward a climax where Cee Cee Bloom's childhood friend Bertie is revealed to be dying from ovarian cancer. Cee Cee decides to call off a scheduled performance (to the anger of Hollywood producers) to spend months taking care of Bertie, as her health steadily declines and she winds up passing away.
** The film has the rechristened "Hilary" find out that she's contracted a viral heart disease, which will gradually kill her. To add to the drama, she can't get any transplants due to her rare blood type. After Hilary winds up deathly ill and weak, CC decides to have her friend discharged from the hospital (by her wish) so that they can spend their last moments together at the beach, watching the sun set.

* ''NoMoreHeroes'' toys with this. During the build-up to the #3 battle, It ''looks'' like they're going to kill Jeane, Travis' kitten, just to make the fight personal, but instead it's Travis' gym trainer who dies and Jeane walks back home without a scratch.

* By the end of chapter 14 of the SliceOfLife Manga/{{Solanin}}, Meiko’s boyfriend Taneda has suffered [[CliffHanger a]] head injury in a scooter accident. By chapter 16, he has already been buried.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' riffs on this trope by insinuating that you develop an emotional attachment to a "companion cube" that you need to carry around to solve a level's puzzle. [=GlaDOS=] tells you that the companion cube does not ''actually'' love you, and ultimately requires you to "euthanize" it at the end of the level. She then chides you for cruelty by being so quick to destroy your only companion. Grafitti from other test subjects include tearful epitaphs to their own companion cubes. This was all added after the desginers noticed that testers were reluctant to destroy their cubes. The only reason the cubes were marked as special to begin with was to let players know that they'd need them throughout the level. Ultimately ''Portal 2'' has a callback when at the end of the game, your scorched companion cube is kicked out the test facility door along with yo].

* Thomas Sennett (Macaulay Culkin) in ''My Girl'' (1991).

* [[spoiler: Trevor getting killed by the bullies]] at the end of ''Film/PayItForward'' arguably counts as this.

* Lampshaded in ''DiaryOfAWimpyKid'', where Gregory is told to read ''Literature/CharlottesWeb'', and predicts that either the girl or the pig doesn't make it to the end of the book. [[spoiler:He never finds out what happens because he only reads three chapters.]]

* Roger, the heroine's best friend, dies in the first book of ''HisDarkMaterials''. It's especially gut-wrenching because Lyra, the heroine, spent most of the novel trying to find a way to save Roger, and then she ends up causing his death unintentionally (to make things even worse, she [[spoiler:leads him right into it, and at the hands of her own father. Bringing him what he needs, indeed.]]

* E. Veltistov's "''A Gulp of Sun''" pulls this off brilliantly. We '''do''' know from the beginning that somebody was killed by the cloud, but we assume this is Singaevski, the other pilot. However in the end he ends up OnlyMostlyDead and [[spoiler: Ryzh, the younger brother of hero's LoveInterest and a very close friend of the protagonist]] dies instead.

** Played with in relation to Sophie's [[spoiler: actual parents - they were missing from the beginnig, but only in the end do we learn how they died, and Sophie finally realises the fact they are dead]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' riffs on this trope by insinuating that you develop an emotional attachment to a "companion cube" that you need to carry around to solve a level's puzzle. [=GlaDOS=] tells you that the companion cube does not ''actually'' love you, and ultimately requires you to "euthanize" it at the end of the level. She then chides you for cruelty by being so quick to destroy your only companion. Grafitti from other test subjects include tearful epitaphs to their own companion cubes. This was all added after the desginers noticed that testers were reluctant to destroy their cubes. The only reason the cubes were marked as special to begin with was to let players know that they'd need them throughout the level. Ultimately ''Portal 2'' has a callback when [[spoiler: at the end of the game, your scorched companion cube is kicked out the test facility door along with you]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Fable II}}'' has [[spoiler: your sister in the beginning of the game and your dog at the end. With the right DLC, you can resurrect your dog.]]
* ''NoMoreHeroes'' toys with this. During the build-up to the #3 battle, [[spoiler:It ''looks'' like they're going to kill Jeane, Travis' kitten, just to make the fight personal, but instead it's Travis' gym trainer who dies and Jeane walks back home without a scratch.]]

* ''VisualNovel/{{Planetarian}}'', by {{Key Visual Arts}}. The death of [[spoiler: Reverie, the robot girl]] at the end is an incredible, if predictable, TearJerker.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode "So Long, Spanky" deals with the death of DW's pet parakeet, Spanky. [[spoiler: But then she finds a toad in the aluminum can they used as a tombstone for Spanky's grave, and the remaining half of the episode involve DW becoming extremely annoyed with the toad. At the end, she the toad becomes DW's new pet.]]

* The 1980s cartoon of ''AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' did this with their new cat, Cookie Chomper III, Within the last 5 minutes of the episode, Cookie Chomper dies in an accident. [[spoiler: Don't worry, they get a new puppy at the ending.]]

* ''Literature/{{Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows}}'' included one death that J.K. Rowling has acknowledged as being for this purpose, that of Hedwig. Readers might see other examples in the preceding three books, ''Literature/{{Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire}}'' (check Cedric's noble, mournful look on some versions of the cover, and certainly the movie poster), ''Literature/{{Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix}}'' (being Harry's father figure and friend rolled together makes [[{{Foreshadowing}} Sirius]] a prime GrowingUpSucks death), and ''{{Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince}}'' (Dumbledore finally gets a cover! Oh.)

* ''{{Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows}}'' included one death that J.K. Rowling has acknowledged as being for this purpose, that of Hedwig. Readers might see other examples in the preceding three books, ''{{Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire}}'' (check Cedric's noble, mournful look on some versions of the cover, and certainly the movie poster), ''{{Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix}}'' (being Harry's father figure and friend rolled together makes [[{{Foreshadowing}} Sirius]] a prime GrowingUpSucks death), and ''{{Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince}}'' (Dumbledore finally gets a cover! Oh.)
** In Deathly Hallows [[BadassAdorable Dobby]] [[HeroicSacrifice especially falls into this.]]

* Fred Gipson's ''OldYeller'' -- but '''not''' its sequel ''Savage Sam'', [[FirstInstallmentWins which far fewer people have probably heard of, let alone read.]] Although it was ''also'' filmed by Disney.

* Spoofed in ''NoMoreDeadDogs'' by GordonKorman, which starts out with the main character writing a book report about "Old Shep, My Pal", a fictional medal-winning book. He notes he knew Old Shep was going to die when he saw the award sticker, and then name-checks ''OldYeller'', ''Sounder'', ''Bristle Face'', and ''Where The Red Fern Grows''.

* OldYeller, though ItWasHisSled.

** ''LookingForAlaska'', by the same [[JohnGreen author]], certainly counts too.

* JohnGreen's Michael L. Printz Award winning book ''LookingForAlaska'' features an nerdy young teen who goes to a boarding school and meets a beautiful, adventurous girl with green eyes named Alaska. She has issues about her dead mother, so she drinks and smokes a lot and drives a beat up old car with bad brakes. You can see where this is going.

* ''{{Haunting Ground}}'': Hewie - a white German Shepherd dog - is introduced early on, immediately comes to Fiona's aid after she frees him, and continues to act as her sole companion and protector for the game. Mid-way through the game, he will run off into the forest to tackle a Stalker, and gets shot. If you didn't treat him well enough, he dies and you get a BadEnd.

* The ''CaspertheFriendlyGhost'' short ''TheresGoodBoosTonight''.