During the 1990s, the economy in America was thriving, the stock market was on the rise, and consumerism was back with a vengeance. Technology affected, in one way or another, the lives of virtually every American. People used the computer to communicate with family and friends and to make purchases. The Internet became the fastest and most efficient means of obtaining information. American society was changing: Legislators began to pay attention to diverse groups of people such as the handicapped; environmental issues became popular concerns; and finally, the needs of children were beginning to be addressed.
The Newbery Medal winners of the 1990s are a reflection of the society in which they were written. Because people are using computers more, they tend to be more isolated from others than they were during previous decades. As a result, a recurring theme in the novels that won the Newbery Medal Award in the 1990s, regardless of the time period in which they were set, is the interdependence of people. In Number the Stars (1990), Ellen and her family would not have escaped communist Denmark without the help of Annemarie's family; Maniac, in Maniac Magee (1991), would not have a family if strangers had not taken him in; in The Giver (1994), Jonas realizes that people are not really living if they are not sharing their emotions, thoughts, and feelings with each other; Salamanca might not have come to terms with her mother's death if she had not had a good friend named Phoebe to mirror her own feelings in Walk Two Moons (1995); Beetle would not have survived long without the Midwife in The Midwife's Apprentice (1996); Nadia, Noah, Julian, and Ethan are connected as The Souls and as teammates for the Academic Bowl in The View From Saturday (1997); in Out of the Dust (1998), Billie Jo needs her father; and finally, in Holes (1999), Stanley and Zero must depend on each other to survive.
