Are there coincidences, or are you Hydra? Someone just recommended One Crazy Summer to me, and yep, I did indeed think eat-your-vegetables thoughts about it, not altogether reflexively because one of the kids I tutor had it as a school assignment before the holidays, and having read a chapter with him, I found it Very Educational. Though I will admit the prose was not as leaden as one generally finds in the boiled-vegetable genre.

I remember when I was a kid discovering that a Newbery stamp on a cover was a reliable indicator that even if the jacket copy didn't seem alluring, the book was going to win me over and then some. To judge by the books you're describing, it's not that way anymore; the judges aren't picking books that will delight children, if often also stretching them, but rather books that they think will improve children. It's very sad, especially when, God knows, there are plenty of writers of color producing wonderful stories.