Cybils

Blatant Appeal For Money (Sorry)

Hope everyone had a terrific Thanksgiving and you're happily getting ready for the holidays, whichever holiday(s) you happen to celebrate.  We hope you'll remember us here at Cybils when you do your shopping.

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Anne Levy, Editor

REVIEW Out of the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst

Nettle is the online handle of one of our Fantasy and Sci-Fi panelists, but she also identifies herself as "Hunter and Bagger of the Elusive Snark" on her blog, The Puck in the Midden. She posts excellent reviews there as well as at Cabinet des Fées: A Fairy Tale Journal, which is where today's review is from. She's also associated with the wonderful Endicott Studio.

In her review, Nettle discusses both of Sarah Beth Durst's fantasy titles, Into the Wild (a 2007 Cybils Finalist) and Out of the Wild, which was nominated for this year's award in Fantasy and Sci-Fi. Durst's two-volume series follows the adventures of Julie Marchen, a fun, clever, likeable girl who just happens to be the daughter of Rapunzel--that's right, the one from the fairy tales. Fans of the first book will be pleased to hear that Julie's adventure isn't over, and that the sequel contains the same magical appeal:

Younger readers will find Into the Wild and Out of the Wild an excellent introduction to the complexities of fairy tales, and older readers will enjoy this fresh new take on some very old ideas.

Read the full review here.

REVIEW I Will Surprise My Friend! by Mo Willems

Kara Dean of Not Just for Kids is our blogger of the day, as well as a panelist for this year's Easy Readers category. Since August of 2007, Kara--a children's librarian, writer, and reviewer--been posting about her favorite books and other happenings in the children's lit world under the moniker of Children's Literature Guru.

Earlier this month, the Guru reviewed one of the Cybils Easy Reader nominees by an author familiar to and beloved by many: Mo Willems. His recent book I Will Surprise My Friend! features familiar funny faces Elephant and Piggie, who decide to play a game of hide-and-seek which ends up going somewhat awry. The characters' friendship is the central theme of the Elephant and Piggie books, and this installment in the story is no exception. According to Kara:

Willems has taken the same winning combination that he utilizes in his picture books--memorable characters, silly humor, simple wisdom, boundless enthusiasm--and applied it to the easy reader format.

Click here to read the full review.

REVIEW Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher

YA-loving denizens of the kidlitosphere will no doubt be familiar with The YA YA YAs--Trisha, Gayle, and Jolene have been blogging since March of 2007 over at Wordpress, where they post about everything that YA literature fans and YA librarians could want. News, reviews, fiction, non-fiction--these three Young Adult librarians have it covered. Today's review comes from Trisha, who cites books by Sarah Dessen, E. Lockhart, and Tamora Pierce as some of her favorites.

With those authors (and their strong young female characters) in mind, it's no surprise that Trisha enjoyed Christine Fletcher's historical fiction novel Ten Cents a Dance. Ruby Jacinski, Fletcher's main character, is definitely one of those determined and memorable young women. Ruby, a fifteen-year-old girl in 1941 Chicago, is working in a meat-packing plant to support her family after dropping out of school. Then she finds a new, better-paying job: working at a dance hall. Unfortunately, there's one big problem--it's not considered a respectable job. Says Trisha in her review:

Ruby must lie to her mother and most of her acquaintances about her job, claiming to be a telephone switchboard operator, and hide all traces of what she’s really doing to continue to work at Starlight.

To read more about this 2008 Cybils YA nominee, click here.

REVIEW Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale

One of this year's Cybils panelists in the Graphic Novels category is Sam Musher of Parenthetical.net. According to the header graphic, her blog contains "Musings and snark about YA lit, libraries, and geekdom, from an overly opinionated middle school librarian." Sam also posts book lists and book reviews of literature for kids and teens--and had a truly kick-butt Halloween costume this year, if you're a fan of Scott Westerfeld.

One of her recent reviews was of Cybils-nominated title Rapunzel's Revenge, written by Shannon and Dean Hale and illustrated by Nathan Hale. This graphic novel for middle-grade and teen readers sets the story of Rapunzel in an alternate, fantastical Wild West setting and gives Rapunzel (and her amazing hair) a chance to give as good as she gets.

Says Sam about Rapunzel's Revenge, "I loved everything about this book, from the clean, friendly art, to the funny one-liners."

Read the full review at Parenthetical.net.

Cybils Nominees Rock the Blog Blast Tour

Can you believe it? Eighteen of this year's Cybils-nominated authors are getting a spot in the limelight this week during the Winter Blog Blast Tour organized by Colleen Mondor of Chasing Ray. For your convenience, here is a list of dates, Cybils-nominated titles, and links:

Monday, November 17
Lewis Buzbee, Steinbeck's Ghost (MG Fiction)
Chasing Ray

Laurel Snyder, Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains (MG Fiction) and Inside the Slidy Diner (Fiction Picture Books)
Miss Erin

Elizabeth Wein, The Empty Kingdom (YA Fiction)
Finding Wonderland

Tuesday, November 18
Melissa Walker, Violet in Private (YA Fiction)
Hip Writer Mama

Luisa Plaja, Split by a Kiss (YA Fiction)
Bildungsroman

D.M. Cornish, Lamplighter (Fantasy and Sci-Fi)
Finding Wonderland

Wednesday, November 19
Ellen Klages, White Sands, Red Menace (MG Fiction)
A Fuse #8 Production

M.T. Anderson, Octavian Nothing Vol. II (YA Fiction)
Finding Wonderland

Mitali Perkins, First Daughter: White House Rules (MG Fiction)
Mother Reader

Thursday, November 20
Martin Millar, Lonely Werewolf Girl (Fantasy and Sci-Fi)
Chasing Ray

Beth Kephart, The House of Dance (YA Fiction)
Hip Writer Mama

Emily Ecton, Boots and Pieces (Fantasy and Sci-Fi)
Bildungsroman

Brandon Mull, Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague (Fantasy and Sci-Fi)
The YA YA YAs

Friday, November 21
Mayra Lazara Dole, Down to the Bone (YA Fiction)
Chasing Ray

Frances O'Roark Dowell, Shooting the Moon (MG Fiction)
A Fuse #8 Production

J. Patrick Lewis, Birds on a Wire: A Renga 'round Town (Poetry)
Writing and Ruminating

Wendy Mass, Every Soul a Star (MG Fiction)
Hip Writer Mama

Caroline Hickey, Isabelle's Boyfriend (YA Fiction)
Mother Reader

For the full Winter Blog Blast Tour schedule, visit Chasing Ray.

REVIEW Dinosaur vs. Bedtime by Bob Shea

Stephanie Ford, one of our Fiction Picture Book panelists, is a blogger at the Children's Literature Book Club, which is described as a "book club of grownups who like to discuss children's literature." She posts reviews of everything from picture books to YA novels, and includes kidlit news and booklists as well for curious readers who are interested in following along with the book club.

One of the recent titles Stephanie reviewed was Bob Shea's Dinosaur vs. Bedtime, an entertainingly illustrated title about a little dinosaur who claims that nothing can stop him--not even a pile of leaves or a big slide--until he finally comes up against: bedtime. In her review, Stephanie describes Shea's appealing illustration style:

The illustrations are simple, beautiful, and guaranteed to entertain preschoolers. If you mixed Mo Willems' pigeon and Lauren Child's Charlie and Lola, you would end up with dinosaur.

Check out the full review--plus a video of Shea sharing his book on Noggin's Story Time--here.

Jen Robinson at Shelf Space

Jen Robinson is guest blogging at Foreword magazine's Shelf Space through the month of November.  The most recent post talks about her role as literacy evangelist for the web's most popular (okay, only) kidlit awards.  Here's a sample:

I believe that the Cybils short lists (5 to 7 titles per category) are an amazing resource. Great titles, vetted by people who, in many cases, read hundreds of children’s books each year. Books assessed with an eye to page-turner appeal, in addition to literary quality. I would like to see these short lists in the hands of parents, teachers, and librarians from around the world. My role in this year’s Cybils awards is to help spread the word about these awards beyond the circle of the bloggers and authors involved. That makes me a Literacy Evangelist. I’m a cheerleader for the Cybils, and for getting kids excited about reading. I’m the person jumping up and down (virtually, anyway) asking people to tell their friends and colleagues about the Cybils.

Now go read the rest.  

Meet the Panelists: Graphic Novels Roundtable

Having been part of the Graphic Novels category myself in previous years, I can attest that it's always an adventure discussing what makes a quality nominee, and sometimes, what makes a graphic novel a graphic novel! Thanks to GN category organizer Snow Wildsmith of Good Comics for Kids, we're getting a sneak peek into what the nominating and judging panelists really think--read on to find out who prefers Bone, who likes American Born Chinese, and who wishes they had the superpower to turn invisible!

What do you think makes a great graphic novel for kids and teens? Is it the art, the story, both? What are some examples of great kids and teen graphic novels?

Gina MarySol Ruiz (Cuentecitos, AmoXcalli): What makes a graphic novel great for kids and teens?  The same thing that makes them great for adults.  Story, story, story.  It's fine to have beautiful art, and some of it out there is astounding but if it doesn't help tell the story, then it's just pretty pictures.  A great graphic novel tells a compelling tale, using illustration and words to complement each other, but words aren't always necessary.  The illustrations alone can be evocative enough to let the reader know exactly what is going on. 

The sequence is important as well.  Does that novel seem disjointed?  Then it's probably not so good.  I say probably because I've seen graphic novels that deliberately mess with sequence to get their story across.  In the end, it boils down to telling a darned good story. A few examples of what I think are great kids and teens graphic novels:  The Arrival, Korgi, Amelia Rules, and American Born Chinese.

Paula Willey (Pink Me): The best graphic novels feel like movies--you are watching and listening (reading) at the same time, without feeling a) talked at or b) lost in a confused swirl of images. I think it takes an unbelievable amount of skill to write a script for a graphic novel. Pace is important, and movement, and setting--more so in graphic novels than in all-text novels.

I look at it like this: if I am recalling a scene in a graphic novel, and I can't remember whether the narrative was spelled out explicitly in the text, or acted out in the art... that is a successful graphic novel. 

David Elzey (The Excelsior File): For kids, the thing that makes a graphic novel great is that it opens up the language of the comics medium; it builds on the story-picture interaction that begins with picture books, and adds a new layer to the experience. Sara Varon's Robot Dreams does this well, inviting the reader to fill in the emotional dialog between the dog, the robot, and their desire for friendship. Then, of course, one cannot dismiss Tintin for the rollicking adventure of it all.

For teens, I'm looking at story first, then art, because if the story's not there then it's often nothing more than a prop for illustrations. The Cultural Trinity--Spiegelman's Maus, Satrapi's Persepolis, and Yang's American Born Chinese--are probably required reading by now for teens, but I think Tezuka's eight-volume Buddha is brilliant.

REVIEW Frankenstein Takes the Cake by Adam Rex

Today's review of the day is actually a co-review from two Cybils veterans, Jules of Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast and Kelly Fineman of Writing and Ruminating, both of whom are panelists for this year's Poetry category. As one half of the well-known 7-Imps, Jules, along with her co-blogger Eisha, reads a huge array of books and posts reviews, interviews, and the weekly feature 7 Kicks. Meanwhile, Kelly, who is a children's writer and poet, posts about books, writing, and--of course--poetry at her LiveJournal blog. And, dare I say, both blogs are truly fixtures of the kidlitosphere.

Not too long ago, Jules and Kelly decided to undertake a co-review of Frankenstein Takes the Cake by Adam Rex, the sequel to last year's Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich. Adam Rex is no stranger to the Cybils, having won an award last year in the Fantasy and Sci-Fi category for The True Meaning of Smekday. In the co-review, J and K talk about what makes this such a great read, not just for kids, but for teens, too:

The Frankenstein monster will be familiar to many teens....[T]he monster’s problems with his fiancée and her mother are the sorts of relationship issues that teens deal with all the time.

If that doesn't tempt you to read the full review...well, just read it anyway!