… because we intend to ring 2012 in with a bang. Yep, it's our very own Cybils tradition of rousing you from your New Year's celebrations with the publication of our short lists. Tune in at one minute past the stroke of midnight (Mountain time). That's 2:01 am Eastern and 11:01 pm Pacific. On behalf of all of us here …
2011 Finalists: Nonfiction for Tweens & Teens
Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming Schwartz and Wade Books Nominated by: Monica Edinger Amelia Earhart was America’s most famous woman pilot in the 1930s. She broke speed and distance records and constantly looked for new challenges as aviation technology advanced. She was quite a character: stubborn, willful, courageous and smart, but also prone …
Cybils by the numbers
I post our numbers just about every year, and every year somebody gets mad at me. Apparently, I don't include enough disclaimers because I assume facts speak for themselves. So I have included some important reminders this time for the sake of clarity. Total eligible books nominated: 1,289 Disclaimer: Yours wasn't eligible because a) it came out in the wrong …
2011 Finalists: Young Adult Fiction
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins Dutton Juvenile Nominated by: Melissa Fox Perkins’ Anna and the French Kiss marries romance, friendship and growing up with the delights of the Seine, macaroons and cinemas in the City of Lights. Picked for the off-beat charms of the book’s namesake, Anna, and the deft handling of a budding romance, Anna has the ability to melt …
2011 Finalists: Poetry
Cousins of Clouds: Elephant Poems by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer Clarion Books Nominated by: Amy @ Hope Is the Word Poet Paul Muldoon said, “One will never again look at a birch tree, after the Robert Frost poem, in exactly the same way.” Readers of Tracy Vaughn Zimmer’s Cousins of Clouds can make a similar argument, because they will probably never …
2011 Finalists: Nonfiction Picture Books
All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon Atheneum Nominated by: Kate Coombs Just when you thought the world had enough books about the water cycle, along comes this fresh poetic treatment to make you say “Wow.” Lyon laces the sparse, tightly written text with delicious language surprises as she succinctly explains where water comes from and where …
2011 Finalists: Middle Grade Fiction
Darth Paper Strikes Back: An Origami Yoda Book by Tom Angleberger Amulet Nominated by: Madelyn Rosenberg Read this you must. The students of Ralph McQuarrie Middle School are back in the sequel to Tom Angleberger’s best selling middle grade novel The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, last year’s Cybils winner in this category. In Darth Paper, our hero, Dwight is …
2011 Finalists: Fiction Picture Books
Blackout by John Rocco Hyperion Nominated by: Jennifer Donovan When all the lights in Brooklyn go out one summer night, families are suddenly not busy, much to the delight of a young child. Without power, the family can’t dotheir many insular electronic tasks and have time to play games together, socialize with their neighbors and even look at the stars …
2011 Finalists: Graphic Novels
Elementary/Middle Grade Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch Amulet Nominated by: Els Kushner Mirka would much rather spend her time slaying dragons than taking knitting lessons from her stepmother. But there seems to be a lack of dragons in Hereville, the Orthodox Jewish community where Mirka lives. That won’t stop Mirka from outwitting a giant pig, making …
2011 Finalists: Fantasy & Science Fiction (Young Adult))
Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, Book 1) by Susan Ee Feral Dream Nominated by: Lydia Dawson Angels have attacked the world, killing billions. Humans have gone savage in order to survive. There’s a seventeen-year-old girl in the middle of it all trying to keep her family together and find a place amid the madness where she can eke …