Cybils

Sharing the Love

We love our Cybils winners, and they think we aren't too bad ourselves--at least, judging by the tweets and blog posts reacting to Thursday's announcement of the 2012 winning titles. We're always happy to share the love, so here are a few of our favorites:

• Laura Salas, author of winning Poetry title BookSpeak (and former Cybil-ite and longtime blogger herself) had some absolutely lovely words for us on her blog (and a great initial reaction post, too).
• Faith Erin Hicks, author of Teen Graphic Novels winner Friends With Boys, tweeted: OMG YOU GUYS Friends With Boys won a Cybill!!!! http://www.cybils.com/2013/02/the-2012-cybils-awards.html#more … lookit me with all those Real Authors!
• Macmillan Kids gave us a shout-out on Twitter, too: Yay! A HOME FOR BIRD and BOMB won in the 2012 #Cybils Awards! http://ow.ly/hIg3V
• Anne Nesbet, author of SFF finalist title The Cabinet of Earths, shared the love on announcement day: So amazed & touched by the work book-loving bloggers put into the #Cybils! Thank you! THE CABINET OF EARTHS was tickled to be a finalist. :)
• Small Planet Digital, publishers of winning Book App Dragon Brush, posted some jubilation on their Tumblr. 

On behalf of the entire Cybils team (I think it's fairly safe to say), we're delighted to be able to read so many worthy and wonderful titles, and spread around some well-deserved recognition. It's a privilege and a pleasure!

The 2012 Cybils Awards

Good morning, book lovers, and welcome to the apex of the seventh season of the Cybils--that is, announcement day for our latest list of favorite books of 2012. They're a perfect blend of kid appeal and literary awesomeness, as befits the criteria of the Cybils Awards. Librarians love 'em, kids can't get enough, and we're thrilled to announce the crop of winners.

If you're an author or an illustrator and you spot your name on this list, don't forget we have shiny gold stickers now and a fancy logo for you.

For everyone else, get ready to update your "To Be Read" pile.

Readers, Get Ready...

Don't forget to tune in tomorrow morning (or tonight, depending on how you look at it), February 14, at 12:01 a.m. PST for the announcement of this year's 2012 Cybil Award winners! We'll be announcing this past year's best of the best as selected by the Round 2 judging panels, although of course we couldn't have done it without all 100+ of our hardworking blogging volunteers.

That's 12:01 on February 14th, right here at Cybils.com--Valentine's Day for some, announcement day for those of us keeping tabs on the Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards. See you soon!

REVIEW The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

It's fitting that our final review of the finalist period would come from a loyal and hardworking Cybils regular--Charlotte Taylor, who blogs about children's and YA fantasy and sci-fi at Charlotte's Library. She was a round 1 judge this year for MG Fantasy and Sci-Fi, and one of the most fun aspects of her blog is that every Sunday, she does a roundup of MG SFF reviews from around the kidlitosphere. Fun fact: Charlotte is an archaeologist. How cool is that?

This past spring, she reviewed Cybils MG SFF finalist The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen and called it her favorite of the year to date. It's also made it onto a lot of our judges' personal fave lists. It's a novel of political intrigue, sort of a non-magical fantasy, though it promises plenty of action and adventure. In her review, Charlotte said:

Sage, a mischievous, conniving, intelligent thief/orphan boy, tells the story from a beautifully unreliable first person point of view. There's a huge emotionally charged story embedded in this unreliable narration...

Read the full review here.

REVIEW Marty McGuire Digs Worms by Kate Messner

Katie Fitzgerald of Secrets & Sharing Soda is today's featured blogger. She's a Round 1 panelist for Easy Readers and Early Chapter Books, she's a children's librarian by day, and she blogs about a wide range of kidlit-related topics--including regular features called Old School Sunday, in which she reviews books published in the '90s and before. Fun fact: Katie furnished the very first review we posted this Cybils season.

One of the reviews she posted earlier in 2012 described Early Chapter Books finalist Marty McGuire Digs Worms!, written by Kate Messner and illustrated by Brian Floca. The second installment in the Marty McGuire series, this latest novel follows the third-grader's Save-the-Earth exploits. In her review, Katie said:

Marty is science-minded and loves to get her hands dirty, which is great, and I think kids are certainly drawn to her impatience and her desire to do the right thing, even if she doesn’t always manage to do it.

Click here to read the full review.

REVIEW Rounds: Franklin Frog by Nosy Crow Apps

Our featured reviewer for the day, Helen Dineen, is a UK-based blogger at CAppTivated Kids, where she blogs about iPad apps for young children. She's always on the lookout for entertaining and educational apps for her two little ones, and on her blog she posts about her favorites. Fun fact: Though she's a Twitter veteran, she's relatively new to blogging--she just started in 2012, but she impressed us with her in-depth book app reviews.

One of the apps she wrote about last year was Cybils finalist Rounds: Franklin Frog, developed by Nosy Crow Apps from a story by Barry and Emma Tranter. It's part of a series that looks at the life cycle of a different animal in each installment, and it's chock-full of fun frog facts. In her review, Helen says:

I really like the way Franklin asks the reader to help him in his journey – to jump across the pond, to catch food with his long, sticky red tongue, or to find somewhere to hibernate. My children enjoyed doing this, and so absorbed the facts easily along the way.

Read the full review here.

REVIEW I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

Kellie Tilton, aka Kell, is today's featured blogger. A university librarian and Round 1 judge for YA Fiction this year, she blogs at The Re-Shelf, where she posts primarily about young adult fiction, especially contemporary romance, fantasy, and dystopians. Fun fact: she's a big Doctor Who fan (a surprising number of us Cybils folk are...)

One of the YA Cybils finalists Kellie reviewed this past year was I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga (a past Cybils winner for Boy Toy in 2007). His latest is told from the viewpoint of the son of a notorious serial killer. Needless to say, it's a thriller, and main character Jazz is using his unique perspective to help the police solve some murders. As Kellie says in her review,

I Hunt Killers is, thus far, one of my favorite reads of the year.... Holy geez. Creepy, intense, gory, funny – if you like these things, pick it up immediately.

Click here for the full review.

REVIEW UnBEElievables by Douglas Florian

Today's featured review comes from Round 1 Poetry judge and Cybils regular Mary Lee Hahn, who blogs with fellow teacher Franki Sibberson at A Year of Reading. Fun fact: Did you know they keep a list of 100 Cool Teachers in Children's Literature? Laura Ingalls and Professor McGonagall aren't the only cool teachers you'll find--go check it out.

One of her reviews this past year was of Cybils Poetry finalist UnBEElievables: Honeybee Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian (also no stranger around the Cybils). His poems explore the lives and communities of honeybees and their importance to our ecosystem. In Mary Lee's review, she cites a sample poem and sings the book's praises:

Douglas Florian does it again! A perfect trifecta of illustrations and poems and just enough information on every page.

Read the sample poem and full review here.

REVIEW Moonbird by Phillip Hoose

Today's featured review comes from Richie Partington, a Round 2 judge for MG/YA Nonfiction, faculty at San Jose State University's School of Library and Information Science, and blogger at Richie's Picks. At his site, he writes detailed reviews of recent and upcoming books for children and young adults. Fun fact: he once had dinner with J.K. Rowling!

One of the books he reviewed was Cybils NFMGYA finalist Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95, by Phillip Hoose. It's the astounding story of a shorebird, banded B95, who has survived for nearly twenty years while his species begins to dwindle around him. Richie describes the importance of this story in his review:

Phillip Hoose shows how – for a particular species of endangered shorebird – the struggle is on across two continents between the man-made forces that are contributing to the threat of extinction and those citizens and leaders who hope to counter those forces and save this species.

Click here to read the full review.