The world as it was and is. Not as it could, or would, or should be. Send the dystopias and space operas, the fairies and angels, the blood-suckers, zombies, and alternate realities to Seculative Fiction. In YA Fiction we are looking for realistic fiction, be it contemporary or historical, funny or mysterious, romantic or adventurous. We want the real world …
Category Description: MG/YA Non-Fiction
Novels may get all the glory, but we know that truth is stranger than fiction any day of the week. We’re currently in a golden age of nonfiction. Forget the dry stuff we read in school to help with our homework–today’s authors understand how important a great nonfiction piece of writing is to both the students and teachers, both for …
Category Description: Audiobooks
The world of audiobooks is a rich landscape full of amazing productions with rich narrations, beautiful sound effects, and the ability to bring a book to life without ever having to see the words. Whether it is a single narrator, a duo, or an ensemble, an audiobook has the ability to sweep readers away on a magical ride. As listeners, we can use them …
Category Description: Graphic Novels
When I ask my college students if they’ve ever read a graphic novel of them, most of them look confused. You mean superhero comics? Well, yes– of course! But there’s more. There are always a few whose faces light up as they tell me about having read Watchmen, or Maus, or more recent stories like Smile or War Brothers. Using …
Category Description: Poetry
Poetry is an ever flowing river of words. From words that rhyme, words that shape emotions on all different topics to poetic forms, the Poetry category is home to an uber stew of entries. These books will appeal to the very young, middle grade and/or young adults. Poetry includes nominations of novels in verse. What belongs in Poetry? Consider …
Category Description: Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction
This past year has seen another excellent crop of wonderfully inventive speculative fiction books for kids! Along with the expected spells and space rockets and aliens, this is the category for books with talking animals, time-travel, ghosts, and paranormal abilities, and all the other books that might not have obvious magic on every page, and which are set here on Earth, but which push past …
Category Description: Middle Grade Fiction
Middle grade fiction encompasses a wide range of stories that do not have magical elements and are geared toward the 8 to 12 year old age group. These stories could be mysteries, histories, humor, sports, adventure and other tales set in the real world. Middle Grade readers’ tastes and reading abilities can vary widely, and getting them a book that …
Category Description: Elementary/Juvenile Non-Fiction
Kids are curious about the world around them and nonfiction is the perfect way to introduce them to that amazing world. History? Biography? Art? Science? Math? Animals? Sports? It’s all here and more besides! We love text and illustrations or photographs that will wow kids and adults alike and topics so fascinating that kids will want to go digging …
Category Description: Easy Reader/Early Chapter Books
The Easy Reader / Early Chapter Book category of the Cybils covers the whole spectrum of titles for early elementary kids who are learning to read, from the very basic books for emergent readers to longer, illustrated titles for kids who are not quite ready for novels. What we’re looking for in easy reader nominations are leveled readers with controlled …
Category Description: Board Books
Just say the phrase “board book” and you’re bound to hear an “awww” or a “that’s so cute!” It happens in my house all the time (even with the teenager)! We share these books with our youngest readers to be. These are our child’s first stories – at playtime, before nap, and as bedtime stories. Opening a board book to …