A lifelong reader, some of Stephanie’s most vivid memories from her childhood are centered around books including: volunteering in her middle school library, curling up with a great book on a rainy day, trying not to run into walls while walking with a book in front of her face, and sharing books with her best friends at recess. Having worked …
A Heartfelt Goodbye (and Thank You!)
As the saying goes, change is really the only thing you can count on in life. And although we usually have some shifts in volunteers, this year, there are some big changes. It’s with heavy hearts we say goodbye to our founder, President, and Fearless Leader, Anne Levy. Life changes has made it such that she needs to step back …
Cybils Logo Bonanza!
They’re here! Thanks a million to our co-blog editor, Sarah, for the design. Feel free to snag and share and post!
Call for Judges: Come Be a Part of the Fun!
As we head into another fall Cybils season, we want to express our gratitude in advance. We know that the blogging landscape has changed over the 12 years we’ve been and we want to say a huge THANK YOU to those who have volunteered to help us with this award. We appreciate your willingness, your time, and your expertise. And …
You’ve Missed Us, Haven’t You?
And you knew we’d be back about this time of year, didn’t you? We’ve been doing some moving and shaking and discussing and recruiting and we’re almost ready for the 2018 Cybils season! Keep an eye on this space: we’re going to be calling for panelists and judges (and nominations) SOON!
Interview with Martin Sandler
Editor’s note: This interview was conducted via phone by our Junior High/Senior High Non-Fiction Chair, Jennie Rothschild. We’d like to thank her for her time in putting this together! I was lucky enough to talk to Martin Sandler on the phone about his winning book, The Whydah. Below is a transcript of our conversation, edited for length and clarity. In …
Interview with Scott Westerfeld and Alex Puvilland
How did the creative process work for the two of you in putting the book together? Was there a lot of back-and-forth, or did you do your parts independently? SW: My strip was pretty detailed, but Alex was always keen to suggest new pages, mostly in sequences set in the Zone. Thanks to him, we spend more time exploring that …
Interview with Renée Watson
What inspired Jade’s story? I wanted to tell a story that explored the intersections of race, class, and gender. Jade is a little bit of me, a little bit of the girls I met when I worked as a mentor, and a lot of my imagination. I also wanted to set her in Portland, Oregon, where I grew up. The …
Interview with Suzanne Selfors
How did you come up with the idea of a superhero dog and an evil genius guinea pig? This book came about in a different way than any of my other books. I’d been working with an editor at Harper Collins named Melissa Miller on an IP project and she shared an idea with me. She’d come up with these …
Interview with Alan Gratz
Was Refugee always set up as three person narrative? Were their stories always connected? Refugee began for me with the story of the MS St. Louis. For those who haven’t read Refugee yet, the St. Louis was a passenger ship that left Nazi Germany in 1939 with more than 900 Jewish refugees on board, bound for Cuba. The St. Louis didn’t end up …